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Connecting athletes with First Nations communities and helping them become advocates within their sport.

The Share a Yarn initiative aims to provide Australian Elite Athletes with meaningful opportunities to connect and build relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and learn more about the differing cultures, lands, histories, and people within them.

It aims to provide a platform for athletes to then share these learnings and advocate within the sporting community, and wider Australian community.

To Share a Yarn is to encourage collaborative, respectful, and honest communication between participants; building trust, fostering accountability, and providing a safe place to listen and learn.

AIS Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Share a Yarn program ambassadors Natalie Curtis and Nic Kyriazis, and AIS Community Engagement Officer Beki Smith discuss the importance of the program and the First Nations athlete mentors who will work with athlete ambassadors to create meaningful connections between sport and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

#InThisTogether

Through programs like #ShareAYarn, we are committed to our reconciliation journey for all Australians. We recognise the outstanding contribution Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islanders have made, and continue to make to sport. We denounce racism in any form #InThisTogether.

Program outcomes

01

Athlete Ambassadors have increased knowledge of the traditional owners of Australia, the land, their history, and their culture

02

Initiative encourages and supports organisations/initiatives in the community aiming to close the gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

03

Initiative encourages and supports change in the sporting system in Australia for better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Athletes

04

Athlete Ambassadors share learnings as a role model in the Australian community

2024 First Nations Cultural Connection Program Ambassadors

2024 Mentors

Share a Yarn Map

The AIS Share a Yarn Initiative presents the Share a Yarn Map as a resource for High-Performance sport; to facilitate learning, and a respect for the traditional owners of the land in which the system operates and athletes train and compete.

Share a Yarn Map

Contact:

For further information about this program or opportunities to be involved please contact Community Engagement Advisor, Beki Smith, via beki.smith@ausport.gov.au.

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