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Deaf Sports
MOVE IT AUS Australia
PARTICIPATION
GRANT
28 December 2022
Royal Commission into Violence, Abuse, Neglect and Exploitation of People
with Disability
A submission by Deaf Sport Australia
We welcome the opportunity to provide a submission on behalf of our organisation that serves deaf and hard of hearing Australians who participate in sport on any levels (from grassroots to elite and national to international competitions).
This submission is informed by decades of lived experience as deaf or hard of hearing Australians, organised sport experience, research, shared stories and facts and shares systemic experiences of abuse, neglect, discrimination and lack of acknowledgment that we are equal members of the Australian society, with specific focus on sport and physical activity participation and opportunity.
We will conclude with recommendations on how an Australian society can gainfully achieve better sporting experiences and outcomes for deaf and hard of hearing
Australians,
Summary background on Deaf Sport Australia
Deaf Sport Australia (DSA) was established in 1954, but our sport history through formal and informal deaf sport clubs and organisations goes back to the 1880’s. As community of people, we have 140 years of lived experience in sport and physical activities whether it be a deaf cricket club playing in the deaf or local competition; deaf individuals participating in school sports, Little Athletics, football, netball, tennis and the many other sports on offer; or being a member of a national or international Australian Deaf team competing in a sport event in Australia or overseas.
“Deaf people come together because, psychologically and linguistically, such communion provides the most comfortable environment in which to gain social gratification,” (Nemcek and M6kusova, 2020).
DSA has 16 National Deaf Sport Organisation and 6 State / Territory Deaf Sport Organisations as members. Our work includes supporting deaf and hard of hearing students in schools across Australia and also providing platforms for sport competitions such as our Australian Deaf Games and participating in International Deaf Sport events such as the Deaflympics or World Deaf Championships.
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Our purpose, through our unique programs, show that participation in sport and recreation is a crucial strategy in addressing physical fitness, social interaction, wellbeing and overcoming isolation, depression and obesity among all people including those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Our goal of increasing participation is managed through effective leadership and management of the organisation; providing accessible sport development and participation programs; encouraging and contributing to the promotion and growth of deaf and mainstream sport participation; and, fostering and developing ongoing and meaningful relationships with all stakeholders (eg; families, schools, sport organisations and government).
Our work aims to empower deaf and hard of hearing people / children through sport leadership, good governance and participation opportunities; support our member organisations; improve our overall services giving clear pathways of best practices and support at the ‘community coalface’ where Board, staff and members can demonstrate improved benefits in sport participation and wellbeing.
We have a Board and staff that comprises of a majority of people who are deaf and hard of hearing and very capable of providing oversight, good government, management and support to ensure our organisation is relevant to our members and operationally and financially sustainable. We are funded by both our national and state governments to provide sport programs and awareness training as needed. Later in this submission, we will highlight a serious systemic lack of recognition and understanding from governments in the funding support they provide.
Who we are One in 6 Australian’s have a hearing loss (Hearing Care Industry Association, 2017), which equates to over 3 million people in Australia. Australian Hearing statistics (2019) tell us there are over 12,000 Australian children up to the age of 21 who have a hearing loss.
Deaf and hard of hearing Australians, like all others, enjoy sport and physical activity where there is an opportunity to participate. We wish and want the right to receive the same physical, mental, and social benefits from participating in sport and physical activity as those not having a disability. However, more often than not, Deaf and hard of hearing Australians have not had optimal access to sport participation and opportunities in the same way as others.
Deafness impacts on a person’s life in many ways and a healthy, confident and participatory lifestyle is dependent on many factors including:
- Hearing loss
- Communication
- Family
- Health and Wellbeing
- Education
- Social participation
- Sport participation 2
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- Community Attitudes, Awareness and Inclusion practices
- Accessibility
- Equality - access to the same as all others
- Technology
- Government Policies and Funding We are a strong advocate of the social model of disability where “what ‘disables’ our community is lack of access to appropriate methods of communication within the community to enable them to effectively participate in the community, and the public attitude towards them in general and in everyday situations, and various legislation and policies do not promote the inherent dignity of the individual as effectively as possible” (Deaf Australia).
In sport, all of these factors listed above apply and can affect access to participation and opportunities. Some of the key factors will be addressed further in this submission to highlight the many difficulties and barriers deaf and hard of hearing individuals and Deaf organisations such as DSA face.
Systemic neglect, abuse and discrimination in sport participation and opportunities for deaf and hard of hearing Australians
While there are many decades of personal stories of individual neglect, abuse and discrimination experienced by deaf and hard of hearing Australians in a sport participation context, we believe these experiences are symptomatic of a system wide problem. As such, our submission will be more powerfully addressed through the experiences of our community as a whole.
- Hearing loss World Health Organisation (WHO) defines the impacts of hearing loss as being “broad and can be profound. They include a loss of the ability to communicate with others, delayed language development in children, which can lead to social isolation, loneliness and frustration … lack (of) sufficient accommodations for hearing loss (which) affect academic performance and options for employment.”
In a ‘hearing world’, the ability to hear makes it possible to detect and understand environmental sounds, identify the source and where the sound is coming from, and, most importantly, to recognise and understand spoken language.
Imagine where the lack of ability to hear impacts on a person’s life experience with family, at school, on the sport oval, in the workplace and out in the community.
Deafness affects people differently and each are defined by their life experience. It is also known as an invisible disability where it is not obviously seen ‘on the person’ in comparison to a person with a physical disability.
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There is a mountain of evidence and recognition that discrimination occurs because a hearing society excludes deaf and hard of hearing people. Our society is not organised in a manner that is inclusive of deaf and hard of hearing people and excludes by historically prioritising audio forms of communication.
Deafness impacts communication, cognitive skill development and mental health
- successful integration in life is dependent on the personal, family and education support and understanding of providing and managing positive life experiences that will overcome myriad barriers.
Sadly, for many deaf and hard of hearing Australians, lack of hearing awareness, lack of appropriate early intervention and education support and information services, inadequately supported sport pathways, inadequate government policies and funding, and lack of systemic inclusion practices means that many are not often able to achieve their potential and capabilities.
Active and positive participation in sport is impacted by hearing loss and the ability for a deaf and hard of hearing individual to manage these barriers.
- Communication In the 2015 UK Deaf Sport survey, “Communication was identified as the top barrier that prevents deaf and hard of hearing people from taking part in sport.” It is not only the ability of a deaf or hard of hearing person to communicate confidently and effectively whether that be in Auslan (Australian Sign Language), speech or both that helps manage the ability to participate in sport, it is critically the ability of sport organisations, hearing peers and officials on the sport field to ensure their communication is accessible, understood and enables positive outcomes
A recent 2022 survey conducted with our DSA AFL Auskick program for young 5
- 12 years old deaf and hard of hearing children in Queensland found some of the parents responses indicated that they very much welcomed an accessible sport program that provided access to their children’s communication needs, presented Deaf or hard of hearing role models as leaders and ensured the sport program accommodated their needs. Critical elements they could not find in a local Auskick program where they were concerned their child would opt out of the sport due to frustration with communication and lack of awareness.
This is a common finding and experience among many deaf and hard of hearing young kids and adults and seniors.
Lack of communication access affects mental health, creates isolation and risk of depression. The inability to participate in sport and achieve your personal goals impacts on confidence and achieving their potential. There are many personal stories shared from deaf and hard of hearing people who believed they had the skills to achieve at high levels in their chosen sport but were denied due to inability of sport clubs, coaches and their hearing peers to support them in
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providing good communication access in all aspects of the sport program (training, coaching, playing, team meetings and social interactions).
An important bridge to supporting communication are Auslan interpreters and live captioning services. Interpreting and captioning have now permeated Australian society recognising the important need to enable access to any community activity whether it be education, the workplace, community events, arts and health. Interpreting and captioning is available in sports, however it is not a funded program. If DSA wants to instigate a meeting with the Australian Sport Commission or Government or National / State Sport organisations, we have to pay for the Interpreting and captioning.
Our funding from Government (and Australian Sport Commission), does not include additional funding for these services. Interpreting and captioning are access channels, not services we provided. This means we have to find other funds to cover these costs or reduce our operation costs which impacts on our service levels or plead with the other parties we are meeting to cover the costs. Some national sport organisations are not well funded and not able to assist.
This is discriminatory and despite advocacy efforts, it severely reduces our program development and capabilities to reach out and bridge the sporting and communication gaps and achieve our strategic goals.
Deaf and hard of hearing do want to have the best of both worlds being able to participate in a deaf sport program or club as well as play in a local club or mainstream sport program. However, unless mainstream sport addresses their lack of communication access, inclusion and awareness, they are discriminating against deaf and hard of hearing Australians who want to play sport and have a pathway to high level competitions.
- Education The ability for schools to successfully integrate deaf and hard of hearing students into their environment will positively impact on their ability to enjoy sports and physical activities.
Sadly, for most schools (both Deaf and mainstream schools), sport is not seen as a critical program element that helps all students with their social and mental wellbeing as well as sport development and interests.
Whether it is in the family, school or sport setting, lack of access and support will lead to risk of poor mental health, isolation and depression.
The federal government sponsors a major school sport initiative called “Sporting Schools Program (SSP). This well-funded program ($40 million in 2021-22) offers grant opportunities for schools to “support the delivery of sport-based programs to help students build the confidence and capability to be active for life.” Schools
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will interface with national sport organisations (NSO’s) to arrange a sport program for their students.
DSA is now part of this program, however, the current application process does not allow schools with deaf and hard of hearing students to directly include DSA as the sport program provider. Schools must go through an NSO and then add DSA to their program. Because including DSA is an ‘add-on’ feature not obvious in the application process, these schools miss out on the opportunity to include us and utilise our experience and skills in sport program delivery or partner experience with NSO’s.
This means that schools with deaf and hard of hearing students are not successfully taking advantage of the funding available and deaf and hard of hearing students miss out on the opportunity to develop their sport experience in an accessible and culturally appropriate environment.
SSP have been informed of this disadvantage that schools with deaf and hard of hearing students face however, it cannot be rectified until a change in their application interface program until late in 2023. This is not acceptable and discriminatory with deaf and hard of hearing students, once again falling behind.
- Sport participation Sport participation can have a profound effect on a person providing an avenue to develop personal skills, confidence, social, communication and leadership skills, mental and physical health and enjoyment in playing. Australia has a strong culture in sport being an iconic part of our society and we are encouraged from an early age to participate. To develop and gain these skills and personal benefits, sport has to be accessible.
As teenagers, we often start to decide on particular sports that we enjoy and want to get good at with a possible focus on achieving elite level participation. This requires not only sport skills, but importantly psychological and mental skills and toughness as well as self-motivation and support from the family and coaching team. Communication and personal skills are key elements to supporting this goal set. If a deaf and hard of hearing person does not have access to a robust communication support system to help develop these critical skills it is unlikely they will achieve elite level participation or success and they may opt out. Sadly there have been so few deaf and hard of hearing Australians achieve elite level sport such as Olympic and Commonwealth Games - while we applaud their amazing achievements which they have done through being naturally gifted and resilient despite the barriers, the gap between those few high achievers and the rest is large.
While we have not yet researched the participation rate of our deaf and hard of hearing population in sport anecdotal evidence indicates it would be similar to survey results found in an UK study (2015) where only 10.1 % of deaf and hard of hearing adults were participating in a sport activity at least once a week. An
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Australian study is urgently required to accurately measure sport participation rates to enable us to act on any shortcomings.
This is scary and a real concern that not only are there risks with mental and physical health and well-being of deaf and hard of hearing Australians but also risk of obesity.
For 140 years, many deaf and hard of hearing Australians gravitated to Deaf-run sport programs “where they are not isolated by communication barriers or seen as being different or abnormal because of an inability to hear.
By providing deaf people with a means by which their social and psychological needs are fulfilled - in a way which is absent from their daily lives amongst a hearing majority who do not fully understand them, or with whom communication is at best limited - deaf sport can provide the emotional rewards“ (Hadziefendic M & Mahmutovic, E. 2018).
Sadly, the value of deaf sport programs is seen as ‘lesser’ than mainstream sport participation in regard to funding of state, national and international Deaf sport programs and competitions. Historically, this was because deaf and hard of hearing Australians were not visible to having access and funding needs that enable better participation in sport at any level.
Despite decades of advocacy by our Deaf Sport Organisations, people who are deaf and hard of hearing, their families and those who support and advocate with them, there has been little substantive change in the experiences of deaf and hard of hearing Australians in Australian sport. DSA has advocated or better recognition of deaf sport programs being a critical bridge to participation in mainstream sport programs - unfortunately, on a federal level, this has not been acknowledged.
We know other disability sport programs aligned with the Paralympic Games are well funded and pathway supported, however our participation in the Deaflympics Games, an IOC endorsed international sport event for Deaf people globally is not endorsed by our Federal Government. Deaf sport programs and activities have been occurring for over 140 years, yet there is no nationally funded pathway program to develop and sustain it. In our view, this is an abuse and discriminatory for not recognising that deaf and hard of hearing Australians have the same rights as all others to participate equally in all sport pathways.
A sport pathway program from grassroots to elite level for deaf and hard of hearing Australians needs to be funded and supported by the Sport Industry and Governments to ensure that deaf and hard of hearing Australians are no longer at risk of mental and physical health concerns as well as obesity.
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- Community Attitudes, Awareness and Inclusion Practices Deaf and disability awareness and inclusion practices training in the sport industry is a growing phenomenon. Sport Organisations and clubs are slowing becoming aware of being accessible to a diverse community.
This is a positive sign, however there is a common expectation from the Sport Industry that DSA should be providing this at negligible or no cost. Providing Deaf Sport Awareness and Inclusion Practices training requires our time and skills as well as preparation work to facilitate. On top of this, with deaf and hard of hearing trainers, we require the engagement of Auslan interpreters to assist with communication bridge.
‘Damned if we do or damned if we don’t.’
We want to be able to educate and train our Sport Organisation peers so that deaf and hard of hearing sports people can have access to those organisations and sport programs, but not to our detriment and cost and risk of not being an ongoing sustainable organisation.
National Sport Organisations have an obligation to be inclusive and welcoming to deaf and hard of hearing sports people and while some have accepted this challenge, most have not.
Until we have an industry wide and government supported program that supports provision and funding of Deaf and disability awareness and inclusion practices training, we will be at a disadvantage and not seen as equal partners in sport this is discriminatory.
- Technology Assistive Technology plays an important role in providing equal access to sport events where audio is a requirement for the sport event. This includes athletics and swimming where there are start guns.
For decades until 2005, deaf and hard of hearing swimmers and athletes only had access to a flag start for races while their hearing peers could focus on the start gun. The difference in timing between a flag and start gun is milliseconds however it can mean the difference between finishing first or second or breaking a record.
In 2005, the Melbourne Deaflympics Games was held and start lights system was created and integrated to work with the audio start guns in swimming and athletics. For the first time in Australia, our Australian and International deaf and hard of hearing swimmers and athletes could enjoy equal access to the audio signal.
Despite showing this significant development to governments and national Sport venues to encourage them to make their venues accessible, it fell on ‘deaf ears’. DSA was not going to give up and we retained the 2005 access equipment and
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ordered the development of a new set of start lights for athletics in 2011 and provided the equipment to major sport venues for use at their championship events.
Due to cost ($10-15,000 per set), swim and athletic venues were reluctant to consider them despite acknowledging that they provide equal access. This was
clearly discriminatory and neither nor ■■■■■■•,
wanted to support us to advocate for mandatory access at major venues across Australia.
The onus is still on our organisation to continue this advocacy work. We took the initiative to gain a Queensland Government grant in 2022 to help facilitate access for Queensland athletic venues and also to be used as a training tool. This is great but not the long-term solution. Venues have to be responsible for accessibility.
How can deaf and hard of hearing swimmers and athletes achieve their goals without having accessible start tools so they can compete equally with their peers.
- Government Policies and Funding Sport policy and related funding play a critical role in fostering and developing participation in sport and physical activities in Australia. For years, governments (federal and state) did not value deaf sports as part of a national or state sport program or a conduit to promoting sport participation as a health and wellbeing consideration.
While this is changing for the better slowly, more quickly at a State level, at the national level it is too slow.
Deaf Sports is not part of Australian Sport Commission’s High Performance program therefore deaf and hard of hearing athletes do not have a supported incentive to aim for to reach the top level in sport. As mentioned earlier in this submission, providing access to the sport pathway from grassroots onwards will significantly benefit our mental and physical health, build confidence and self esteem, reduce isolation and obesity and have a positive social and economic impact due to gaining higher education and better employment prospects.
The recent launch of the 2032 High Performance Sport Strategy by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is a welcome development but we do not yet understand how this strategy provides long term solutions to the current barriers we are confronted with and outlined in this submission. We need to be a direct part of the strategy evolution and implementation for this to be seen as a partnership for positive change.
Over the last 15 years our yearly operational grant from the Commission has been $85,000 pa - it has not increased despite the increasing demands from the national and wider sport community for accessibility and
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inclusion advice / support or additional Sport Australia/ Sport Integrity Australia/ National Sport Tribunal compliance tasks and the ever-increasing demands of the deaf and hard of hearing Australian community demanding improved participation in sport at all levels.
The funding has allowed the employment of only one full-time staff member who has been supported by hard working volunteers and a Board of Directors.
That we are the largest sector of people with disabilities, our proportion of Sport funding ($85,000) is only 5.5% of funding (current total annual funding $1,535,000) provided to all the National Sport Organisations for Disabilities. It is clearly inequitable and discriminatory.
Recommendations
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That the Federal Government and Australian Sport Commission acknowledge the important role and place of deaf sports in the supporting all deaf and hard of hearing Australians to enjoy full and accessible participation in all sport and physical activities;
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That the Federal Government and Australian Sport Commission adequately fund Deaf Sport Australia commensurate with their stated objectives including supporting the Australian Sport Commission with improving sport participation outcomes for all Australians;
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That the Federal Government and Australian Sport Commission acknowledge the Deaflympics and World Deaf Sport Championship events as an included component of the High Performance Sports program and 2032 High Performance Sport Strategy;
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That the cost of access such as Auslan interpreters and live captioning to facilitate sport programs and training being funded by Governments as an access cost support on top of sport grant funding;
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That the Australian Sport Commission work with Deaf Sport Australia and the Federal Department of Health to urgently fund an Australian study to accurately measure sport and physical activity participation rates among deaf and hard of hearing Australians to enable us to quickly act on any shortcomings and provide long term solutions;
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That the Federal Government’s Sporting Schools Program urgently create adjustments to their application program to enable schools with deaf and hard of hearing children have direct access to Deaf Sport Australia sport program options:
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That the cost of providing Deaf, Disability Sport Awareness and Inclusion Practices training to the Sport Industry be funded by Governments as a necessary industry wide inclusion program initiative on top of sport grant funding;
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That the Federal and State Government’s work with the Australian Sport
Commission, Deaf Sport Australia and other National Sport Organisations for
Disabilities (NSODs) to develop an assistive technology funding program to ensure that deaf, hard of hearing people and people with disabilities have access
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to accessible competition equipment at recognised sport events across Australia, particularly swimming and athletics.
This submission aimed to capture critically important barriers and discriminatory policies and practices that do not enable deaf and hard of hearing Australians to equally participate in sport activities and opportunities.
We believe the recommendations above will facilitate positive change and help Australia become a better and more inclusive society for all.
We are happy to discuss the submission as needed.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a submission and we wish you well with your challenging tasks ahead.
Phil Harper
General Manager
Bibliography
Deaf Sport Australia (2020) Letter to Minister for Sport, Senator Richard Colbeck.
Deaf Sport Australia (2022) Letter to Minister for Sport, Hon. Annika Wells.
Deaf Sport Australia (2020) National Disability Strategy Position Paper: Deaf Sport
Australia response.
English Federation of Disability Sport (July, 2015). Deaf and hard of hearing people call for more accessible activities in new research.
Foster, R; Fitzgerald, H; & Stride, A. (2018) The socialization and participation of Deaflympians in sport. https://epri nts.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/id/epri nt/5450/3/TheSocializationand Participationof DeaflympiansinSportAM-FITZG E RALD.pdf
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Hadziefendic,, M & Mahmutovic, E. (2018) Interests of deaf and hard-of-hearing students for sports. Human Research in Rehabilitation. The International Journal for interdisciplinary studies 2019, Vol. 9 (2) 48-54
Nemcek and M6kusova, 2020. Position of sport in subjective quality of life of deaf people with different sport participation level Physical Culture and Sport. Studies and Research, 2020, 87, 1-8 DOI: 10.2478/pcssr-2020-0014
UK Deaf Sport (2015) Deaf and hard of hearing people call for more accessible activities. https://ukdeafsport. org. u k/deaf-and-hard-of-hearing-people-call-for-more accessible-activities/
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