Glow Up Central Goldfields LDAT builds belonging through sport

Sport builds the belonging and connection that protect against alcohol and other drug (AOD) harm.

The LDAT is led by Bendigo Community Health Services (BCHS), which has a long relationship with the community through its refugee settlement work. Partners include Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) Bendigo, Sports Focus Bendigo and Victoria Police. By 2024, the LDAT was working on its fourth Community Action Plan (CAP).

Finding the right way to connect

In 2018, YSAS Bendigo saw more young people from the Karen community seeking AOD support, and noticed that many young people weren’t sure how to join local activities like sport. BCHS and YSAS knew that standard AOD messages might not suit the community’s languages or culture, so they looked for another way to connect. Sport stood out because it brings people together and builds belonging, a protective factor against AOD harm.

Removing barriers to sport

People who are new to Australia can face barriers to joining sport, including a lack of culturally appropriate facilities, cost and other practical constraints, and racism. The LDAT built its plan around addressing these barriers.

Building skills and trust first

Before the sport started, the LDAT built skills and trust in the community:

• BCHS ran cultural safety training for YSAS staff on the refugee journey and culturally safe AOD support
• in 2019–2020, two Karen bicultural workers completed a 12-week AOD mentoring program, then ran an engagement activity with 38 young Karen people to hear their views on AOD and settlement
• the LDAT created AOD print and audiovisual resources in Karen, including on vaping (see the vaping toolkit)
• in March 2022, BCHS hired Bendigo’s first Karen AOD recovery worker, who connects with people at sporting events.

Community leadership is central to the program. Nido Taveesupmai, Refugee Project Worker at BCHS, is a leader in the Karen community with lived experience, and the community trusts BCHS through its long settlement work.

Working with clubs and police

After community consultation and planning, BCHS and Sports Focus Bendigo co-designed the program with local sporting clubs and police. The LDAT ran capacity-building sessions so clubs and police could welcome participants, some of whom were visiting a sports club for the first time.

More sports, more people

The program started with soccer, volleyball and cane ball, a Southeast Asian sport similar to volleyball played without hands. Each year it added more, including golf, basketball, badminton, netball, lawn bowls, rowing, tennis and swimming.

By early 2024:

• 1,323 people had taken part since 2019, including 45 volunteers
• the LDAT’s third CAP had reached 347 people in 2022 and 2023
• four capacity-building sessions had run with Victoria Police and two soccer clubs
• South Bendigo Bowls Club had covered social memberships for six Karen community members, with club members sponsoring three more to play for 12 months.

Participants said they’d built communication and sports organising skills, and now knew how to register for sport and which clubs to join with their families. One participant, who grew up in a refugee camp with no river, said they could now bring their children to learn to swim.

In 2023, the program was a finalist in Victoria’s Multicultural Awards for Excellence. A reference group meets every two months to keep it meeting community needs, with Sports Focus, Victoria Police, YSAS and BCHS Karen staff. The Karen Organisation Bendigo and the Bendigo Karen Youth Network help engage participants and promote events.

Advice for other LDATs

Kaye Graves, Senior Leader – Refugee and Cultural Diversity at BCHS, and Nido shared this advice for LDATs planning a CAP with young people:

• understand your community and the barriers people face to taking part
• work with lived experience leaders and community members, who know the community best
• hold focus groups to learn more about the community’s needs
• make sure education for parents and participants is culturally appropriate
• stay in regular contact with participants
• keep a reference group involved to guide the program
• evaluate what has and hasn’t worked, so the program keeps improving
• thank and acknowledge your volunteers.

For more ways LDATs use sport, see How community sport helps prevent alcohol and other drug harm.

Last reviewed: 6 November 2026