Black Diamonds

The first of its kind, the Black Diamonds Project reviews the netball service delivery to ensure that the policies and systems of netball in Western Australia are transformed to better facilitate the engagement and retention of Aboriginal people to the sport of netball. This review took place between February 2021 and February 2022.

The aims of the project are to: 

1. De-centre the white Australian experience within netball across Western Australia and decolonise netball delivery. 

2. Increase the number of Aboriginal people who play, coach, umpire, administer, and support the sport of netball from grassroots through to the elite in Western Australia. 

3. Netball WA to become a leader in collaboration and engagement between state/national sporting bodies and their Aboriginal communities.  

Read the finished reports here:

Full Black Diamonds Report

Short Black Diamonds Report

In the history of Australian netball, there have been two Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players at the highest level of the game, one umpire, and zero coaches. The systems, policies, and procedures of netball in Australia do not nourish and support Aboriginal athletes from grassroots through to the elite. The Black Diamonds Project, a joint initiative of Glass Jar Australia and Netball Western Australia, with assistance from partner organisations Garnduwa Amboorny Wirnan, Geraldton Sporting Aboriginal Corporation, and the Institute of Indigenous Wellbeing and Sports, is an overdue strategic review of netball engagement and retention across all aspects of netball engagement in Western Australia.  

The Black Diamonds Project research design and methodological framework are predominantly based on Indigenous principles and practices, and grounded in relatedness theory, while combining Indigenous and non-Indigenous data collection and processing methods. This research comprises of three phases of data collection and analysis across four stakeholder groups: Grassroots Participants, Potential Elite Pathway Participants, Existing Elite Pathway Participants and Netball WA Clubs and Associations.  

Garnduwa
Geraldton Sporting Aboriginal Corporation
The Institute of Indigenous Wellbeing and Sport Aboriginal Corporation