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The National Indigenous Sports Foundation (NISF) was today launched in a bid to improve opportunities for indigenous people through sport.
NISF chairman Wayne Coolwell said: “A voice for our First Nations communities in sport has finally been established in this country.
“The National Indigenous Sports Foundation (NISF) will advocate for, and strive to achieve, better outcomes for indigenous people within the sports industry, particularly in the area of health and well-being,” said Coolwell.
The NISF believes more needs to be done for indigenous people and organisations in remote and isolated regions. Allowing their voice to be heard is a priority for the NISF.
An experienced and highly committed board as well as two patrons Rob De Castella and Marcia Ella Duncan are collaborating with many other sporting groups from across Australia to begin this process.
The NISF was borne out of the national indigenous sports summit held in Melbourne in 2017 where 80 black and white delegates from throughout Australia came together to discuss the problems confronting First Nations people in sport, and whether a national body would be a positive outcome.
An immediate priority project for the NISF will be to conduct research into the status of indigenous sport across metro, regional and remote communities. The project will identify what sport programs, facilities and resources are available and what the major barriers to participation are.
The NISF also wants to explore the possibility of creating a truly national, indigenous sports museum, and re-establishing the national aboriginal sports awards.