After discussing the range of socio-cultural, access, affective, physiological and interpersonal barriers to their participation in sport and recreation, the women were invited to discuss what could be done by sporting organisations, governments and community leaders to overcome these barriers. The women identified the provision of information about activities and facilities to be important, along with expanding access to culturally appropriate facilities, and supporting low cost activities.
Information and Advertising
The women in the study felt that providing information to CALD women about activities and facilities would help CALD women to participate. Tam, for example, felt strongly that governments should 'reach out' to facilitate CALD women's participation:
There should be some sort of reaching out on the part of the government so they know they are accepted and they know there is assistance for them, there are programs for them, like the soccer program ... you can't just expect people to integrate, you need to let them know they are accepted. Like there are all these sports and all these recreational activities available. (Group 6)
What to communicate
In particular, the women recommended that sporting organisations and government agencies provide information that portrays sport as culturally diverse and welcoming; that reinforces the health benefits of exercise; and that explains what participating in sport involves.
Tanya for example, recommended that an advertising campaign promote the message that sport is diverse, and that 'for everyone, everyone's welcome, there's all sorts of people doing this' (group 1). Sadia also believed that promoting sporting organisations as multicultural would establish role models and encourage CALD women to participate:
That might be something [that] make this woman feel comfortable in coming - there's somebody who actually looks like me. That has always been something that has encouraged, especially people from multicultural backgrounds, having someone who looks like you, it's something that just attracts you, and oh, I can refer to them if I need any help or assistance, or we can speak the same language or they'll understand me or whatever difficulties I have. (Group 7)
Another woman from an African background (Naja, group 9) also described a need to show multicultural role models:
Like for Aboriginal kids it was great role modelling that Cathy Freeman did. And there were heaps of kids that want to do running and football. I don't think there's any Somali women doing stuff now but there's lots of Muslim women who are great role models that keep their culture, they keep their religion strong but also they participate in sport and enjoy it.
The Japanese women also felt that seeing role models, and knowing that sports organisations were multicultural would help encourage them to participate:
It's not necessary to have a Japanese worker but if that sports organisation has a really multicultural, if they already have different backgrounds of people doing something together you'd probably feel it's more easy to join in. (Sumi, group 8)
Making Diversity in Sport Visible
Tanya, aged in her early thirties, is an Indian permanent resident, who arrived in Australia when she was 23 years old. She is a single parent working part time, and exercises on most days. For her, publicly portraying the cultural diversity of women in sport is important.
'The image of sport here is the bronzed blonde Australian... even though no one says you have to be like that overtly to participate, I think subliminally it kind of affects me, like I'm not the blonde bronzed Australian, I'm not going to fit in... if there are people doing it that you don't identify with, it's always a prohibiting factor. You always think, 'I won't fit in', or 'I don't know the rules' ... I have no clue what the difference is between AFL and NRL! I'd love to go and cheer at these games. '
'At the moment, you look at sport, on the television, Australian sport, it's so white, not that there's anything wrong with whites but imagine if ... migrants from all over the world living here [were] actually participating, it would be so much more vibrant. And it would just like encourage- like if I saw some Indians playing touch footy; I'd love to go join them. At the moment it's like a white thing; I can't join them; I don't know what to do; I don't know the rules. Even the advertisements like Sydney Olympic Park for the Aquatic Centre, big billboards saying 'Come and play' have blonde kids and blonde women. ... It's just the whole image that sport has in the media, look at the Australian Olympic team, it's not representative at all of the cultural diversity in this country ... We don't have any images to relate to; we don't have any mirrors to see ourselves. '
Promoting the health benefits of sport was identified by older women, given their health needs, and by women from African backgrounds, who may not previously have heard messages about the importance of exercise to one's health. Sadia explained this:
What I know from women from my culture exercise is not really something they should do. If it was advertised as something as part of health, being healthy, in western societies, really they should eat healthy, you should exercise. Over there it's a thing of we should cook, we should clean. It was never 'oh, exercise is actually good for your health'... Exercise is just something that women or even young girls I know don't think it's necessary. (Group 7)
Interestingly, the Muslim women in regional Victoria identified a need to inform men from their culture about the importance of sport and recreation for women's health, as they believed this would translate into encouragement and support. African women also identified a need for information about what they (and their families) should expect of sporting activities, and what would be expected of them, as participants. The two young Somali women in group 9, who were well rehearsed in adapting sporting dress codes to fit their need for modesty saw a need for education that this is possible, suggesting:
Education to Somalis about what they can have. Like they can cover up, Somali girls can cover up. They don't have to say oh we can't do it... ...you can outline the dress code, that you can wear covered clothing and ...they can change beforehand or there'll be adequate change-rooms. (Naja, group 9)
And showing that
They can wear pants but it doesn't necessarily have to be all pants, like they can wear tights underneath shorts, like long shorts and or the skirts could be longer- they could even wear different ones. (Alika, group 9)
Sadia also believed that African women and their families would require detailed information about what participating in sport and recreation involves, especially for young people:
African parents always want to know who is going to be there, who is going to be heading the program for their kids, ... if it's gonna be safe, whether there are other alien - what we call other people - there. ... They want to know the specific age group it's targeting, so they know ok this kids going to be with their age peers or they going to be with adults ... whether it's close to the house, so they can get home safe, if they have to pick them up. They have a lot of factors ... and parents have to look at that before they can actually agree, 'Yes, my child can do this activity'. ... It's just cultural issues come into play especially young girls involved in activities; there's just so many limitations.
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How to communicate
Many of the women recommended promoting activities using multicultural media, such as local radio, newspapers, leaving pamphlets or posters in shops in multicultural areas, and in educational institutions, and women's health and childcare centres. Advertising campaigns were considered to be good ways of increasing the participation of CALD women in sport. Those involved with organisations already doing good work in engaging CALD women were seen to need some extra funding for advertising and promotions.
Some women suggested that information about all the sport and recreation opportunities in a local area be compiled, translated and distributed to households. However, others felt strongly that information in the form of booklets or pamphlets would be disregarded. The Muslim women in regional Victoria, for example, felt that discussion groups and word of mouth were the best way to communicate, and that booklets or pamphlets would only be 'thrown out' or 'laughed at'; 'talking is better.. .otherwise they will say 'rubbish' to the information' (Kasi, group 2). Others considered word of mouth, and 'bring a friend' days as more effective ways to engage CALD women.
Other suggestions were to direct information through organisations like Migrant Resource Centres or through community leaders or existing committee structures, with one idea being to have women visit community organisations to talk about sport and recreation opportunities and benefits (Ping, group 4). As Sadia described:
Just go through their committee and say okay, here is you know, how many dollars, organise a group that your women can do, or consult with them... Go straight to women, ask them what they want target them, that's it, you get them participating.
If information was presented in written form, the women pointed out the need for it to be provided in community languages - including language groups with small populations. Tamiko (group 8) for example perceived a need for more information in Japanese:
I think there are some information shortages for Japanese women living in Australia. Mostly because [of] language. ...there is information available but we can't get it... it's not fair. Sometimes I feel I can see the Vietnamese and Chinese and the Indian, and so many languages, everything but Japanese. There's nothing... If you can get that information in Japanese I think it [would] encourage a lot more Japanese women to join.
The Japanese women also felt that obtaining information from workers in sport and recreation organisations in Japanese would encourage them to attend, so they would like information about whether workers or volunteers in various organisations could speak Japanese, or as Suki pointed out:
if I call them and then somebody can speak Japanese, I feel [it's] more easy to go there (group 8)
An African woman (group 6) also pointed out that information about sport and recreation opportunities in Australia could be provided along with information about housing and Centrelink payments as part of settlement programs. Others also pointed out that children were important sources of information for parents. Afia and Zakia's children, for example, encouraged them to be more active and taught them how to exercise, and promoted messages about health to her mother:
I have a small girl, she's four years, she's very serious, she tells me mummy everytime you force me to eat rich food I'm going to become like you. I want to know how to run. [laughter] And when we stop when we are hot, she tells me I'm going to leave you, leave you behind because you don't know how to run. You have to try. You have to run with me. Now everytime they help me with some sports. Together with Zakia we go to the park maybe twice a week with the kids mainly and they teach us, how to run, how to do exercises (Afia, group 6).
Importantly however, the women's perspectives suggest that providing information and advertising, especially in traditional written forms, would be unlikely, on their own, to engage CALD women in sport and recreation. Many of those, especially in the older age groups, were initially hesitant about beginning activities, and needed to be encouraged over time to attend.
Engaging Older Women
'I was a child in Mussolini time. It was greatly encouraged for all children to be in gymnastics. Later on in a refugee camp people used to organise themselves, like soccer. We liked to do something to move.
It wasn't easy to join in [when I came to Australia]. ... Because of the different culture [and] we only had 6 [English] words between us. We couldn't really integrate. There was no encouragement.
By learning the language you find out about things. You know what is available. Then you see the difference in this country to men and women to my country. The women can do more. ... Then you meet friend and they say come and do bowling with me; come and play tennis. My work friends said to play tennis and I did because I love sport.
My daughter teaches belly dancing. My daughter said, 'Why don't you come and do the exercise with the ladies?'
I said 'I don't want to come with the old ladies'. My daughter dragged me. I'm one of the oldest.
Being involved in something is the great part, from which I also get the benefit of the body and the mind by moving. I know when I don't do anything [physical activity] I feel I miss something. I want to be agile.
There are many ethnic groups and there are many women. Let them know the existence of the service. Encourage them to join. Every culture, every language. If they do not speak English it doesn't matter. Just encouragement and awareness. It's the encouragement to participation, the facility and being able to afford it. Transport is another issue.
Sometimes they [women] are missing out because their husband didn't want them to let them go today. We need to work on some culture issues. To [teach women to] be assertive, 'I need this and I'm going to do it'.
They [councils and local government] all say there is no money. If there is money we find instructors, the venue, activities, everything'. (Italian Woman 72 years of age)
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Women-only facilities
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. Affordable, women-only facilities were perceived to hinder the growth of exercise classes for older women in Western Sydney for example, with one woman, involved in organising these groups pointing out that:
They all say there is no money. If there is money we find instructors, the venue, activities, everything (Group 5)
In all of the areas, a shortage of women only swimming time at public pools was seen to limit the swimming opportunities. In regional Victoria, the Muslim women were disappointed that their two hours a week of women-only swimming time was no longer available. Because fewer women were attending the arrangement could not be sustained. However, the time offered (Saturday afternoons) was difficult for them:
There wasn't enough ladies to go, yeah so they had to close it.. .I really loved it... at the start there was lots, but then they kept pulling out... they had the pool open once a week for about 2-3 hours... they were not just Muslim women, they were different nationalities, different people.. .firstly, there was many, like 30, 40, and lots of little girls, but then less and less (Roza, group 2).
In regional NSW, Dhalia called for funding to subsidise ensuring culturally appropriate swimming opportunities.
We closed off the pool for Arabic women, but it wasn't the council pool it was a private pool, you know just for them ...but it becomes, again, money, lucky if there's funding to subsidise the paying (group 10)
Expanding the availability of women's only facilities was also seen as a way to engage CALD women generally, not just Muslim women, with one Lebanese-Australian perceiving that
Even Christian women or atheist women aren't particularly comfortable with men looking at them anytime, as we've discussed. Having more women's gyms, having more times when it's just for women and making it more enjoyable, more accessible for everyone, I think you get a lot of immigrants more involved. (Nadia, group 7)
The privacy of change rooms was also important. As Naja, a young Somalian woman pointed out:
The biggest thing is how good the change rooms are. They have to at least be covered. So somewhere private you can change. Cos like In noticed a lot of the women in Fernwood they come already dressed in their gym clothes. Like us Somali women we dress differently to that, we don't consider that - like we don't consider that the type of clothes we can leave the house in. So we have to change basically down to underwear, that's why it's really awkward in the change rooms and we have to use the toilets. (Group 9)
For those sports played outside in public where privacy could not be completely guaranteed, some of the women pointed to ways privacy could be more effectively managed. Tam, a soccer player and volunteer with a CALD women's sporting program (with a number of African girls) described how she helped manage privacy in public spaces by carefully setting protocols about who can watch, as a way to ensure diverse cultural needs were respected in a team environment:
Where I'm a volunteer a lot of the girls aren't allowed to - aren't comfortable playing around guys, we have to make sure there are- like they don't walk around the parklands, they don't stay and watch, because there not used to playing in front of men... .... we make it clear from the start that it's best not to bring your brother or your boyfriend, or your partner, just because other girls aren't used to it and wouldn't feel comfortable. (Group 6)
Childcare
To address some of the family-related barriers to CALD women's participation, some women identified a need for childcare generally (such as the Somalian women) while others identified a specific need for childcare facilities at sporting venues. Nadia for example, suggested that:
If the government offered subsidies for sporting clubs and gyms for having childcare facilities ... I think that would get rid of a lot of barriers for all cultures (Group 7).
Tasleem also highlighted a need for 'sports venues for people with families ... [that] have facilities for children, like a crèche, or play group area or something' (group 6). The women in group 6 went on to identify how, given the commercial imperative of sporting and fitness providers, it may not be cost effective to target the 'family friendly' niche:
I think in Adelaide it's hard for families just because we're so small. So the aggregate isn't generally big enough for it to be worth it for many clubs and organisations to make things family friendly. (Nadia, group 7)
And from Tasleem:
It's very expensive to make things family friendly. They can make their money on single people, people that don't need the facilities.
Moreover, the women in Group 6 considered whether subsidising childcare at gyms or other facilities might in fact do more to facilitate men's participation, with Elene, for example joking that the likely response of men would be 'No problems honey, I'll look after the kids tonight [gestures handing them over]'.
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Addressing Financial Barriers
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:
Classes are choc-a-block full because the women are paying $3 for a class and they are having the children minded. Those classes are $ 10-15 [if you go to a private gymnasium]. These are women 20, 30 [years old] with little children. Some are unmarried mothers with two or three children. They cannot afford a $10 class. But once a week with child minded for free [and] $3, they can go. (Group 5)
The cost of transport also impacted on the women's participation, especially for the African and Middle Eastern women. Sadia for example said:
The girls I know they would do any sport, any activity if there was transportation and probably, free and we were provided for. Anything like that, you have the cost and the paying- just the fact that there is transportation back and forth, makes a difference. (Group 7)
Setting up Opportunities
The women emphasised the importance of setting up opportunities for CALD women to participate, including setting up ethnically based girls sporting teams (eg a Somali girls soccer team); providing funding for sport promotion programs; providing tickets to CALD women's sporting groups to watch games; providing clothing and footwear to CALD women; establishing sporting scholarships for CALD women and girls; and running community-based cultural events. Michelle, in regional NSW, for example, suggested occasional family days, perhaps run by local councils:
Make [it a] whole day event and it builds up the community, just something local, it's letting the public know that the council is doing something for the community members. (Group 11)
Others saw the need for groups to be included and targeted rather than individuals, as this is how the women preferred to participate:
If you're going to offer them anything, you have to invite the whole group along then they all come. If one person says they're going then everybody else has to come, but if you just invite one person and say nobody else can come, they won't participate in that. (Sadia, group 7)
Naja saw opportunities for cultural events as a way to engage CALD women in activities, while avoiding potential intergenerational differences:
There should be more cultural events then the kids will get more of the culture. Everything will be fine. Everyone will be happy. Because the kids will have fun and they'll get exercise and they'll get socialising and the parents will get culture and they'll get religion and their identity, they want to keep their identity. And also they want to make Somalis to be progressive. So the best idea for an activity is cultural dance. (Group 9)
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Changing Gender Roles
A final set of strategies for engaging CALD women in sport and recreation would address deep seated ideas about women's role in society, and their perceptions of themselves. Tam, a young soccer player from a Vietnamese background, for example, felt a need for:
Redefining women's self-perception, they shouldn't see themselves as solely child-bearers and caregivers, but as humans in their own right who need to exercise, and need to think of themselves rather than just their children... reduce the burden on women so they can spend more time with themselves working on themselves being happy, enjoy exercising and going for walks instead of just being glued to the pram. (Group 6)
Shikha felt that if men shared domestic responsibilities, women would participate more in sport and recreation activities:
I've come from an Indian culture and I've seen some Indian families and I think if men share housework, childcare, and other things, and then impress women to get out and do the physical activity which they would not have done if they were in their own country in India, I mean yeah, it would be almost a preposterous idea to think that a man would allow his wife to go and play cricket in India... A man impressing a woman I think is extremely important by partaking of household duties, and that sort of thing. (Group 7)
Vailea, from a Cook Islander background, felt that:
Men should come in and say 'Hey, we'll take the kids while you go'... That would then encourage us to feel like, 'Yeah, we've got the time' (group 11).