Athletics Australia supports YES stance

Athletics remains the most fundamental and ageless of sports - running, jumping, walking, throwing, and rolling – accessible to all. Athletics, as one of the truly global sports, welcomes all abilities, ages, races, and genders.

Athletics Australia’s values are based on inclusiveness, equity, and fairness. Consistent with our values of inclusiveness and equality, we are constant in our reflection that all Australians should have access to athletics, and the opportunities provided by our wonderful sport.

We appreciate that this is not always the case. In remote communities, for example, proximity to facilities as well as cost can be challenging at times.

Australia’s Indigenous people represent the oldest continuing culture in the world - in excess of 65,000 years. The richness and diversity of Indigenous culture in Australia is something we should all take pride in as a nation. Yet, Australia’s Indigenous communities are also amongst the most disadvantaged groups in the country originally founded by them.

Indigenous athletes have participated in formalised athletics in Australia since its early years, prominently and successfully engaging in “pro running”, and many, led by the late Percy Hobson, have also long excelled at the highest level globally.

Athletics Australia’s community engagement programs across the country since the 1980s have provided many younger Indigenous Australians with opportunities to participate in athletics in their communities, along with the opportunities available through the performance pathway programs.  

Supporting The Voice to Parliament is consistent with Athletics Australia’s commitment to supporting improved outcomes for Indigenous people through athletics. There is a natural link between sport and positive health outcomes, and we believe The Voice is a mechanism for relieving some of this serious inequity and to help Close the Gap.

The commitment to be involved continues our own reconciliation journey, a process which is ongoing through our Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan.

Participation in athletics in Australia is extensive and diverse. We are conscious that our position may not align with all members of our athletics community, and we respect that each person will vote in accordance with their beliefs at the referendum. We encourage members of the Australian Athletics Family who have not yet formed a view, to be well informed.

Jan Swinhoe                                                                      Peter Bromley
President                                                                            CEO

Resources

Uluru Statement from the Heart

In 2017, over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Delegates from all points of the Southern Sky gathered in Mutitjulu in the shadow of Uluru and put their signatures on a historic statement. The Uluru Statement From The Heart addressed to the Australian people invited the nation to create a better future via the proposal of key reforms. This included enshrining a First Nations Voice in the Australian Constitution.

Posted: 26/7/2023