Athletes, clubs and organisations recognised for LGBTI inclusion

The NRL, Cricket Victoria and AFL club St. Kilda are among the organisations that have been named as Australia’s highest ranking sporting clubs and codes for LGBTI inclusion at the Australian Pride in Sport Awards held yesterday at the Showtime Events Centre in Melbourne.

The Australian Pride in Sport Awards are the first celebration of its kind dedicated solely to recognising exceptional efforts in making sport more inclusive of LGBTI people.

It is produced by Pride in Sport, the national not-for-profit sporting inclusion program spearheaded by Australia’s largest LGBTI health organisation ACON.

The St. Kilda Football Club took home the award for the Highest Ranking Overall sporting organisation, while Cricket Victoria were recognised as the Highest Ranking State Sporting Organisation.

The NRL took out the Highest Ranking National Sporting Organisation award. The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Corporation was the recipient of the Achievement Award for Most Improved.

Three individuals across various sporting disciplines were awarded for their efforts in making their respective sports more inclusive of LGBTI players, employees and fans, while two community awards were also handed out. See next page for complete list of award recipients.

The awards showcased the results of the Pride in Sport Index (PSI) - the national benchmarking instrument used to asses LGBTI inclusion within Australian sport. Launched in 2016, the PSI was developed in conjunction with the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Australian Sports Commission and Bingham Cup Sydney, alongside an advisory group comprising representatives from a range of peak sporting bodies.

ACON Vice President and co founder of the PSI, Andrew Purchas, advised “the PSI allows sporting organisations and clubs to benchmark their LGBTI inclusive policies and practices annually, and the Australian Pride in Sport Awards acknowledge and celebrate those that have scored highly on the index.

“In 2014, Australia’s major sporting codes signed up to the Australian Anti Homophobia and Inclusion Framework for Australian Sport. These awards and the index continue this important work as they provide sporting organisations with an opportunity to reflect on their work in the inclusion of LGBTI participants and staff, and identify areas they can address to ensure their sport is truly inclusive.

“Many of Australia’s sporting organisations are recognising positive steps need to be taken to ensure your sexuality, gender identity or intersex status does not impact your ability to play, watch or be involved with sport at any level - and we’re proud to celebrate those success stories at the Pride in Sport Awards.

“I congratulate all the award recipients and the many others working towards making Australian sport an inclusive place for everyone.”

The awards which were hosted by ABC sports presenter and journalist Tracey Holmes featured a host of leading sporting and community figures including former Olympic swimmer and Pride in Sport co-patron Daniel Kowalski, and Australian tennis champion Casey Dellacqua.

Alex Blackwell, one of the world’s leading cricketers and Pride in Sport co-patron, said the awards and program are helping pave the way for LGBTI inclusion within Australian sport.

Blackwell stated “sport has had an incredibly positive impact on my life during my 15 year international cricket career. I have experienced all the health and social benefits that come with playing sport at the highest level.

“Sadly the evidence tells us that sport is not a particularly welcoming place for all Australians, especially young LGBTI people. This is arguably the group that could most benefit from sport.

“Now armed with this knowledge sporting organisations are joining Pride in Sport so that they can effectively break down the barriers to LGBTI inclusion and attract the largest and most diverse participation, fan and talent base and ensure their sport thrives into the future.”

This year’s PSI results saw the majority of those sports that did participate in 2017 actively use the index to plan their activity over 2018 and this has brought about a significant shift in the average score, with a 109% increase in the average score across all submissions.

Pride in Sport Program Manager Casey Conway added “sSince its inaugural year, the Pride in Sport Index has seen a significant shift in practice with LGBTI inclusion work in Australian sport. With a wide range of sporting organisations participating, we are seeing a strong commitment to providing safer and more inclusive environments and experiences for LGBTI people”.

While LGBTI inclusion is now part of the Australian workplace diversity and inclusion agenda, Blackwell added there is more to be done to ensure that sport in Australia can experience greater levels of LGBTI inclusion.

She concluded “year on year improvements and success stories in LGBTI inclusion are being celebrated at the Pride in Sport awards. I would like to congratulate each sport and the many volunteers on the work they are doing to ensure sport is a place for everyone.”

2018 Pride in Sport Awards Recipients

Pride in Sport is a national not-for-profit program that assists sporting organisations and clubs with the inclusion of LGBTI employees, players, volunteers and spectators

25th May 2017 - AFL NAMED ‘ORGANISATION OF THE YEAR’ AT LGBTI INCLUSION AWARDS

30th March 2017 - FREE RAINBOW LACES DISTRIBUTION BOOSTS ONGOING CAMPAIGN FOR INCLUSION IN SPORT 

16th February 2017 - VICHEALTH SUPPORTS DIVERSE COMMUNITIES THROUGH INNOVATION IN SPORT 

6th February 2017 - LA TROBE UNIVERSITY LAUNCHES AUSTRALIA’S FIRST SPORTS ANALYTICS DEGREE

1st December 2016 - SWIMMING AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES INCLUSION FRAMEWORK

15th November 2016 - AFL ADVISED TO PLAN FOR LONG TERM INTEREST IN WOMEN’S COMPETITION

24th September 2016 - GENDER BALANCE IN SPORT VITAL TO IMPROVING PUBLIC HEALTH 

25th August 2016 - AFL 2016 MEMBERSHIP DATA SHOWS HAWTHORN AS THE BEST SUPPORTED CLUB

1st April 2016 - AUSTRALIAN RUGBY UNION AND SKINS SUPPORT ‘RAINBOW ROUND OF SPORT’

31st March 2016 - RAINBOW LACES CAMPAIGN AIMS TO KICK HOMOPHOBIA OUT OF SPORT

16th March 2016 - MAJOR SPORTING CODES SIGN UP FOR NEW SYSTEM TO MEASURE LGBTI INCLUSION

28th June 2015 - ANTI-HOMOPHOBIA IN SPORT CAMPAIGN WINS INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

11th May 2015 - MAJOR AUSTRALIAN SPORTING CODES PLEDGE TO COMBAT HOMOPHOBIA IN SPORT