Latest news with #communitysport
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
Trangender inclusive sports guidelines had positive impact for community
Rugby NZ says the guidelines had been valuable to the organisation. Photo: ©creativenature / 123RF The removal of guidelines for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport will further alienate people from participating, a member of a health advocacy group says. Rugby NZ says it's been using the advice and found it very helpful and valuable. The government has ordered Sport New Zealand to scrap its work on guidelines for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport. It has also removed the document from its website. First published in 2022, the guidelines do not dictate what individual organisations can decide about participation but they have been available on Sport NZ's website, providing advice based on health research and testimony from those with lived experience. Last year then-minister for sport Chris Bishop asked Sport NZ to review the guidelines for "safety and fairness" and update the principles. The current Minister for Sport and Recreation Mark Mitchell said the government has decided to leave decision making to individual sporting codes and there was nothing wrong with the content in the guidelines. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said it was about consistency and safety. Member of the Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa, student nurse and football player, Avery Zavoda, told Checkpoint she was incredibly disappointed to hear the guidelines were being scrapped altogether. "I feel like the previous advice from Sport NZ was robust and it helped smaller sport clubs and organisations with their inclusion policies as well as also providing guidelines around bullying, discrimination and harassment. I was really sad to see that all of those had been removed now," Zavoda said. Sports Minister Mark Mitchell. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii The "overarching principle" of the document was inclusion. "Every New Zealander has the right to participate in sport and to be treated with respect, empathy and positive regard. Transgender people can take part in sports in the gender they identify with," the document said. The guiding principles were based around: The principles were not mandatory and were not rules or criteria, as Sport NZ noted it would not be possible to provide a one-size-fits-all approach across every code. Despite not being mandatory, Zavoda said the guidelines were beneficial to small clubs who may not have the resources to do their own research into best practice guidelines. "It's taking away a tool that community sport organisations can use to know that they are doing the right thing by their community." Zavoda said she struggled to find a social football team and organisation running the tournaments that would be respectful. "I know many other people have struggled as well. Even though there... was guidance from Sport NZ about our inclusion. "I certainly feel that those guidelines had an impact, I felt like there was more that could be done, taking steps forward rather than now taking steps back and I know that this decision will lead to the feelings of many trans and non-binary people to further feel alienated from being able to play sport - a critical key in health." National's coalition with New Zealand First contains a commitment to "ensure publicly funded sporting bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules relating to gender". Asked about NZ First saying scrapping the guidelines aligns with the party standing up for "safety and fairness" in sport Zavoda said: "This is not elite sport, it's not about an advantage, you're playing casual community sport, like the kind that you or I should be able to go to, and in that community sport you have a diverse range of physiques, builds and that's across both trans and cisgender people." RNZ also spoke to Lenny, who said the point of community sport is to have fun and the removal of the guidelines just excludes people. "I know it's a divisive thing, transgender people in sport, but all we want to do is be the people that we want to be and be allowed to do that." Lenny said the experience of playing sport as a child was unpleasant. "Going on a sports field, feeling completely overwhelmed and isolated around all these screaming boys just being boys and...I would just stand around on the field not knowing what to do and trying to avoid everybody, so it's not a fun experience." Waikato University's Holly Thorpe, who helped draft the guidelines, said they were written because sports clubs wanted some help. "Sport NZ and our community sports clubs and organisations all want inclusion, they want everybody in New Zealand society to have access to supportive, inclusive, safe environments to participate. "This decision today is not a step towards that." Labour's rainbow issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert has labelled the decision a step backwards and said "this government keeps on kicking people down", and the Human Rights Commission has called this a "sad day". Green Party spokesperson for Takatāpui and Rainbow communities Benjamin Doyle said the directive showed the coalition had once again failed rainbow communities. NZ Rugby says it had been using the advice and found it very helpful and valuable. NZ Rugby's head of participation for community rugby, Mike Hester, told Checkpoint moving forward, the organisation will be guided by values and also by the voices of its participants. "They provided quite a lot of useful advice around how to understand the issue, how to... improve the awareness of some of the challenges that go in the space, so some of that advice was really useful and I think others in the sector have found it useful to help guide their thinking in this space." The guidelines had confirmed a lot of the issues NZ Rugby needed to think about as it moved forward with a community position. Asked if it was important people could play on a team that aligns with their gender, Hester said a key part of community sport was being able to access it and participate in a way that was important to each individual. "We would always feel inclusion is a really important value in rugby, it's a game for all shapes and sizes, everybody's welcome" he said. Ensuring safe participation was also something Rugby NZ would need to think about moving forward, he said. Hester was asked if Sports NZ saw allowing people to play with a team that aligns with their gender as inclusion over fairness, as suggested by NZ First leader Winston Peters. "When we spoke to our communities about this matter over the last couple of years, the themes that came through, particularly from participants in the women's category... what was really prominent was inclusion and safety," Hester said. "Fairness was less prominent for them because in the community space it's actually about other motivations to participate."
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
Midday Report Essentials for Thursday 24th July 2025
sport health 7 minutes ago In today's episode, polytechnics are cutting more than 500 courses and nearly a thousand jobs so they can stand alone financially once mega-institute Te Pukenga closes; A year into a four-year contract worth $24 million, the government is wanting more out of the youth mental health programme, Gumboot Friday; An academic involved in the process of creation of Sport NZ's guidelines for making community sport more inclusive for transgender people, says it's disappointing they've now been scrapped; Consumer NZ is airing some dirty laundry on Thursday with a claim that three detergents are no better than water.
ABC News
7 days ago
- Sport
- ABC News
Alice Springs council reverses ban on Central Australian Football League finals at Traegar Park
A remote community football league will play its finals series in Alice Springs next month after the town council reversed a decision to ban the games for two years. Last August, the Alice Springs Town Council banned the Central Australian Football League bush competition from playing finals games at Traegar Park for two years. It came after the competition's grand final match coincided with a spike in crime. Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson said the majority of the council voted to reverse the ban, but he was not in favour of the motion. "We made the original decision in August last year for a reason, nothing's changed," he said "Council have effectively rescinded an earlier decision and I think all that hard work and all that hard stuff that council have to do is now being let off. "I appreciate that we've all got differing views, but for me it's community footy, it should be played in community." The council voted to reverse the ban after the head of AFL NT, Sam Gibson, wrote to the council earlier this month. In the letter, Mr Gibson identified ways to mitigate the concerns of the council and proposed the football games again be held at Traegar Park. "[AFL] is a key pillar of positive social engagement and community cohesion throughout the Territory," he said. "To achieve a safe, fun and engaging finals series, AFL NT requires an appropriate venue. "Community venues do not have the appropriate infrastructure such as change rooms or secure fencing." Mr Gibson wrote that "in the unlikely event that an incident was to occur", Traegar Park's high fences provided a better option for crowd control and a safer environment. He said remote communities lacked access to "adequate wrap-around supports" and "services that are required with the influx of people". Mr Gibson also highlighted a number of risk mitigation strategies to encourage community members' "positive social behaviours and safe travels home" after the finals games finished in Alice Springs. Councillor Allison Bitar was in favour of the finals ban in August due to "planning and safety" concerns, but this week changed her mind and was among the councillors voting to reverse the ban. She said after reading AFL NT's proposal, she felt assured mitigation methods would keep community residents in community and reduce antisocial behaviour in town. "Last year [the finals] were played back to back, this year we've got an additional week between each game," she said. "AFL NT have also worked with charter companies so they'll be able to help people return home in between those games as well. "Plus they've also got some programs happening out at communities in the weeks following [the finals] that means there is a reason to go back home rather than stay in town." Additionally, she said some of the finals games would be live streamed in communities to minimise the need for community residents to travel to Alice Springs to see the game. The Central Australian Football League bush competition's finals series will go ahead at Traegar Park next month. A preliminary final will be played on August 10 and the grand final will be held on August 24. Both games start at 1pm. Mr Paterson said he hoped the AFL NT's mitigation strategies were effective. "I really do want people playing football ... I hope it goes seamless on the 24th of August and the 10th of August and AFL NT can say 'I told you so' and I'd be happy for that," he said.
RNZ News
7 days ago
- Sport
- RNZ News
Morning Report Essentials for Thursday 24th July 2025
sport life and society 22 minutes ago In today's episode, the government has directed Sport NZ to scrap its guidelines for how to make community sport more inclusive for transgender people; A scathing review of Nelson Hospital has found the persistent delays in recruiting medical staff has been compounded by ageing infrastructure and increasing demand for service; A new government report warns the number homeless people in New Zealand has increased at a rate researchers believe is faster than population growth; The Wall Street Journal is running a story saying the US Justice Department told Donald Trump his name is among many in the Epstein Files; Australia has taken out the top title in this year's Trans-Tasman Best Tasting Tap Water competition, beating New Zealand's Timaru; Sam's Butchery, in the Auckland suburb of Silverdale, has officially claimed the crown for the country's best bacon.
RNZ News
23-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Government orders Sport NZ to scrap transgender inclusive community sport guidelines
Minister for Sport and Recreation Mark Mitchell. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Sport NZ is ditching its guidelines for the inclusion of transgender people in community sport, after direction from the government. It has also removed the document, which the government originally asked it to review and update, from its website. Labour has labelled the decision a step backwards, and is questioning why the position changed from updating the principles to removing them entirely. First published in 2022, the document asked sporting bodies to consider a set of "guiding principles" to make participating in community sport more inclusive for transgender people . But last October, then-minister for sport Chris Bishop said sporting bodies were "grappling with a tricky issue," and asked Sport NZ to review and update the principles . Former Sport and Recreation Minister Chris Bishop. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii National's coalition with New Zealand First contains a commitment to "ensure publicly funded sporting bodies support fair competition that is not compromised by rules relating to gender". In 2023, New Zealand First campaigned on making any publicly funded sporting body "that does not have an exclusive biological female category, where ordinarily appropriate" ineligible for public funding. Announcing the review, Bishop said the principles did "not reflect legitimate community expectations that sport at a community level should not just be focused on diversity, inclusion, and equity, but also prioritise fairness and safety". The completed review was handed over to Bishop's successor Mark Mitchell. Rather than an update, the government has now told Sport NZ to stop all work on the guiding principles and remove them altogether. "After considering the review, the government has informed Sport NZ that it should not be involved in publishing guidelines related to gender in sport," said Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle. "Sporting organisations will continue to make their own decisions on the participation of transgender people in community sport and there are a range of expert organisations that can provide support," she said. Sport NZ chief executive Raelene Castle. Photo: Photosport / Andrew Cornaga Earlier this month, the Save Women's Sport Australasia group published an open letter to Mitchell, urging him to "dump" the guidelines. "Their continued existence creates unnecessary conflict for national sporting bodies, particularly those reliant on Sport NZ funding, who may feel pressured to adopt these guidelines despite their misalignment with international federation policies," the letter said. The group previously met with Bishop and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters , in the weeks leading up to the announcement of the review. Labour's rainbow issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert said removing the principles was a step backwards, and the government was kicking people while they were down. "It's about enabling organisations to keep people safe, to support people, and most of all create inclusive environments. But here we have the government removing and excluding people from playing sport, and that's not acceptable," he said. He said there was no evidence for removing the guidelines, and Sport NZ had not raised any issues with them. "Sport NZ has always advocated for the inclusion of trans people in sport, no matter what age they are. We want people to be involved, we want all New Zealanders to be playing sport. Most of all, we don't want people excluded and I don't think that's what New Zealanders expect either." He questioned whether there was a "political trade-off" with New Zealand First in order to remove the principles, instead of update them. "Sport NZ, they did want inclusivity, and I absolutely agree with that. Why has that position changed?" Labour's rainbow issues spokesperson Shanan Halbert. Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver The "overarching principle" of the document was inclusion. "Every New Zealander has the right to participate in Sport and to be treated with respect, empathy and positive regard. Transgender people can take part in sports in the gender they identify with," the document said. The guiding principles were based around: Each principle had its own series of suggestions, such as providing private spaces in bathrooms, using gender-inclusive language, and establishing robust anti-harassment codes of conduct. The principles were not mandatory and were not rules or criteria, as Sport NZ noted it would not be possible to provide a one-size-fits-all approach across every code. The guiding principles did have a section on safety, noting "the gender identity of a player does not create a danger or risk to safety" and "transgender players, as with all cisgender players, are diverse and varied in their height, weight, strength and stamina". It said mismatches or significant disparities may contribute a risk to safety, depending on the sport, but various sports had age and weight restrictions to reduce mismatches or any subsequent injuries that may arise. RNZ has approached Mark Mitchell for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
