In June 2006, the Australian Government Office for Women in the then Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) engaged the Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) at the University of New South Wales to research how culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) women participate in sport and recreation, and the factors that may limit their involvement. The project is designed to inform the development of policies and programs to effectively support the inclusion of CALD women in informal and organised sport and recreation activities in Australia, in both playing and non-playing roles.
The project has been conducted in three stages beginning in mid 2006. Firstly, a literature and data review was undertaken to explore available statistical data and Australian and international research pertaining to cultural diversity and sport in Australia. The resulting report (Cortis et al, 2006) outlines how CALD women participate in sport and recreation in Australia according to national surveys (and the limitations of national surveys). It also draws on academic literature and policy and program reports to examine the factors that affect CALD women's participation and the features of policies and programs seeking to promote their inclusion.
Secondly, the project team conducted consultative interviews with fifteen key stakeholders in sporting, cultural and women's organisations (Cortis and Muir, 2007). This showed that the perception of sport as a 'level playing field' is pervasive, and that supporting cultural diversity is not currently considered a high priority by National Sporting Organisations (NSOs). With the exception of Indigenous Australians, NSOs tend to promote their sports to the mainstream rather than particular cultural groups, and do not tend to monitor the cultural backgrounds or characteristics of participants. Notwithstanding, interviewees recognised a range of barriers that CALD women may confront, including language barriers, a lack of information about opportunities, and culturally inappropriate dress codes and facilities.
Stage Three, the subject of this report, involved twelve focus groups with CALD women conducted in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia in February and March 2007. The focus groups explored CALD women's patterns of involvement in sport and recreation; their experience of any barriers to participation; and their perspectives on strategies to support their involvement. Demographic information was collected in a questionnaire.
The ninety-four women who took part in the focus groups were from a range of cultural backgrounds, being born in 35 different countries. Six focus groups were conducted with women from a shared cultural background: Indian, Japanese, Somalian, Islamic Arabic speaking (two groups, one with older and one with younger women), and Pacific Islander women. Six of the groups included women from a mix of cultural backgrounds. Two of these mixed-ethnicity groups were held with women aged 50 and over to capture the perspectives of older women, and one group was held with women aged under 30.
Informal physical activities, like walking or participating with family and friends were particularly important to most women, as were organised physical recreation activities like aqua-aerobics or group fitness classes, although some women in nine of the groups were involved in organised sports like netball, soccer or martial arts (including several who were involved in non-playing roles). Some of the women found they had greater opportunity to participate in organised sport and recreation in Australia than they had in other countries, although some who participated previously did not do so in Australia.
Like the representatives of sporting, cultural and women's organisations, the CALD women in the study tended to agree that sport in Australia offers a level playing field, pointing out that it is actively encouraged in Australia, and is more open and accessible than in other countries. However, women across the groups identified multiple barriers that could reduce their desire to participate or change the kinds of sport and recreation activities they would choose. A lack of culturally appropriate facilities, high costs, family responsibilities or a lack of transport, for example could cause women to choose informal activities (like walking or exercising at home) over either organised sport or recreation activities. These barriers have been summarised below.
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Barriers to Participation
Socio-cultural barriers
A few of the women described their experiences as racism or discrimination, for example being unable to participate in a walking group for fear of public verbal abuse, or being deliberately excluded from team mates in organised sport. Although experiences like these were identified by only a minority of women (confirming the perspectives of the stakeholders interviewed in Stage Two of the project, see Cortis and Muir, 2007), they had profound effects on those involved, causing them to withdraw their participation or change their chosen sports. Although a few women had experienced racism, the women more commonly experienced subtle and indirect socio-cultural barriers to their participation, as cultural notions of female physicality and dress for example clashed with the norms and requirements of sporting organisations.
Across the four study regions - Western Sydney, central Adelaide, regional Victoria, and regional NSW, women identified how cultural and religious notions of female physicality raised particular issues for their involvement in sport and recreation, with physical activity not seen as appropriate or important for women from some cultural backgrounds. This was particularly the case for women needing to cover their bodies and adhere to cultural and religious standards of modesty, an experience which was strongest amongst (but not exclusive to) women from Muslim backgrounds. While some of the women routinely adapted their dress to comply both with religious requirements and sport and recreation norms (for example wearing long clothing under uniforms or in the pool), they tended to find this uncomfortable and potentially stigmatising. Overwhelmingly, the women would prefer to have opportunities to participate in women- only (but not culturally segregated) sport and recreation contexts than to cover their bodies in mixed-gender facilities.
Notions of beauty and body image also impacted on CALD women's participation, with some women, such as the Pacific Islanders in regional NSW, feeling more conscious of their body image in Australia, making them apprehensive about participating. Many of the women described how in their culture, they were expected to adhere to gender roles by participating in separate activities from men. In many cases, sport was not perceived as appropriate or as a priority for women, presenting a barrier to women's participation.
Women identified family responsibilities as pervasive barriers to participating in sport and recreation. An unequal burden of childcare and household responsibilities was seen to make it easier for men than women to participate, and the leisure time of women with dependent children or grandchildren was particularly limited.
Access barriers
The women identified access barriers relating to language, facilities and transport. English language skills were perceived as major barriers for CALD women, especially for those who had not been in Australia for long. Language proficiency shaped women's opportunities to find out about, access and participate in sport and recreation activities, and poor English skills could leave women socially isolated and uninformed. Learning English profoundly changed these women's lives, making it easier to mix, and improving awareness of the resources and opportunities available in their community.
The availability of safe, comfortable, accessible and culturally appropriate sport and recreation facilities were identified as significant influences on participation. The most important issue was access to women-only exercise spaces, and private change room areas. This theme was most important for the Muslim women in the study, who required privacy from men, but other women also expressed a desire for greater access to women-only facilities. Public transport to and from facilities, or having facilities close to home, were also important to how the women could access sport and recreation opportunities, and whether they could take their children.
Affective barriers
Some of the women in the study described how they did not wish to participate in sport and recreation, or that these activities were low priorities in their culture, and had been low priority in their childhoods. Others disliked particular aspects of sport, such as competition.
Resource barriers
Resource barriers related to time and finances (both of women themselves and their sporting organisations). Time was a major barrier to participating in sport and recreation, given the women's family and work commitments. Some women also found that organised sporting activities were not offered at times that were convenient to them.
While some women found sport and recreation to be less costly in Australia, most of the women found the cost of sport and recreation presented barriers to their participation, especially after migrating. As well as lacking the money to participate themselves, some women also perceived women's sport and recreation organisations to have resource problems. A lack of money could prevent women's sporting organisations from advertising to attract new members, for example, or from providing a range of social activities for club members.
Physiological barriers
The women identified physiological barriers relating to poor health or old age. These barriers were most profound for the older women in the study, whose patterns of participation were affected by accidents and injuries as well as age-related problems like arthritis. Gentle exercise, which allowed these women to work at their own pace, helped to facilitate their inclusion in sport and recreation. For other women, health and age related barriers were largely about perceptions, some women, for example, perceived themselves to be too old to learn to swim.
Interpersonal barriers
The women also identified a lack of confidence as a barrier to participating, especially when they did not know others who participated. Without a personal connection women did not know what to expect and did not necessarily have the self-assurance to join unsolicited.
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Perceptions of strategies for supporting CALD women's participation
The women in the study identified a range of strategies that could be used to increase and support their participation in sport and recreation activities. The women felt that providing information to CALD women about activities and facilities would help them and other CALD women to participate. Information should portray sport as culturally diverse and welcoming; reinforce the health benefits of exercise; and explain what participating in sport involves.
As well as targeting information and advertising to CALD women, the women in the study also emphasised the need to alter facilities (especially gyms and swimming pools), recognising the need for funding to ensure they were culturally appropriate and easily accessible. To address some of the family-related barriers to CALD women's participation, some women identified a need for childcare generally while others identified a specific need for childcare facilities at sporting venues.
Overcoming financial barriers were seen as essential in getting more women from CALD backgrounds to participate in sport and recreation. The women identified a need for strategies to reduce the cost of activities for women, and to reduce associated costs such as transport or childcare. One woman was aware of a local initiative designed to target young CALD women with children to participate in physical activities and was successful by offering free child care and providing the classes at minimal cost.
The women also identified that role modelling and promoting sporting organisations as multicultural would help encourage women to participate, and emphasised the importance of setting up opportunities for CALD women to participate. This could include setting up ethnically based girls sporting teams; providing funding for sport promotion programs; providing tickets to CALD women's sporting groups to watch games; providing the required clothing and footwear to CALD women; establishing sporting scholarships for CALD women and girls; and running community-based cultural events.
Finally, some of the women identified how, in the longer term, the participation of CALD women in sport and recreation requires addressing deep-seated ideas about the role of women. These women saw the need to broaden notions of women's roles as child-bearers and caregivers to emphasise the health and social benefits of leisure and personal time. Some of the women also saw that men could help by sharing domestic responsibilities and encouraging women to participate.