One new way of advancing diversity and inclusion in your club is by using the 7 Pillars of Inclusion resources developed by Play by the Rules.
To develop the framework, conversations were had with a range of practitioners and policy makers across different targeted population groups. Questions were deliberately broad and open-ended, such as ‘what does inclusion mean to you?’ or ‘what does inclusion look like for you?’ Gradually, common themes emerged and the ‘words of inclusion’ arose.
It became clear that, regardless of what the focus was, people were talking broadly about the same things. The details of implementation were different – the strategies to address Indigenous disadvantage differed markedly to those for people with disability. And the complexities of gender inequality are different to cultural disadvantage. But, the broad view of inclusion – the ‘big picture’ issues – were very similar. The 7 Pillars of Inclusion were born…
About 7 Pillars of Inclusion
The 7 Pillars of Inclusion is a broad framework to give sports clubs and associations a starting point to address inclusion and diversity. The 7 Pillars model is about giving you a ‘helicopter’ view of inclusion which looks at the common elements that contribute to creating inclusive environments that reflect the communities that we live in. The seven pillars are:
- Access
- Attitude
- Choice
- Partnerships
- Communication
- Policy
- Opportunities
Watch this video to get an overview of 7 Pillars of Inclusion or print off the infographic to help you learn more.
The 7 Pillars Framework has been adopted by a number of national and state sports organisations, but could equally be applied to your local club. A practical way to use the 7 Pillars is to get together with the key decision makers of your organisation and work through each Pillar and assess where your organisation fits. 7 Pillars will assist you with identifying your strengths and weaknesses around inclusion and diversity and help you along the path to creating a strong, inclusive culture for your club.
Play by the Rules has a range of resources that will help you understand and take action using the 7 Pillars of Inclusion.
To find out more how Swimming Australia, Netball Australia and the National Rugby League are using 7 Pillars of Inclusion as the basis for their diversity and inclusion philosophy and activities in their sports check out Inclusion and Diversity Examples.
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Access
Access is both physical and attitudinal. Here, we briefly consider physical built access and then focus on how to create a more accessible, welcoming environment in your club.
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Attitude
Attitude is often cited as one of the biggest barriers and underpins all the pillars of inclusion. Without doubt, a positive attitude goes a long way to making inclusion a reality.
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Choice
Sport is not ‘one size fits all’. The focus for clubs should be on finding practical ways for all people to participate in sport at a level of their choice. Inclusion is about providing this range of options.
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Partnerships
Inclusion rarely happens in isolation. For inclusion to work you need to have effective, mutually-beneficial partnerships.
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Communication
Effective communication is critical to the success of inclusion. Inclusive communication means you may need to change your habits and adapt your methods on how you speak and listen to existing and new members.
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Policy
For inclusion to become part of core business for any sport or club there needs to be a firm commitment and responsibility to member protection and complaints resolution. This is best done in the form of policy.
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Opportunities
New opportunities in sport don’t happen by chance. Often, we need to make practical changes to what we do so that all people get a fair go.
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