Winning Medals with Equity and Diversity: A symposium championing equity and diversity in Paralympic sports
Winning Medals with Equity and Diversity: A symposium championing equity and diversity in Paralympic sports
Friday, 8 November 2024, 9 am–3:30 pm, Online Event
This symposium, hosted by Griffith University’s Inclusive Futures: Reimagining Disability, as a member of the Queensland Para Sport Network, brings together interdisciplinary researchers, community partners, and athletes to amplify the vital role equity and diversity can play in improving the performance of Paralympic teams and enabling athletes to compete at the highest possible standard.
The symposium will explore equity and diversity in elite paralympic sport through the lens of exercise and sport science, social justice, tourism and leisure, sport management, disability rehabilitation and inclusion. Building toward the Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2032, this is a key opportunity for participants to incorporate the pillars of equity and diversity into their performance programs and research to drive performance.
EVENT SCHEDULE
9.00 am – 9:10 am
Opening Remarks/ Housekeeping
Master of Ceremonies: Ella Sablijak
9:10 am - 9.40 am
Keynote Introduction: Winning Medals with Equity and Diversity
Presenter: Natalie Charlton
9:40 am - 9:50 am
Questions
9:50 am – 10:00 am
10-minute break
10.00 am – 12.30 pm
Performance Priorities Lightning Round
10:00 am – 10:25 am
Gender Equity and Paralympic Sport
Presenters: Dr Georgia Munro-Cook and A/Prof. Adele Pavlidis
10:25 am – 10:30 am
Questions
10:30 am – 10:55 am
Optimising Participation and Performance for First Nations and CALD Athletes
Presenter: Dr Kerry Hall and Dr Diti Bhattacharya
10:55 am – 11:00 am
Questions
11:00 am – 11:25 am
The Paradox of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Paralympic Classification
Presenter: Prof. Sean Tweedy
11:25 am – 11:30 am
Questions
11:30 am – 11:55 am
Equity and Design Thinking in Technology Innovation for Improved Performance
Presenters: Prof. Laurent Fossard and Matthew McShane
11:55 am – 12:00 pm
Questions
12:00 pm – 12:25 pm
Creating Environments to Optimise Performance of Athletes with High Support Needs
Presenters: Sharon Hill and Rachel Watson
12:25 pm – 12:30 pm
Questions
12:30 pm – 1:15 pm
45-minute lunch break
1:15 pm – 1:30 pm
Performance priority poll
1.30 pm – 3.00 pm
Panel Discussion: “Ethical Decision Making - Inclusion Versus Equity?”
Panel Members: Michael Dobbie-Bridges; Ben Newton; Robyn Smith
- How can we create a cohesive sport system and strong pathways for para-athletes by centring inclusion?
- How do inclusion and equity factor into our legacy planning?
- What is the role of policy in driving inclusion and equity?
- Brisbane 2032 – quality or quantity?
3.00 pm–3.30 pm
Closing remarks: Best Practice in Equity and Diversity to Drive Performance / Building Environments to Optimise Performance
Presenters: Prof. Simone Fullagar and Prof. Brendan Burkett
3.30 pm
Event concludes
Concluding poll
MEET OUR SPEAKERS
Meet our Master of Ceremonies — Ella Sablijak
Fresh off her bronze medal performance with the Australian Steelers, Ella has graciously agreed to be the Master of Ceremony for our symposium. Ella has more than 15 years’ experience in elite sport at an international level – representing Australia in both Basketball and Wheelchair Rugby. She is the current Education Manager for Paralympics Australia, with positions on the International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) Athlete Steering Committee, Paralympics Australia’s Athlete Commission and WADA’s Athlete Committee.
Gender Equity and Paralympic Sport
Presenters: Dr Georgia Munro-Cook and A/Prof. Adele Pavlidis
During our Performance Priorities Lightening Round we will be discussing the important issue of gender equity and paralympic sport. Our presenters on this topic are Dr Geogia Munro-Cook and A/Prof. Adele Pavlidis, from the Sport and Gender Equity Research Hub. Georgia has successfully represented Australia in Wheelchair Basketball and is now a champion of promoting intersectional approaches to promoting positive experiences for women in disability sport. Adele’s work focuses on gender and power relations, specifically connecting social, cultural and health concepts in sport to drive inclusion. She is currently leading an international team to investigate mega-sport event sport participation legacies and experimenting with ways of co-creating knowledge with girls, women and non-binary people.
Optimising Participation and Performance for First Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Athletes
Presenters: Dr Kerry Hall and Dr Diti Bhattacharya
During our Performance Priorities Lightening Round we will be discussing how to optimising participation and performance for First Nations and Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Athletes. Tackling this important issue is Dr Kerry Hall and Dr Diti Bhattacharya. Dr Kerry Hall is a proud descendant of the Kuku Thaypan, Kuku Warra and Lama Lama Peoples from Cape York Peninsula. Her work aims to address access, engagement and inequity issues specific to First Nations Peoples through collaboration and prioritising community voices and perspectives. Dr Diti Bhattachyarya’s research relates to how sporting practices and fitness cultures can be used as a social conduit through which marginalised communities as experience a sense of belonging and community. Her current expertise in sporting geographies and social inclusion is being applied to her Postdoctoral Research Fellow role working on an ARC Discovery Project titled 'Engaging Outsiders in Sport: Transforming Major Sport Event Legacy Planning Through a Co-Creation Approach'.
The Paradox of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Paralympic Classification
Presenter: Prof. Sean Tweedy
During our Performance Priorities Lightening Round we will be discussing the balance between equity, inclusion and fair competition during our “Paradox of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in Paralympic Classification” session. We are very fortunate to have Professor Sean Tweedy, the Principal Investigator for the International Paralympic Committee’s Classification Research and Development Centre (physical impairments) available to reflect on his decades long career developing best practice and evidence-based methods for allocating athletes to classes. Sean leads the Para Sport and Adapted Physical Activity Research Group in the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, University of Queensland and is a proud member of the Queensland Para Sport Network for Performance Enhancement and Applied Research board.
Equity and Design Thinking in Technology Innovation for Improved Performance
Presenters: Prof. Laurent Fossard and Matthew McShane
Technology has unlimited potential to optimise performance – it also has the potential to create inequities due to issues with access, acceptability and affordability. During our Performance Priorities Lightening Round we will be discussing Equity and Design Thinking in Technology Innovation for Improved Performance. Tackling this important issue is Laurent Frossard and Matt McShane. Laurent is a bionic limbs scientist passionate about developing ground-breaking prosthetic solutions to improve life of individuals suffering from limb loss. Prof Frossard was the Sport Biomechanist for the Australian Para-athletic team between the Sydney 2000 and Beijing 2008 Paralympic games. Internationally recognised as independent expert, he approaches bionic solutions from an all-rounded perspective integrating prosthetic biomechanics, clinical benefits, service delivery and health economics. Matt is an Industrial Designer with a passion for co-designing technologies to improve the lives of individuals with a disability. He is an Australian Paralympian and World Champion with more than 8 years’ experience in elite sport.
Creating Environments to Optimise Performance of Athletes with High Support Needs
Presenters: Sharon Hill and Rachel Watson
An individual’s environment can either be a positive and enabling force or a barrier for participation and performance. So how do we ensure an individual’s environment enables maximal participation, particularly for individuals with high support needs? Tackling this important issue is Sharon Hill. Sharon Hill is a volunteer who is passionate about driving the expansion of inclusive sport on the Sunshine Coast through Reverse Inclusion to encourage more social interaction between able-bodied people and those with disabilities. Sharon is a recipient of an Honorary Senior Fellow Award from the University of the Sunshine Coast for her dedication to inclusive sport. Sharon has tripled the Suncoast Spinners membership and created opportunities to employ people with disabilities for programs such as coaching local school children to play wheelchair basketball irrespective of their abilities.
SAVE THE DATE
Friday, 8 November 2024
9 am–3.30 pm
The symposium will be hosted online on Microsoft Teams.
This is an accessible event with live captions. Auslan interpreting is available upon request.
Register now: https://forms.office.com/r/LBHEY9iktm
CONTACT US
Inclusive Futures: Reimagining Disability
inclusivefutures@griffith.edu.au
Dr Kelly Clanchy
Program Director – Bachelor of Clinical Exercise Physiology
Griffith University
k.clanchy@griffith.edu.au
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