Disabled Wintersport Australia Needs You
Reducing barriers so that people with disability can participate in the winter sport of their choice
Promoting and fostering participation by people with disability in winter sport, safely and with dignity
Support DWA’s Next Chapter
Building a strong and sustainable future for adaptive snowsport
For more than 45 years, Disabled Wintersport Australia has created opportunities for people with disability to experience the freedom of the mountains.
From our beginnings as a volunteer-led organisation, DWA has grown into a national community of members, families, volunteer guides, staff and partners working together to make snowsport more accessible.
Throughout that time, DWA has continually evolved. We now need to make another significant change.
How you can help
Like always, make a donation today!
Over the coming months, we will also be asking the wider DWA community to help – through volunteering, introductions, partnerships, sponsorship, fundraising and further donations.
For now, one of the most valuable things you can do is stay connected, share DWA's story and think about the people and organisations in your networks who may want to be part of our future.
Together, we believe we can build a stronger, simpler and more sustainable DWA for the next 45 years and beyond.
Why DWA needs to change
The environment in which DWA operates has changed considerably.
The cost and complexity of delivering our services have increased, while the way organisations like DWA are funded has also changed. Membership and participant fees have never been intended to cover the full cost of delivering our services, and government funding is increasingly directed towards specific programs, projects and outcomes rather than the core costs of running the organisation.
While these projects create valuable opportunities, they can also require additional people, administration and resources to deliver. At the same time, the cost of maintaining the people, systems, insurance, equipment, facilities and organisational capacity behind DWA has continued to grow.
Over a number of years, DWA's operating costs have exceeded its income. Our current operating model is no longer financially sustainable, and we need to change it.
What we are doing
Our immediate priority is to stabilise DWA and establish a sustainable way forward.
The Board and management are reducing expenditure, reviewing staffing and operations, carefully managing our finances and considering how DWA can operate more efficiently in the future.
The Board has also engaged independent specialist restructuring advice to ensure we understand the options available to us and continue to meet our financial and governance responsibilities throughout this process.
At the same time, we are looking beyond the immediate financial challenge.
We are considering how DWA delivers its services, what we should continue to do ourselves, what could be delivered differently or in partnership with others, how we best combine our extraordinary volunteer community with the professional capability the organisation requires, and how we build a broader and more sustainable income base.
Nothing has been predetermined. Our focus is on finding the model that delivers the best long-term outcome for our members and for adaptive snowsport.
The Perfect Storm
In many ways, DWA has been hit by a bit of a perfect storm. We've had a very poor snow season, which has impacted our income, and both Commonwealth and State Government funding have been delayed. At the same time, we've only just implemented our new staffing and administration structures, which will help reduce our costs going forward. Unfortunately, all of this has come together during the time of year when we traditionally have very little income and rely on government grant funding to get us through to the next snow season. The result is a significant short-term cash flow problem, right when we're making the changes needed to put DWA on a more sustainable footing. We're not asking people to keep funding the same problems. We're asking for some help to get through this difficult period while the changes we've made start to take effect.
Integrity in Sport
DWA has partnered with Sport Integrity Australia to ensure that our sport and its members are protected from harassment, bullying, abuse and discrimination.
Partnerships
