Page 988 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 April 2014
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There is no place for discrimination of any type, be it racial, religious, homophobia or transphobia, whether it is in the school playground, on the sports field or in the workplace. I know that the Canberra community and, indeed, all Canberra sporting codes will embrace the new campaign, just as they gave support to Minister Barr’s campaign in 2010. I thank Dr Bourke for bringing on this topic for discussion today and agree with the importance of combating homophobia and transphobia in sport.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development, Minister for Sport and Recreation, Minister for Tourism and Events and Minister for Community Services) (4.02): I also thank Dr Bourke for bringing this matter forward today. It is one of great importance. The ACT government is committed to dealing with all forms of harassment, discrimination and bullying in sport, whether that is based on race, sex, sexuality, gender, identity or any other characteristic. Quite simply, there is no place for harassment, discrimination or bullying in sport. To this end, the government has funded the inclusive sport project which aims to build the capacity and capability of sports to manage and minimise inappropriate and unethical behaviour within their organisations.
Work on this particular project started in June last year and will continue throughout 2014. Components of the project include research and analysis of the member protection policies of our triennially funded state sporting organisations, the development of resources, the rollout of training and education and awareness raising campaign activities. In determining the structure of the inclusive sport project, research was undertaken to determine what work had been done nationally and internationally to address these issues.
The Writing themselves in reports find that the abuse of men is an issue in sport. The 2005 Australian study found that same-sex attracted young people felt the least safe at sporting events. However, pleasingly since that time, there have been improvements. The more recent 2012 study found that sport was identified where they had experienced the least amount of homophobic abuse. So real progress is being made, Mr Assistant Speaker.
LGBTI athletes are largely silent and invisible in Australian sport, which contributes to them feeling excluded and isolated. I think it would be fair to say that there is an unwritten “don’t ask, don’t tell” rule that contributes to this silence and to this isolation. The use of homophobic language and name calling obviously has a negative impact on an individual’s health and wellbeing, as do other forms of homophobia and transphobia abuse and discrimination. The use of derogatory terms in sport is all too common and can certainly result in individuals feeling hurt, ashamed and excluded, which obviously impacts on an individual’s ability to enjoy and perform to their ability in any sporting setting.
Writing themselves in 3 identified strong links between abuse and feeling unsafe, excessive drug use, self-harm and suicide attempts. The government is very keen to work with LGBTI communities and to ask how we can navigate through the sports environment and avoid individuals experiencing discrimination, harassment and bullying.
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