In June 2006, the Australian Government Office for Womenin the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaHCSIA) 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 full involvement. The project is designed to inform the development of policies and programs to effectively support the inclusion of CALD women in sport and recreation activities, as players and in non-playing roles.
The project has been conducted in three stages: a data review and analysis (completed in August 2006, see Cortis et. al., 2006); consultations with key stakeholders (completed in late 2006, see Cortis and Muir, 2007); and focus groups with CALD women in three states about their experiences and perceptions of sport and recreation activities (the subject of this report)
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Findings from Stage One
The first stage resulted in the review and analysis reported in the Discussion Paper titled 'Participation in sport and recreation by culturally and linguistically diverse women' (Cortis et. al., 2006). The Discussion Paper outlined available statistical data about the cultural diversity of sport and recreation participants in Australia. Secondly, it reviewed Australian and international research about the factors that facilitate and constrain CALD women's participation. Thirdly, using publicly available information, it highlighted the main features of policies and programs that promote CALD women's inclusion in sport and recreation activities.
The statistical data shows how women born outside the main English speaking countries are less likely than other women to take part in organised or non-organised sport, and those not proficient in spoken English have even lower levels of involvement (ABS, 2006). Table 2.1 shows how rates of participation in sport and physical activity were low for those born outside the main English speaking countries who were not proficient in spoken English, at around 35 per cent for both males and females. For those proficient in spoken English, participation rates rise to 60.2 per cent for males and 49.8 per cent for females.
Table 2.1: Participation rates by sex, country of birth, and language proficiency, Australia 2002
|
Born in Australia (per cent) |
Born in main English-speaking countries (per cent) |
Born in other countries: proficient in spoken English (per cent) |
Born in other countries: not proficient in spoken English (per cent) |
| Male |
68.5 |
74.6 |
60.2 |
35.2 |
| Female |
63.6 |
66.5 |
49.8 |
34.7 |
| Total |
66 |
70.7 |
55.4 |
35.0 |
Source: Migrants and Participation in Sport and Physical Activity (ABS 2006b: 10).
Table 2.2 shows how women born in any region of the world (apart from North-West Europe and Oceania) are less likely to participate than Australian born women. Less than one in five women born in North Africa or the Middle East participated in the last twelve months (compared with over three in five Australian born women).
Table 2.2: Participation in sport and physical activity by sex and region of birth, Australia, 2002
| Region of Birth |
Males (%) |
Females (%) |
All (%) |
| North-West Europe |
69.8 |
64.7 |
67.4 |
| Australia |
68.5 |
63.6 |
66.0 |
| Oceania and Antarctica |
69.1 |
63.6 |
66.3 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa |
72.0 |
60.0 |
50.8 |
| Americas |
67.5 |
56.0 |
52.6 |
| North-East Asia |
68.8 |
53.5 |
61.9 |
| South-East Asia |
61.1 |
52.3 |
56.2 |
| Southern and Central Asia |
63.0 |
43.6 |
74.2 |
| Southern and Eastern Europe |
44.1 |
40.7 |
42.5 |
| North Africa and the Middle East |
42.7 |
19.5 |
31.2 |
Source: Migrants and Participation in Sport and Physical Activity (ABS 2006b: 10).
The literature review explored the factors affecting CALD women's participation. This highlighted a range of ways to categorise the barriers to participation. Collins et al (1999) for example, consider barriers to participation in sport in terms of structural factors (relating to the appropriateness of the physical and social environment); mediating factors (such as organisational policies and social stereotypes); and personal factors (such as a lack of time, money and self-image). Tsai and Coleman (1999) use a more detailed framework to understand the factors influencing migrants' participation in sport and recreation in Australia. They concluded that barriers or constraints fall into six main groups:
- Socio-cultural constraints. These barriers may be direct, such as being required to follow particular codes or traditions, and indirect, such as experiencing dissonance or discomfort in certain social settings. Examples include dress requirements, for example for Muslim women who need to cover. Not being able to participate in sports in ways that allow them to express their religious identity can facilitate a desire amongst women to participate in activities with others who share the same cultural, linguistic and religious background (Taylor and Toohey, 2002).
- Access constraints. These barriers relate to provision and availability of culturally appropriate recreation facilities and programs, information, and transport, issues which arise repeatedly in the literature (eg Taylor and Toohey, 1998; Keogh, 2002).
- Affective constraints relate to how appealing and meaningful people consider certain activities. That CALD girls and women form an interest in sporting activities in the first place is obviously a critical pre-requisite for their participation. Teachers and schooling environments are recognised to play an important role in facilitating equal access without invoking stereotypes (Taylor, 2004), as are ensuring that ethno-specific organisations have full information about the sporting associations and clubs and services offered in their local areas (Keogh, 2002).
- Physiological constraints relate to physical problems and old age. While physiological factors do present barriers to some women's participation, these are unlikely to be unique to CALD women.
- Resource constraints relate to a lack of time and money. Migrants may find the costs of participating particularly difficult if they face resettlement costs or are experiencing financial pressures or barriers to employment as a result of migration. Women's primary responsibility for child and elder care constrains their available income and time for leisure, thereby limiting their participation in sport and recreation (CCEH, 2006).
- Interpersonal constraints such as not having anybody to participate with are strong themes arising from studies of the barriers to CALD women's participation in sport and recreation (Johnson, 2000). Social networks have been found to be important facilitators of CALD women's participation, and participation in activities with family and friends can offer supportive environments for the expression and transmission of identity (Taylor and Toohey, 2002).
The Discussion Paper also outlined how policies and programs currently promote the inclusion of CALD women. One strategy is to provide information and promote activities to CALD women. Womensport and the Centre for Multicultural Youth Issues in Victoria1, for example, publish resources to support CALD participation. These include translated program resources, tip sheets for sport providers about how to engage young CALD women in sport and physical activity, tips for newly arrived young people to join a club, and tip sheets for coaches about the inclusion of culturally and linguistically diverse participants.
A second strategy includes developing sport and recreation organisations. Taylor's study of netball, for example, found that sport administrators tended to leave inclusion to occur through chance rather than any direct planning (Taylor, 2004), highlighting a need for cross-cultural training and education about the benefits of becoming culturally inclusive and guidance from government agencies to sporting organisations about how to develop policies and strategies targeted toward specific cultures.
A third set of strategies relates to establishing peer support and peer education as a means of supporting and enhancing CALD women's participation. One example is the Queensland Government, which, in partnership with the Islamic Women's Association of Queensland Inc undertook the 'Active Sisters!' project. This project trained Islamic women as peer educators while establishing community physical activity programs, including a religiously appropriate personal-development program, swimming lessons and recreational swimming, local walking groups, peer-education and support (Islamic Women's Assoc of Qld Inc).
A fourth set of strategies relate to establishing activities, training and competitions for CALD women. The inclusion of a funding strand for culturally and linguistically diverse women under the Australian Sports Commission's 2006-07 Sport Leadership Grants for Women program offers to support such activities. Sporting programs for CALD women have also been established in the states, involving collaborations between governments, sport and recreation and cultural organisations to facilitate activities for CALD women (for example women only swimming programs).
A fifth approach to supporting CALD women's participation is in developing high level strategies, standards and frameworks, such as codes of practice. The UK Government, for example has a comprehensive strategy for achieving sport and physical activity objectives (Strategy Office, 2002), a Strategy Framework for Women and Sport (UK Sport, 2005), as well as a standard to promote racial equality in local authority sport and leisure services (Sharma, 2004).
While examples of these strategies can all be found in Australia, initiatives directed at including CALD women in sport and recreation tend to be small and short term. Moreover, few have been rigorously evaluated, leaving knowledge gaps about what constitutes best practice in reducing barriers and supporting the participation of different CALD groups (Cortis et al. 2006).
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Findings from Stage Two
Building on the material contained in the Discussion Paper, Stage Two (Cortis and Muir, 2007) showed the ways key stakeholders in sporting, women's and cultural organisations perceive the barriers to CALD women's participation in sport and recreation activities, and strategies for overcoming them. The fifteen stakeholders interviewed highlighted barriers identified in other studies, such as language, dress and culturally inappropriate sporting facilities. In terms of what participants perceive would help support CALD women, targeted funding and partnership relationships emerged as strong themes. Other important findings were that interviewees were largely unaware of what other organisations were doing to support CALD women in sport. Developing the sector's capacity to share and disseminate evidence of good practice on the issue thus appears essential to enhancing the capacity of organisations to effectively support the involvement of CALD women in sport.
Interviews with representatives from the six NSOs revealed particular issues pertaining to the upper echelons of the sporting sector. Monitoring the cultural backgrounds of participants and targeting specific groups appeared antithetical to these organisations' current emphasis on promoting sport to the mainstream. Some NSOs were strongly optimistic about the capacity of sport to provide a 'level playing field', and some did not perceive that their organisational cultures and arrangements would contribute to low rates of participation amongst CALD women. Moreover, none described having cultural diversity frameworks or strategies in place that guided their activities and those of member organisations. The commercial imperative and resource pressures of NSOs and the prevailing attitudes of it's representatives indicated that providing special purpose funding to target CALD women (perhaps in partnership with cultural organisations) coupled with an education campaign, is likely to effectively raise awareness of cultural diversity across the sector, and to give rise to specific policies and programs in sporting organisations.
These findings informed the third and final stage of the project, in which the research team conducted focus groups with CALD women in metropolitan and regional Australia during February and March 2007. The results of these focus groups are the major focus of this report.
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Aims of Stage Three
Having reviewed the literature and consulted with stakeholders in sporting, women's and cultural organisations, the third and final stage of the project contributes CALD women's perspectives on sport and recreation, the barriers they face, and the strategies that can better support their participation. The focus groups were conducted in metropolitan and regional Australia in early 2007, with the questioning route and study design informed by the findings in Stages One and Two.
Focus group participants included women who self-identified as being from a CALD background, and who were aged 18 and over. CALD women who were current participants in sport and recreation activities took part in the interviews, as did those who were not currently participating (but had done so in the past) and some who had never participated in sport and recreation. While six of the groups included women from a mix of cultural backgrounds, six were with single cultural groups: Indian, Japanese, Somalian, Islamic Arabic speaking (two groups), and Pacific Islander women. Two mixed-ethnicity groups were also held with women aged 50 and over to capture the perspectives of older women, and one group was held with women 18-30 years.
The discussions, which are described more fully in the following sections, focused on identifying both the barriers to CALD women's participation and strategies for overcoming them, and informing policies and programs that might enhance the inclusion of CALD women in sport and recreation