REFLECT FORWARD.
In sport, we reflect forward all the time - we reflect on our previous performances, and that of our opponents as we decide how we’re going to approach things going forward into the future.
When it comes to racism, it’s important to reflect on things that have happened, and now it’s time to take those reflections and turn them into something more - action and ongoing impact.
This is not a campaign or awareness initiative - it’s a tangible movement across sport with impact built into it. We want to reach community clubs, schools and the public so that we can ensure that Australian sport is free of racism and inclusive for all.
A framework for all of sport
Every athlete, national sporting organisation and players’ association in Australia is at a different point in their journey when it comes to racism. Some are just learning about it, some are building on years of effort or experience. The role of Reflect Forward is not to judge where anyone is in their journey, but instead help them take the next step in educating themselves and the people that they influence.
The framework of Reflect Forward is made up of three parts - Inspire, Educate and Empower - over time, we’ll be helping sport in Australia shape their policy, voice and initiatives in the area of racism. It’s designed so that any sport regardless of where they are in their journey can get on board and be an active voice in the community. We believe that by enabling sport to inspire their audiences to talk about racism, it will lead to further education around the issues in Australia and create meaningful change in the community.
Inspire.
Racism isn’t a fun topic to talk about, generally nobody goes out of their way to talk about it. We need to inspire people to talk about the topic and through the leadership of sport and athletes we can create an ongoing engagement with racism and build momentum.
Educate.
Australia is still in its infancy when it comes to racism education - resources have been around for years, but they’ve not really helped advance the racism conversation any further. We will put into action a series of efforts that go about increasing racism education in Australia.
Empower.
This is where the change begins to happen - once people are inspired and educated it gives them the tools to act with confidence. This could be on a local level, all the way up to policy and inclusion initiatives that are implemented by national bodies and athletes.
Tangible Impact.
Over time, we’ll be bringing you actual impact metrics of what Reflect Forward has done in the community. We measure this impact in three main ways.
Educating the Younger Generations.
Real change on racism is a generational change issue - our focus is on being able to educate the younger generations about racism so that they understand better from an earlier age. This allows them to take that knowledge through their lives.
Resources for Schools & Clubs.
From April 2021, our education articles will be turned into lesson plans for teachers and schools around Australia - increasing our impact and reach. One of the biggest issues that teachers - and leaders in community sport like coaches and club officials - have is that they’ve never spoken about racism before. We want to give them the tools to be able to do that because it will allow them to practice it on an ongoing basis with kids. Our education articles are already available as PDF’s that are designed to be posted in your clubrooms.
Community Activation.
The more we see influential sporting people and organisations talking about racism, the more normalised the conversation becomes. We’ll work with sport to reach different audiences over time and help them in developing initiatives and strategies that help communities around the country. Soon we’ll see activities
Adding one Australian sport at a time.
What we’re trying to build at Reflect Forward is ongoing action and impact. Taking an ‘all of sport’ approach against racism not only helps present a more cohesive message and stand to the public, but also creates resources that can be shared between sport.
As the company powering Reflect Forward, One Love Australia will be the active driver of the efforts to ensure that the message and impact is happening year-round.