💡 Local Government Area Model

Building Internal Local Government Connections 

Internal Connections – Your Local Government Area (LGA) will have teams of people who work in different departments who you can connect with. They might make your job easier because they already have relationships with local sports clubs and schools, and disability service providers. 

Get to know everyone from your team. This will help you build confidence, help you know who to go to with questions and where to seek support from.  

Every council is slightly different. So, look to work closely with your Sport & Recreation Officer. They manage all the council sporting facilities, associated clubs, and in some cases schools that you will want to target. 

You may be based in another team like community planning, instead of Sport & Recreation etc. so be ready to make internal connections with various departments. 

Your direct supervisor will support you with building these connections. One way to approach this is by asking for an introduction in person or via email and spend some time getting to know the people and what they do. 

Ask who the right connection or team within council is to connect with schools, as it may not always be youth services. 

Consider connecting with the following teams (your LGA might have different names for these teams): 

• Sport & Recreation team – Sports clubs involved with LGA 

• Inclusion & Diversity Team – Access and Inclusion support  

• Disability Officer  

• Aboriginal Liaison Officer  

• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities Officer 

• Youth Services – school connections and youth groups within your LGA  

• Youth Council  

• Schools  

• Day Services 

• Age Services – connection with aged groups and older people  

• Aged Care  

• Social Groups – Probus, Pensioner Groups 

• Disability Advisory Committee – Group of people with disability from your local community.  

• Inclusion Working Groups – Introduce yourself to their coordinator, these groups may have different names, but will focus on inclusion and accessibility for people with disability, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, LGBTIQ+ Communities and Gender Equity in your LGA.  

• Other groups – Ask your Local Government contact for advice of who else you can connect with LGA for advice and support e.g., Youth Network Meetings, Local Schools, or Education related Network Meetings 

Building Connections Outside of Local Government 

External connections are people, groups, and organisations that will support you and the clubs and schools you work with to connect people with disability to sport. These organisations might work in the disability sector or more broadly work across inclusion, for example: Disability service providers, LGBTQIA+ gender diverse communities, multicultural groups, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Some organisations might already be doing great inclusion work that Sport4All can compliment. Connect with different organisations outside of the council to build relationships and support your role. Consider connecting with the following organisations. 

• State Sporting Organisations (SSO) – These teams manage the sports at State level. Council should have good relationships with them.  

• National Sporting Organisations (NSO) – These teams manage the sports at National level. Check with your state manager before contacting an NSO. 

• Disability Specific Sporting Organisations – These teams manage Disability sport both at State and National level° Disability Sport & Rec Victoria° Disability Sport Australia° Blind Sport Australia° Paralympics Australia. Again, check with your state manager before contacting a DSSO 

• Local Sporting Organisations – These teams manage the sports at your Local area/ region, Council should have good relationships with them. 

• Recreational clubs, private clubs and Organisations – Scouts, Guides, social clubs, play groups and clubs not connected, contacted or affiliated with council, for example, martial arts and dance clubs. 

• Disability Service Providers – These teams support the daily lives of people with disability in the community, managing their National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) support funding and care needs. Check with your council Diversity & & Inclusion teams for an introduction and which provider is best to speak with.  

• Education Related Groups – These teams manage school sports ° Australian Council for Health, Physical Education and Recreation (ACHPER)° State School Sports° Girls Sports in different states 

Check with your council and state manager for connecting with these groups 

As other Inclusion coaches, state managers or the National Manager may already have relationships with and/ or connections with the SSO’s and NSO’s, be sure to check in with the Sport4All Team first before making contact. Its also important to note that in some cases there will be a designated contact for your area and in other cases there will be one designated contact across the state. You can also refer to your manager for support 

There are also external groups for LGA’s to work together and share information. These groups are great to learn what each other are doing and share what great things you are doing at your council. Example: LGA inclusion Network meeting. Discuss with your Sport & Rec team and your Disability Inclusion Office on whether they relate to any of these networks.