Sport Inclusion Australia puts inclusion on the agenda under the new Australia–India Sports Collaboration Roadmap

Ahmedabad, Gujarat – 13 August 2026 

Sport Inclusion Australia has brought inclusion and person-first thinking to the table as Australian and Indian leaders came together in Gujarat for the first initiative since the newly announced India–Australia Roadmap for Sports Collaboration. 

The Australia–India Included Through Sport Leadership Exchange, led by Sport Inclusion Australia, saw senior leaders from Gujarat come together to explore how inclusion, accessibility and athlete centred thinking can be embedded into the planning and delivery of major sporting events. 

The timing of the exchange is significant, with Ahmedabad looking towards the 2030 Commonwealth Games and Australia preparing for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Sport Inclusion Australia CEO Chantel Lewis said the opportunity was about sharing SIA’s experience while creating space for both countries to learn from each other. 

“For 40 years, Sport Inclusion Australia has worked alongside athletes with an intellectual impairment and sporting organisations to create opportunities for people to participate, progress and belong through sport.” 

“As we look towards major events in both India and Australia, we have an opportunity to think about inclusion in all planning and at the outset of initiatives — not only on the field of play, but across the entire experience of athletes, workforce, volunteers, spectators and communities.” 

“What made the discussion so valuable was the willingness to share experiences and ask what we can do differently to ensure no one is left behind.” 

Sport Inclusion Australia brought more than its organisational experience to the Leadership Exchange. It brought people with decades of lived experience across inclusive sport, international sport and major events — including perspectives from Virtus, the International and Oceania Paralympic Committees and Brisbane 2032. 

Sport Inclusion Australia International Engagement Advisor and Virtus President Robyn Smith OAM said the approach to the round table discussion was to encourage  a lived experienced perspective  at all levels of planning.  

“Australia’s experience isn’t something that can simply be replicated in another country and we certainly don’t have all the answers.” 

“What 40 years of working alongside athletes with an intellectual impairment has taught us is to start with an athlete centred approach. Listen to athletes, build strong partnerships and make inclusion part of the decisions you make from the outset.” 

“Hosting major sporting events give us an incredible platform to bring about positive change, but the legacy doesn’t need to wait until after the Games. You can start building it through your people, partnerships and sporting systems today.” 

The exchange explored inclusion beyond physical infrastructure, looking at athlete pathways, leadership and representation, workforce capability, inclusive communication and how major-event legacy can be built in the years leading into a Games. 

The discussion also provided an early practical example of the recently announced India–Australia Roadmap for Sports Collaboration, launched by Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese. 

Australian Consul-General Mumbai Paul Murphy said the Roadmap gives Australia and India an opportunity to deepen our sporting relationship through practical collaboration, sharing our experiences and learning from each other 

“This workshop is the first initiative we’ve taken since the Prime Ministers’ announcement of the new India–Australia Roadmap for Sports Collaboration, so it is particularly fitting to begin here in Gujarat as the state looks towards Ahmedabad 2030.” 

The Leadership Exchange was hosted by Mirant Parikh, IAS, Deputy CEO of Gujarat Sports Infrastructure Development Corporation and Chief Executive Authority of Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority, who brought an important Gujarat perspective to the discussion. 

Mr Parikh spoke about the sporting spirit and the values sport can instil in people from a young age. As Gujarat looks toward major sporting events the opportunity is to strengthen that culture and ensure people of all abilities feel they belong. He spoke about using sport at the medium to build values from childhood and ensuring that inclusion can become part of the way Gujarat thinks about sport and community.  

The Gujarat Leadership Exchange formed part of Sport Inclusion Australia’s Included Through Sport Australia–India Capacity & Leadership Exchange, which is creating opportunities for knowledge sharing and relationship building between Australia and India across inclusive sport, athlete pathways, leadership, coaching and major sporting events. 

The project is delivered by Sport Inclusion Australia, supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and funded through the Centre for Australia-India Relations Maitri Grants Program.