Winning the award in the category of ‘Strengthening Families and Communities'; the City of Stirling, the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Office of Multicultural Interests were recognised for their collaborative efforts and the success of their ‘CaLD Youth Sport, Recreation and Leisure Project'.
"To date, the project has assisted more than 2000 youth and has helped build relationships, strengthen bonds and encouraged acceptance and integration within our community," Mayor David Boothman said.
Department of Sport and Recreation Director General Ron Alexander said the project was a great example of how sport and recreation could be a vehicle for positive social change, whilst it cannot solve all problems, sport can play an important role in building stronger, healthier, happier and safer communities.
Director of Community Development Trevor Holland said the City was extremely proud of being jointly recognised in this category especially when you considered other programs that were nominated in this category.
"Winning this award demonstrates the first rate work the City, the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Office of Multicultural Interests are involved in and how well we work together," Mr Holland said.
"This project is making a huge difference to the community, it really is changing lives."
As stated at the awards, Mirrabooka, in particular the Herb Graham Recreation Centre, is now considered to be the hub of multicultural activity in Western Australia as a result of the program.
However, even more powerful is the lesser-known role sport and recreation plays in communities, where research shows it:
For newly-arrived young people, past trauma and the challenges of settling in a new country can make them vulnerable to social and structural disconnection, which can lead to a range of issues affecting communities, including anti-social behaviour.
The project focuses on suburbs in the City of Stirling, where there is a relatively high concentration of young people from these backgrounds who have low participation rates in organised sport and recreation.
The program directly targets a population group at risk of social disconnection, and works towards a prevention-based solution. In the years 2000 to 2005, a total of 9,184 people settled within the City of Stirling. However, in the past two years, a further 4568 have been welcomed. Approximately 70% of these people are refugees and humanitarian entrants.
Having recently completed its third year, the project is using sport and active recreation as a vehicle to help decrease social tension and at-risk behaviours. These behaviours can result from feelings of marginalisation and alienation often experienced by CaLD young people, which adversely affects their development and wellbeing.
The program is part of an innovative solution to a range of rapidly-growing social problems in our society, based on the integration of people from Indigenous and CaLD backgrounds into their communities.
Simply put, by reaping the benefits of sport and recreation, these young people are more likely to become positive contributors to society, rather than a burden on it.
The program also promotes to community clubs the potential benefits of being inclusive, highlighting opportunities that exist to expand their services by encouraging people of diverse cultures to join.
The success of the project has also prompted DSR to expand its reach in WA by developing a similar program for the local government areas of Belmont, Armadale, Gosnells, Victoria Park and Canning (South East Corridor CaLD Children and Youth Sport and Recreation Project).
National Walk to Work Day (NWTWD) is an event to promote regular walking and physical activity.
The Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association (ANZSLA) will be holding a twilight event featuring Darren Beazley, Director of Commercial Operations for the 2011 Sailing World Championships.
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and Department of Sport and Recreation is pleased to announce that the online Introductory Officiating General Principles course is now available on the ASC Learning Portal.
I'm Terry Waldron, your new sports Minister. Please call me 'Tuck', everyone does and perhaps I'll get the opportunity to let you know about that as I move around the State in the next few months.
The school holidays are fast approaching so it's time to add your events to the Department of Sport and Recreation's Active Kids Holiday Calendar FREE OF CHARGE!
Active 08 is Western Australia’s premier sport and recreation industry conference.
During a recent July weekend, passers-by may have spied a group of women and their children cycling through the beautiful Dwellingup forest.
Consumer Protection has released its revised governance guide for incorporated associations.
Thank a Volunteer Day is fast approaching and will be officially celebrated on 5 December 2008.
Sport and Recreation Minister Terry Waldron opened the administration centre for the South West Academy of Sport in Bunbury on 5 November 2008 and released the review of sport and recreation in regional Western Australia.
Their role is one of the most onerous in sport but when the going gets tough, the whistle keeps blowing, so it was with great pride that the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) honoured Western Australia’s top referees, umpires, scorers and timers at the 2008 Official of the Year Awards.
Water activities, holidays, new toys, travel and festive celebrations are what make summer-time so exciting for children and adults alike. Unfortunately, these factors can also increase children's risk of injury.
The Department of Sport and Recreation's Smarter than Smoking Country Sport Scholarships program was a finalist in the Healthway Excellence in Health Promotion Awards for 2008.
In a coup for the sport of basketball, ABC TV has announced it will broadcast the upcoming Australian men's wheelchair basketball team (the Rollers) in their four-nation international tournament – the Rollers World Challenge.
More than 35,000 people from 170 schools, 80 workplaces and 50 community groups participated in over 300 walk events across the state, during Walk Week – Walk There Today from 3 to 9 November 2008.
The final results from the Global Games are in, with Australia resoundingly winning the medal race.
ANZSLA, the sports law association, with The Australian Government Standing Committee on Recreation and Sport (SCORS) is presenting free forums around Australia aimed at assisting administrators to understand legal issues confronting Australian sport and recreation.
Members of the 2009 Youth Sport and Recreation Committee (YSRC) for the Great Southern region and Metropolitan Perth have been announced.
Many Lions Clubs provide services to sporting and recreational events for a fee which is usually less than that charged by commercial operators. These services include catering and the provision of stewards, marshals and car park attendants.
As parents enrol their children in local teams and community sports clubs swell with adults registering to play their favourite summer sport, government sporting and anti-discrimination agencies around Australia are calling on parents, coaches and administrators at the club level to remember the basic rules of fairplay so that community sporting experiences can be enjoyable, safe and free of bad behaviour.
Bayswater resident Helen Cunningham is the 2008 recipient of the Dr Heather MacGowan OAM Scholarship, awarded as part of The Department of Sport and Recreation’s Western Australian Sport and Recreation Emerging Leaders Program.
A project aimed at getting more young people from culturally diverse backgrounds involved in sport and recreation clubs in the local government areas of Belmont, Armadale, Gosnells, Victoria Park and Canning has been launched.
Registrations open on 18 August 2009 for a new web-based healthy lifestyle program, the Get on Track Challenge, developed to combat the growing rates of diabetes and obesity.
The outdoor adventure industry in WA now has a set of standards for the safe and environmentally sustainable conduct of outdoor activities for groups. The standards represent phase one of the Adventure Activity Standards (AAS) project.
Help to kick start the WA Week 2009 celebrations at a Community Launch on Monday 19 October, or check out the sport and recreation events being held in the regions during WA Week, including the South West and Peel.
If you ask teenagers Joan Porter of Kalamunda, Phillip Beckett of Swan View and Jonna Davis of Forrestfield what they are passionate about, the words ‘sport’ and ‘recreation’ are bound to come up.
It’s that time of year again when the Seniors Recreation Council of WA presents its annual Have-a-Go Day 2009. This year’s event is on Wednesday 28 October at Burswood Park, along Great Eastern Highway, between 8.30am and 3pm.
Worried there's not much excitement left in your school holidays now that Christmas is over?
Need to acknowledge the Department of Sport and Recreation in your promotional material but don't have a copy of our new logo? We've made it easy for you.
2009 Canteen Conference and Healthy Choice Food Expo. FREE Healthway sponsored places still available.
The 2009 International Sports Forum will be held on 13–15 December 2009.
More than one hundred delegates from the sport and recreation industry assembled at Broome’s Cable Beach Club Resort on Tuesday 26 May for this year’s Northern Regions Recreation Conference (NRRC).
The Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) gathered members of the WA sporting officials community for an awards dinner at Perth’s Duxton Hotel on Friday 23 October to sing the praises of the unsung heroes of sport – officials.
Joining a sporting club provides a great opportunity for newly-arrived young people to be a part of Australian society and find a safe place to develop and strengthen their English skills. However, the process of joining a club can be challenging if you don't know where to start.
The Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR) and Central TAFE have worked out a way to get more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) people working in the fitness industry.
Leading Australian experts in healthy weight, physical activity and nutrition, together with around 200 local professionals, met in Fremantle on 18–20 March 2009 to explore different ways to fight the overweight and obesity epidemic in Australia.
Harvey Fresh Footworx is back for the July school holidays, with four days of football fun for kids to enjoy.
Athletes from all over the State travelled to Arena Joondalup in Perth in November 2009 for the annual Western Power Academy Cup competition.
The latest information on the State Government’s construction of a new basketball stadium, athletics stadium and rugby facility at AK Reserve in Perth’s western suburbs is now available online.
Curtin University of Technology has appointed Dr Marian Tye as the inaugural Director and Professor of its Centre for Sport and Recreation Research (CSRR).
The STREET tournament allows players to express themselves and play fast paced, attacking football in a fun and structured environment.
Communities across the State will benefit from new and improved sporting infrastructure following the announcement of the first successful applicants under the new small grants round of the Community Sporting and Recreation Facilities Fund (CSRFF).
It’s official – eight Western Australian sporting officials have shared in $30,000 in funding as part of the Department of Sport and Recreation’s High Performance Officiating Scholarships program.
The Department of Sport and Recreation's (DSR) use of pedal power to help create a healthy, active workplace earned it a nomination in The Australian Bicycling Achievement Awards 2008.
It's Friday 10 July 2009, and on the Point Walter foreshore with the Perth city skyline as the backdrop a select group of young footballers from the Western Desert are preparing for the AFL football game of their lives.
The curtain lifts on the 2008 AFL season and the West Coast Eagles’ big full forward Quinten Lynch is lining up for goal. The glove comes off. The crowd goes wild…Legend Lynchy.
His Excellency the Governor, Dr Ken Michael AC and Mrs Julie Michael, are hosting an Open Day and invite members of the public to explore and experience part of the cultural heritage of Western Australia.
The Diamond Sports Academy was launched on Tuesday 14 July 2009 by the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR).
Members of the Associates Rugby Union Football Club know a legend when they see one, and it’s paid off. The Swanbourne-based club is now $10,000 richer after taking out the top prize in the Local Legends television advertisement competition.
Local sport and recreation events
Three teams representing Western Australia participated in this year’s Australian Open Indoor Cricket Championships from 28 June to 4 July 2009 in Darra, Queensland.
Two Mirrabooka locals are among a group of young people scoring points in the community through their participation in programs run at the Edmund Rice Centre.
The Trails Strategy Implementation Plan is currently being developed to respond to the WA Trails Strategy and we need your help.
Community sporting clubs are learning how to create a child safe and friendly environment through training workshops conducted as part of the Safe Clubs 4 Kids initiative.
They take the kids to training and the game, they wash the teams jumpers, they volunteer in the canteen, cater for special events or they fill a role at their local club, taxi their kids around and they still find the time to cheer them on from the sidelines...Legend Mums!
A search for greater sports knowledge and expertise brought a delegation of coaches and staff from the Bandar Penawar Sports School in Malaysia to the Department of Sport and Recreation's (DSR) Leederville office on Monday 11 May 2009.
The ‘Join a club for your mental health’ message hit TV screens this month (June 2009), with a television advert developed by Mentally Healthy WA’s Act-Belong-Commit team in collaboration with the Department of Sport and Recreation (DSR).
For those computer savvy sport and recreation lovers out there, DSR is now using Twitter and has a widget available for you to download.
The Active 09 Sport and Recreation Industry Conference and biennial Sport and Recreation Industry Awards will be held on 26-27 November 2009.
Elite and junior athletes, local sporting groups, schools and spectators will benefit from the new state-of-the-art athletics stadium officially opened today (26 May 2009) by Premier Colin Barnett and Sport and Recreation Minister Terry Waldron.
Sport and Recreation Minister Terry Waldron has introduced to Parliament significant changes to the legislation governing the combat sports industry.
Becoming an elite athlete throws up as many challenges off the sporting ground as it does on it, so talented young athletes from regional Western Australia were recently given some tips on how to cope with the transition.
The State government through the Department of Sport and Recreation and Lotterywest is a major sponsor of the AFL Women's National Championships in Western Australia.
Sport and recreation programs will play an important role in the State Government's plan to tackle anti-social behaviour in Northbridge.
Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett AC leads a stellar line-up of communication specialists and lobbyists for the latest free seminar to be run by the Department of Sport and Recreation and the Premier’s Physical Activity Taskforce, to be held at the University Club, UWA, on 24 November.
At just on 1400 pages, the Department of Sport and Recreation’s new web site is the largest of its type in Australia.
Running up an $800 phone bill is all part of a season’s work for legendary WA netball coach Julie “Rusty” Hazel.
This year Anzac Day falls on a Saturday and many sporting organisations are unsure about whether they can hold sporting events.
The Anzac Day Act 1960 says sports hosting sporting events for which people pay to watch must pay to the Anzac Day Trust 60% of the net proceeds derived from the holding of those sports events. This does not apply to fitness centres, exercise classes, swimming pools etc.
Even if the sporting events is not profitable, a return has to be submitted to the Anzac Day Trust. The form is available for download below.
Boyd is 15 in a few weeks, he has always been involved in all sorts of sports and he loves it – playing it, watching it, collecting statistics, knowing players' names and faces, looking at books and on the internet. Boyd also has autism.
No words - just have a look.
The Subiaco Oval Remaining Useful Life Assessment report was tabled in parliament today.
The Bundaberg Rum Rugby test match at Subiaco Oval on Saturday night is expected to draw an additional 3,100 visitors to Western Australia, providing a boost of more than $3million to the State’s economy.
Alex Ferrone, 11 has been playing football since he was eight years of age, and loves every second he spends on the pitch.
A major study first published prior to the football World Cup 2006, assesses the impact of local and national sporting success and failure on the UK workplace.
World Parks Day 09 on Saturday 19 September 2009 is an opportunity to celebrate our parks and green spaces.
Allowing greater recreation access to dams, water courses and catchment areas that provide drinking water for Western Australians will be examined by a Parliamentary committee.
People come from far and wide to attend the Aboriginal Seniors Activity Information Day (ASAID) when seniors get together to learn new information about health and join in recreation activities not usually experienced by the group.
Look out on the Duncraig Primary School oval on Friday mornings and you’ll see bobsled Olympian Ted Polglaze aka ‘Bob Sled Ted’ supporting kids who find tackling physical activity at school a little trickier than others - he’s a mentor, a go get ‘em guy, supporter and friend.
The exciting talent of Western Australia’s Indigenous youth will be showcased during a 16’s Indigenous Carnival at Bendigo Bank Stadium (Rushton Park) next Wednesday 30 September 2009.
The annual Great Southern Junior Golf Championship held on Friday 11 September 2009, was the culmination of a series of coaching clinics and attracted approximately 82 juniors under 18 years of age.
DSR and ABC Local Radio Perth are showcasing the value of community, clubs and teams with Drive presenter, Russell Woolf.
The Western Australian motor racing fraternity will benefit from a multi-million dollar upgrade to Barbagallo Raceway.
Based at Herb Graham Recreation Centre in Mirrabooka, the project was designed to encourage diverse young people, particularly those from African and Indigenous backgrounds, to become involved in organised sport, recreation and leisure activities.
Sport and recreation is an integral part of Australia's social and cultural identity, one we indisputably associate with a range of physical, health and social benefits.
This is where the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CaLD) Youth Sport, Recreation and Leisure Project comes into play.
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