Interview Highlight: Dane Cross - CEO from Sporting Wheelies QLD

Three-quarters of Australians with disabilities experience barriers from engaging in sport. Peter Greco hears from Dane Cross about the difficulties such as the availability of tailored programs and special equipment. Also with the end of the financial year coming up, how you may be able to help.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:04):
Well, some fascinating research, maybe some concerning research regarding people
with disabilities and their opportunities to get into sport. Let's
chat about it with the chief operating officer or Sporting
Wheelies Queensland de cross de Grace to catch up. Thanks
for your time.

S2 (00:19):
Thanks very much for having me, Peter. It's great to
be speaking again.

S1 (00:21):
This is quite concerning, isn't it? Some three quarters of
people with disabilities that want to get involved with sport
are finding that their barriers.

S2 (00:29):
Yes, at's unfortunate fact. Uh, but the stats, uh, do
tell a grim story around, you know, that disparity between
people who are actually participating in sport and then those
who want to participate in sport but can't due to
those barriers?

S1 (00:46):
So don't tell us a bit more about the barriers.
I guess some are physical, maybe some are, um, psychological,
or people lacking awareness, or other people that have maybe
a bit bloody mindedness and don't want to include people
with disabilities.

S2 (01:00):
Yeah, that's right. The the attitudinal factor comes into play
when we talk about barriers. But you know, there are
those those two elements. We've got the, the, the I
used two words when I talk about access and inclusion
and and they are those two words. What can be.

S1 (01:15):
Done about it.

S2 (01:16):
When I talk about access and inclusion I, I use
those two related words. But you know, the the access
side to me is around the physical access, the access
to premises. Can I get in there? Can I use
the bathroom? Can I access the playing field. But then
the flip side or the or the co-related, you know,
element is the inclusion. And that's the attitudinal stuff that

(01:37):
comes in. Yeah. There are still stereotypes and stigmas around
people with disability in sport and whether or not they
can participate. And so the the inclusion element needs to
come in. And, and that's an educational and awareness piece
that needs to also come into consideration.

S1 (01:55):
And that's an ongoing kind of piece as you call it.
I mean, you know, people with disabilities like us been
talking about this sort of thing for years and years,
but there's kind of a re-education and a reintroducing and
a reminder that needs to take place.

S2 (02:09):
That's exactly right. I think that that that ongoing piece, um,
that education, the re-education, that there's new people coming into the,
into the field and, um, all the time, you know,
it's new start, it's casual staff and, you know, and
everyone needs to become more and more aware of this

(02:29):
as we go on this. You know, we in the
sporting space have this big, uh, light at the end
of the tunnel being the, uh, the 2032 Olympic Paralympic
Games in Brisbane and, you know, the Queensland Premier or
the previous Queensland Premier and the current one have stated
that they wanted to be the most accessible and inclusive

(02:51):
games ever delivered. But for us to achieve that, we
need to start now in educating people around what is
access and inclusion and what does it look like.

S1 (03:02):
You're just like an athlete, so they don't sort of
turn up on the day. You've got to do the
groundwork beforehand. You talked about attitudes towards sport and people
with disabilities. I guess things like the Paralympics coming up, uh,
in a few weeks time, it's probably going to make
a difference. I was talking to someone a bit earlier
and saying, what a great job channel nine did last
week with the swimming, uh, titles and the qualifications there

(03:23):
for all for all swimmers. But, you know, in particular
for athletes with disabilities, I guess more of that can
kind of only, uh, pardon the pun, but open people's eyes.

S2 (03:32):
Absolutely. I think that that's exactly right. The more that
we expose, you know, the general community and make disability normal,
which which it is, it's a normal part of life.
The more that people are aware that, you know, people
with disability have this amazing capacity and that their skill
sets that people with disability bring to to their chosen sport,

(03:56):
to their chosen field, you know it and that that
people without disability may not have or experience. So yeah,
we definitely have some, um, some, some work to do,
but the more that we can do those types of
great things like the exposure that channel nine and given
and the Paralympics will give in in a couple of
weeks time, the better off we'll all be.

S1 (04:17):
One of the interesting things about something like this is
it's kind of yes for elite athletes. It's really, really important.
And they're going to be a great event. Uh, or
any Paralympics is going to be a great event. But,
you know, the ill effects on people's health and people's
disabilities and their health of not being able to participate,
even just in fun kind of activities, uh, that's that

(04:38):
can have a big impact as well.

S2 (04:40):
Absolutely. Yeah. The statistics around people with disability and the
health outcomes for, for people with disability, I think is
around nine times nine times more likely to have, um,
chronic disease, uh, conditions like diabetes, etc.. Uh, and, and
it can be tied back to the barriers in which

(05:01):
people experience in accessing. Healthy sport and active recreation pursuit,
though it's, uh, it is something that is an issue. And,
you know, the more that we can involve people in
sport or people with disability in sport, the more that
we can address these chronic health issues. Yeah.

S1 (05:20):
So I kind of read that. I thought that that's
that's an alarming figure. But I guess when you think
about it, it kind of does make sense. And of course,
then you've got the extra burden of, uh, financial costs
to the community, not just to the individual, but to
the community of, you know, the ongoing cost of things
like diabetes or heart disease, etc., etc.. So, you know,

(05:41):
a bit of investment, uh, early doors can maybe save
some cost down the track.

S2 (05:46):
That's exactly right. I think prevention is always better than
the cure. So the, um, you mentioned cost as a
barrier to participation in sport. And you're right. The, um,
you know, for example, as a wheelchair athlete, a wheelchair user,
a wheelchair athlete, um, you can't just buy a pair
of running shoes from the local store and, you know,

(06:07):
all of a sudden you're in the running team. It's about,
you know, going out, getting getting specific adaptive equipment, like
a like a sports wheelchair, for example, that costs, you know,
a basic sports wheelchair costs about $7,000. But you can't
just jump into a sport without significant investment. I think

(06:27):
that's where us as an organization supporting really, really support
some of these, um, people with disability into sport, whereby
we can provide that equipment to them to to get
introduced to a sport, to try a sport, to find
that sport that they love before investing heavily into the space.

S1 (06:48):
It's a great point. And of course, we'll come back
to that in a second. But also you've got the
kind of, uh, mental health costs or the mental health
issues that can arise from either being excluded or you
get depressed because you can't get out and about. You've
got the sort of social social interaction that you miss
out on as well. If you're not being included.

S2 (07:06):
Well, that's exactly right. So there's the physical health benefits,
but then there's the mental health benefit that sport and
active recreation brings. And it's yeah, it's that social interaction.
It's the the release of endorphins and the, the, the
the good feeling you get from being active. Uh, and
and the, the, the interaction with community, with your teammates,

(07:29):
with your sport. Uh, is is that. Yeah. Brings that wonderful, um,
mental health benefits that we're speaking of.

S1 (07:38):
Dan, we spoke to you before. You shared some of
some of your kind of, uh, life experiences with us.
But that lived experience is so important. So when you
kind of, uh, you know, dare I say, preach or
when you're trying to speak to people about things like this,
your message has got a bit more gravitas than, you know,
someone who might some, uh, have some good intentions. Yeah.

S2 (07:58):
Look, I think lived experience speaks for a lot, you know?
And we have this big push at the moment for
the co-design of policies and principles. But it it is
an it's an actual genuine element that someone with lived
experience can bring to any type of program development or,

(08:19):
or these types of conversations whereby you can't assume what
a disability feels like without having lived it. I'm really
passionate about that.

S1 (08:30):
And you've got a lot of experience in this area,
because there's a lot of work that's gone on in
the past to make things, uh, accessible as they can be.
I mean, you've been an orator as far as that
sort of thing goes. I mean, these are real things that,
you know, if people know where to look, can it
be can it be encouraged to look in the right place?
There's kind of a template there for you, your organization,
your business, whatever it is to be more accessible?

S2 (08:52):
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, there are plenty of toolkits and
templates that businesses can pick up. But it we do
we do find that those, um, those businesses that are
looking to become more accessible, more inclusive in what they offer,
they get a greater insight or a greater understanding of
the barriers that exist within their premises or within their operations.

(09:15):
If they involve people with disability, the end user, their customer,
their client, and um, yes, you're right. So Sporting Wheelies
and Spinal Life Australia, where we play a lot in
that space and we're able to, I guess, handhold in
some respects the businesses through that process so that they
do understand and get a greater outcome at the end

(09:36):
of the day and.

S1 (09:37):
Heaven forbid, it might help their bottom line.

S2 (09:39):
Don't, uh, look, we can talk about that for sure.
I mean, that's right. I mean, it would disability making
up close to 20% of the Australian population. If you're
missing out on that 20% of revenue, then, uh, you're 20% behind.

S1 (09:53):
Exactly. You talked about, uh, the opportunities you provide for
people with disabilities. How do you do that, though? Because,
you know, I'm sure you'd like to, but you don't
produce these things out of thin air.

S2 (10:04):
No, that's right. And we do rely upon funding, but
also around our, you know, participant, uh, fee for service
type based operation. It is tight. We do operate in a,
in a niche market. Uh, but we do it on,
on a shoestring, and we do it well, uh, and
we provide these support, these tailored programs that support people

(10:27):
with disability at the forefront to to get into sport
and active recreation through the provision of, like I said,
the tailored programs, but also through adaptive equipment that we're
able to provide. But then also we also support the
the businesses and the sporting clubs and I guess the
decision makers in becoming more inclusive in their general offering

(10:51):
to the to the more broader, uh, community.

S1 (10:54):
Do you fundraise generally or is a lot of it
fee for service where a lot of your income comes from?

S2 (10:59):
We do fundraise. We do rely on funding, sponsorship, donations
and grants that tops us up. Uh, in addition to
the fee for service model that we operate upon, it's
never enough. There's so much more we could do. Uh,
but we do. You know, we we are asking at
the moment around this tax time for all donations to

(11:20):
replace some of that equipment that I spoke about earlier
and that the adaptive equipment that people require to participate
in sport, it's not cheap. And we've had we've got
some old equipment there, but we're also looking to expand
as well. We want to be able to offer more
opportunities for more people to participate more often.

S1 (11:41):
So, as you say, with June 30th looming large on
the horizon, uh, a tax deductible donation can be pretty
helpful for someone's tax purposes as well.

S2 (11:51):
Absolutely. Yes. It's a win win, let's put it that way.
We we definitely win from from those donations. And yes,
they are tax deductible donations. We're a registered charity, uh,
with no, no for profit purposes. And that purpose is
to to help people lead, lead active and healthy lives
of all abilities. You know, the people with disability who

(12:12):
face those barriers in participating in mainstream sports. We're able
to assist them specifically to be more healthy and active.
All right.

S1 (12:21):
We'll give you details in a second. But just before
you go, uh, with that, uh, the past games are
coming up soon. Brisbane is, uh, eight years away, which
seems a long time. But I mean, with that sort of, uh,
overdoing it, is there kind of a little bit of
a buzz about the fact that, uh, the games are
going to be in Brisbane eight years time?

S2 (12:37):
There's definitely a buzz we're having. We're having meetings upon
meetings to, to talk about, you know, the opportunity that
lies ahead. And, and I think, you know, we're the
closer we get to it, the more they're going to
that's going to going to happen. But we we're well positioned.
You know, that the Queensland Government have stated openly that

(12:58):
they want 500,000 people with disability participating in sport by 2032. And, uh,
and we're here ready, uh, to, to help them achieve
that target. It's about a 5 or 10 x on
where we're at at the moment. But, um, you know
that that those lofty goals are definitely achievable with the right, uh,
I guess, policy, procedure and, and approach. We're standing ready

(13:22):
at or sitting in mind's ready and, uh, and ready to,
to engage more people more often.

S1 (13:30):
And certainly the right people in the right places. And
you're one of them. Dan, if people do want to
find out more, how can we get in touch with you?

S2 (13:35):
Yeah, absolutely. We're looking for all the help we can get, um,
to achieve our great cause, uh, but they jump on our, uh,
fundraising page, which is what fundraiser, sporting wheelies.org. You or
our general Sporting Wheelies page will direct you to where
you need to go to to help us out on

(13:55):
our journey.

S1 (13:56):
Right. We'll put that up on our Facebook page as well.
Always great to catch up. Keep up the great work.

S2 (14:00):
Right. Thanks very much again Peter. Always a pleasure.

S1 (14:03):
That's Dan Cross there. He's the chief operating officer at
Sporting Wheelies with some very interesting information and certainly a
great campaign well worth supporting.