- The Cook government is investing $832,292 in the True Sport initiative
- Program delivered by SportWest following extensive research and community engagement across the sports sector
- Offers free access to best practice e-learning training, face-to-face workshops, e-toolkits and resources
The Cook Government will fund a best practice behavior change program to support the sport sector in creating safe and welcoming environments across community sport, including specific initiatives addressing secondary behaviour, child protection and mental health and wellbeing.
True Sport, a nationally leading program developed through extensive research and stakeholder engagement across the sports sector, is delivered through SportWest and made available free of charge to sports administrators, coaches, volunteers, participants, officials, and club and community representatives.
The funding will enable the development of a new website that will become the central hub for all sports organizations to access tools and resources to support the industry. In addition, an industry-wide employee assistance program will be supported to help administrators deal with difficult and challenging situations, as well as a volunteer assistance program that will respond to local sports clubs facing critical incidents and provide on-site consulting support as needed.
It is expected that the introduction of the program will result in increased participation and retention of community sport participants, including volunteers, as well as improved child protection integrity and management across the sport sector.
State sports associations and their affiliated organizations receive support in addressing the complicated and specialized areas of mental health, behavioral health and child safety.
As Sport and Recreation Minister David Templeman explained:
“I am thrilled to announce $832,292 in funding for this program that will help improve behavior on the field.”
“True Sport is about doing your best, but it’s also about promoting a culture of inclusion, support and positive mental health. Currently, more than 700,000 people take part in community sport each year in Western Australia.
“As we welcome more women, people from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, people with disabilities and other minority groups into our sports groups, we must also ensure they can participate in a way that ensures their safety.”
“This program ensures that everyone involved in community sports has the training and resources to support participants.”
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