Count Me In (CMI) was a mixed-methods, participatory action research project designed and implemented in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, Australia between 2017–2019 to address known barriers to sports participation for young people from migrant and minority ethnic groups. It is well known that the cost of participation, lack of transport and competing priorities connected with settling in a new country are major barriers to these young people taking part in physical activity. These barriers are compounded by a lack of knowledge amongst migrant and refugee communities about how local sports systems operate, a low number of welcoming programs, and the need for clubs to cater for specific cultural requirements, such as through providing Halal food or female-only programs.With the aim of finding the best ways to overcome these barriers, The University of Melbourne and Merri Health trialed the employment of bilingual Community Support Coordinators (CSCs) in partnership with local sports clubs, local government and partners including Arabic Welfare, Centre for Multicultural Youth, Badminton Victoria and VicHealth.

Project Owner: The University of Melbourne
Year commenced: 2016
Year completed: 2019
Status: Completed
Project ID: ID-230307-9129