NSW Office of Sport. Sport Plus.
NSW office of Sport program Run My Way women in sport and Aboriginal Outcomes strategy. I co-designed, researched and built strategies that would work across government.
Making sport part of a bigger impact. From participation to leading indicators of equity, wellbeing and community connection.
Run My Way was part of the Play Her Way women's sport strategy in NSW, a new partnership with Transport for NSW. I built the evidence base from national and global research, then applied it through co-design with government, councils, runners and service providers. One finding reframed the problem. Only 5% of sexual assault and harassment experienced by women while running is reported. This wasn't a sports participation issue. It was a public safety and equity issue, reinforcing the case for aligning sport with the Safer Cities program and access to public spaces for women. The partnership secured $1.3M for ongoing programs.
Aboriginal Outcomes. A new team, a new direction, and an opportunity to help elevate the team from delivering programs to becoming a strategic system leader. The brief: how to elevate the role of sport in creating Aboriginal outcomes, align with Reconciliation Australia and Closing the Gap, and work in true partnership across government. Always with the community's voice at the heart of the design.
Under new leadership from Marty Jeffrey and support from the exec, the Aboriginal Outcomes team was ready to explore cross-government partnerships. They already had deep relationships across the sector and community. That was the real foundation on which the strategy was built.
My job wasn't to arrive with a strategy. It was to listen and curate through the lens of strategic frameworks and design. I interviewed Aboriginal Affairs, state sporting organisations, Reconciliation Australia, and others, and brought the voices of the Aboriginal Outcomes team and the community to the centre of the work.
The Insight: The evidence was clear: this isn't a passion issue, it's a stewardship one. The system needs a team that can listen to the community, partner across government, uplift capabilities and measure the impact of sport.
Sport becomes a lead indicator only when it runs through genuine partnership with education, health and community. We called that approach Sport Plus. It positions sport as a platform for cultural connection, learning and wellbeing, not a standalone outcome. The pattern isn't really about sport. It's a model for how government can build alliances across portfolios, with lived experience at the centre, to deliver outcomes that matter.
It gave the Aboriginal Outcomes team a vision, strategy and program of work designed to make a bigger impact across the system and for Aboriginal athletes and communities across NSW.
Not more programs, but building partnerships that make the programs count.
↗ Sport Plus framework, positioning sport inside Closing the Gap
↗ New vision, strategy and program of work for the Aboriginal Outcomes team
↗ $1.3M secured for Run My Way through the Play Her Way - Safer Cities partnership
“Lisa brings real clarity to complex work and helps align people around a shared vision.” Marty Jeffrey, Senior Project Officer, Aboriginal Outcomes, NSW Office of Sport.