Upskilling the community sport volunteer workforce to respond to child abuse in sport: a collaborative research project

Dr Aurelie Pankowiak, Institute for Health and Sport, Victoria University

Dr Mary Woessner, Victoria University
Prof Alex Parker, Victoria University
A/Prof Fiona McLachlan, Victoria University

Sport presents unique challenges in preventing and responding to child abuse that may occur in this context. The Australia community sport sector is predominantly comprised of volunteers – in combination with an underfunded sector and the time-poor nature of volunteering, ensuring that the workforce is appropriately trained is challenging. This is problematic from a child abuse prevention and broader public health perspective, given the majority of Australian children play sport at a community level.

This study will build upon a recent national survey that aimed to assess sport volunteers’ readiness to effectively respond to child abuse within the community sport context. Building upon the survey findings, this investigation aims to co-design innovative and evidence-based interventions and initiatives to increase the capacity of the sport volunteer workforce to safeguard and respond to child abuse.

This project will use a range of participatory methodologies, including a world cafe forum with 50 end-users, extensive lived experience consultation, and resource development.

It is anticipated that, beyond the findings from the national survey, this project will produce a report on upskilling the community sport volunteer workforce, a series of recommendations for industry, and a practical guide on involving people with lived experience in prevention and response efforts.