Disability Sports Australia (DSA) has launched a free, online course to champion greater accessibility within local sporting clubs and leisure providers for people with disability.
The new Accessibility Champion Course is proudly supported by the Australian Sports Commission and will be available via their Learning Centre.
The course is designed for those new to the disability space, helping them start the journey, by providing some simple steps to becoming a more accessible destination.
Disability Sports Australia (DSA) is one of Australia's nine (9) National Sporting Organisations for people with disability (NSODs), who all share a common purpose to improve the lives of Australians living with disability through sport and leisure activities.
DSA CEO Murray Elbourn said the launch of this free course was a significant step in fulfilling DSA's primary objective of enabling more Australians with disability to be more active, more often!
"The Accessibility Champion course has been developed by Disability Sports Australia and is supported by the Australian Sports Commission to offer Community sports clubs and leisure providers a first understanding of disability. Once clubs and providers understand disability, they will be in a stronger position to deliver a welcoming product to participants in that space.
"Disability Sports Australia strongly believe that having a club or provider certified every two years, resourced and supported by nominating Accessibility Champions within their organisation will be the change needed, to enable Australians with disability to be more active more often" Mr Elbourn said.
Australian Sports Commission (ASC) CEO Kieren Perkins OAM has welcomed DSA onto the Australian Sport Learning Centre platform (Learning Centre).
"I'm delighted to see Disability Sports Australia become the latest organisation to make use of this invaluable platform to educate the community and champion greater accessibility for people with disability," Mr Perkins said.
"Everything we do at the ASC is through the lens of ensuring sport has a place for all Australians, and this free online course is central to being able to support and provide leadership across the sector.
"The Accessibility Champion course joins free resources including Director Education courses, the community coaching course and a Community Officiating General Principles course that have all been incredibly popular on the Learning Centre since being launched.
"With DSA joining a number of national sporting organisations already established on the Learning Centre to upskill their communities, I'm looking forward to seeing more sports making use of our innovative learning platform in the future."
DSA enlisted the help of several Paralympic legends, with Louise Sauvage OAM PLY, Chris Bond OAM PLY, Katie Kelly OAM PLY and Melissa Perrine PLY all contributors to the course.
Louise Sauvage, an ambassador for Disability Sport Australia, said she was very excited to see the launch of the new Accessibility Champion Course.
"Any opportunity to educate and make inclusion more accessible for those with a disability is a step forward. I want everyone to have the chance to be more active in their own community and not have any barriers, to feel included and welcomed to any program is a wonderful feeling of belonging." Louise said.
The Accessibility Champion Course is a key link to DSA's National Referral Hub. The National Referral Hub provides a central entry point where people with disability can connect and engage with the sport, leisure and disability sectors to become more active. After completing the course, sporting clubs and leisure providers can choose to become certified which allows them to be listed on the Hub.
Over the coming months, DSA will deliver even more resources to support Accessibility Champions. DSA also has plans to develop more short courses to compliment the Accessibility Champion Course.
DSA's new Accessibility Champion Course is housed on the ASC's Learning Centre and can be accessed here.
