STARS

Community sport is meant to be a place of connection and belonging, yet for people from culturally and racially marginalised backgrounds, experiences of racism can make participation unsafe, unwelcoming, or exclusionary.

Originally developed between 2021 and 2023, the STARS program, a collaboration between the University of Melbourne and Welcoming Australia, was conceived as a participatory action research project, working with local clubs, councils and community partners to co-design an approach grounded in the realities of grassroots sport.

Co-Founders Professor Karen Block, Research Fellow Dana Young and Welcoming Australia’s Maia Tua-Davidson worked alongside club leaders and members to ensure the program was both evidence-based and fit for purpose.

Following its initial research and pilot phase, STARS leveraged support from the Melbourne Entrepreneurial Centre’s TRAM Track program and the University’s Proof-of-Concept Fund to develop the STARS Upstander Trainer Accreditation Program. This program provides a scalable approach to the delivery of anti-racism and upstander training within sport organisations and communities, by building a national network of facilitators.

The STARS project is giving people tools: if they see something, they can say something. – STARS program participant.

The program combines online modules – covering racial literacy, the extent of racism in sport, and the upstander framework – with an in-person workshop. This hybrid approach equips participants with both conceptual knowledge and the practical skills needed to deliver training and facilitate conversations on race and exclusion in sport.

Piloted in Queensland in 2025, the program garnered significant interest from sports leaders and organisations. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with participants reporting increased confidence and capability to deliver anti-racism and upstander training to their communities.

The next iteration of the program launched in Victoria in April 2026, and the team is now seeking philanthropic and brand partners to support more sport leaders to become STARS trainers across Australia.