25th January 2023:

Hey Generation Sportsgirl,

An update from us: On January 26th we’ll be pausing our regular social media content to honour and respect the true history of Australia and the ongoing impact of colonisation and racism experienced by First nations people.

We know that the conversation around January 26th continues to divide people, however as a brand that strives to help create a world of inclusion, acceptance, empathy and kindness, we can’t ignore the hurt, pain and damage this date represents for First nations Australians. We believe it is not a date to celebrate. It’s a date that marks the beginning of invasion and a date of survival.

To promote continued learning and education in how we can elevate and support First Nations histories and voices, head to our stories to find resources from First Nations accounts, businesses and organisations.

We acknowledge the traditional Custodians of the land throughout this nation on which we have the privilege to work and gather. We pay our respects to Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples – today, and everyday.

This week, Emily Wurramara, a proud Warnindilyakwa First Nations woman, artist, and role model, bravely called out an incident of racial profiling that happened at one of our Sportsgirl stores. With permission from Emily, and only since contacting her directly, have we decided to make the following public statement.

Our purpose at Sportsgirl is to empower and elevate all who identify with our brand to Be That Girl. Community, racial justice, diversity and inclusion are at the heart of Generation Sportsgirl.

What happened to Emily in our store did not reflect what we stand for as a brand or organisation. The pace and approach of our initial response was also simply not ok.

We are deeply and sincerely sorry and take responsibility for the pain, hurt, sadness and frustration this caused Emily and to any others who have experienced any form of racial discrimination.

We have a longstanding strong focus on customer service and care across Sportsgirl. And this incident has forced us to reassess, review and revise our customer service model to recognise the lived experience of diverse communities and their experiences in retail settings.

To ensure this never happens again and all feel safe and welcome in our stores, we commit to listening, unlearning, and relearning. To providing a store experience where racial injustice, bias and discrimination has no place and where all members of the Sportsgirl team have a zero tolerance for them.

And to creating a place where First Nations culture, contribution, history, heritage, and voices are celebrated and embraced.

We’ve listened to Emily and we thank her for her bravery in speaking out, and we are working with an inclusion, cultural awareness, and anti-racist expert to support the implementation of the following roadmap:

1. Develop our reconciliation commitments via a Reconciliation Action Plan.
2. Cultural Awareness training to be rolled out to all Sportsgirl head office and in-store team members by 30th June 2022. 
3. Inclusion training to be rolled out to all Sportsgirl head office and in-store team members by 30th December 2022.
4. Review and reform of training and in-store practices to ensure a culture of inclusion is always upheld.
5. Review and reform of recruitment, onboarding practices to ensure a culture of inclusion is always upheld.

Reconciliation and inclusion is a long-term commitment and priority of ours and we pledge to do better for First Nations people, People of Colour, and the wider community.