No Exceptions strategies

Priority actions

1. Advocate recreation and sport for all, including promoting the rights, choices and achievements of disabled people to participate in physical recreation and sport.

• Organisations to build a philosophy of inclusion and accessibility for all through Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) policies, programmes, investment strategy, communications and research.
• Advocate on issues that impact on the recreation and sport choices of disabled people.

2. Recognise the achievements of disabled athletes and promote disabled participants as role models for all New Zealanders.

• Create inclusive celebrations, publications and communications about achievement in recreation and sport.

3. Be led, guided and informed by disabled people.

• Involve disabled people as leaders of the No Exceptions implementation.

4. Build accessibility for all into organisational frameworks.

• Organisations to undertake an organisational framework audit and to implement recommendations.
• Develop a disability lens which includes review of EEO policies into capability reviews.
• Physical Activity Plans to have an inclusive philosophy.
• Include disability-friendly services and environments as part of activity-friendly environments.

5. Share knowledge through publication of resources.

• Identify sources of best practice policy, facility design and programme delivery information nationally and internationally.
• Access and distribute resources about the value of inclusion in community-focused policies and plans targeting sport and recreation providers.
• Develop e-links to existing resources.
• Sport and physical recreation electronic information, distribution channels expanded to include No Exceptions to lead agencies and partners, and used to highlight existing links.
• Build disability information into existing training and include disability modifications in coach, officials and volunteer training programmes and resources.

6. Support initiatives with tangible resources.

• Establish local database of recreation and sport opportunities that are accessible for all.
• Include disability modifications in national sports organisation (NSO) coaching manuals.

7. Upskill staff and volunteers who provide physical recreation and sport services.

• Encourage organisers of sport and recreation forums to include a disability component in order to build partnerships with sector stakeholders with responsibility for recreation and sport.
• Build disability information into existing training (ie coach education, official development, sport leader, running sport, athlete leadership, volunteer development, people first).
• Promote Human Rights Commission anti-discrimination training for recreation and sport delivery organisations based on principles of human rights and the implications of and for legislation.
• Make available database of anti-discrimination and disability-focused training providers.
• Influence industry training organisations (ITOs), tertiary providers, national recreation organisations (NROs), national sport organisations (NSOs) and national disability organisations (NDOs) to conduct training around recreation and sport for disabled people.
• Educate disability service organisations about the benefits of recreation and the rights of consumers to participate in recreation of their choice.

8. Create supportive and accessible recreation and sport programmes that enable participation by disabled people at every level.

• Promote facility and service audits as good practice.
• Facilitate the development of disability action plans to encourage participation by disabled people.
  
• Work with NROs and disability sports organisations to establish development and competition pathways for athletes, coaches and officials.
• Design specific models for disabled sport.
• Develop high-performance programmes and management plans appropriate to disabled athletes and incorporate into programmes of the relevant organisation.

9. Bring people and organisations together to work in partnership.

• Support the development of No Exceptions networks at a local level.

10. Collect and disseminate sound evidence.

• Include information about disabled people and their barriers to participation in existing and new research programmes.
• Encourage research networks to research disabled people and their barriers to and benefits of participation.