As a kid growing up in Perth, Fair Game Australia chief executive Nicki Bardwell was always really into sport.

She tried every one that she could, from T-ball, netball and rugby to hockey, basketball and more.

Opportunities from school and her parents priotising sport allowed Bardwell to participate and try anything, which, she says, she took for granted.

It wasn’t until she began travelling around Australia that she had realised just how fortunate she was.

“My husband and I took a trip together … through a heap of communities on the way and again saw, just because of the tyranny of distance and how big WA is, that there’s just not the same access we have in the metropolitan area.”

The disparity between the living standards between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians was stark.

The National Agreement on Closing the Gap that came into effect in 2020 aims to enable Indigenous Australians to overcome inequalities and achieve life outcomes equal to those of all Australians. The agreement outlines targets for governments to meet to endeavour to improve outcomes in areas such as housing, education, employment, safety, and health and wellbeing.

However, disadvantage persists across Australia.

The ABS in 2023 revealed that the difference in life expectancy of Indigenous Australians compared to non-Indigenous Australians was 12.4 years, with this estimated gap being even wider for Indigenous Australians living in remote and very remote areas.

Nicki Bardwell and her organisation are working with remote communities to reduce how many people have preventable diseases. They also list building social cohesion, improving mental wellbeing and promoting healthy behaviour change as goals.

Founded in 2010 by John Van Bockxmeer, Fair Game Australia is a not-for-profit organisation with programs that involve volunteers travelling to remote and rural communities across WA to teach children. The first step was an intitive calling for donations of pre-loved sporting equipment, and it has grown intoa vibrant sporting and health-focused program delivery organisation.

According to Fair Game Australia, these programs matter because research shows that in socially or economically disadvantaged areas, health outcomes are poorer. Responding to this, the organisation provides opportunities for physical activity and education in communities, hoping it will empower participants to lead healthier lives.

Volunteer Emma Pearce says: “We try and model healthy behaviours and give them health knowledge, so that they can go on to make informed health decisions for themselves.”

According to its 2025 annual report, Fair Game volunteers and staff spent 273 days visiting 38 communities, distributing 16,923 pieces of sporting equipment and involving 9333 participants in healthy activities.

Bardwell has been integral to Fair Game Australia since its early days. She learnt about the organisation through a friend and began volunteering in 2012. Delivering programs to remote communities, she watched the small organisation evolve and became its first-ever employee.

Her work with Fair Game became her passion, and when the opportunity to move into a paid role was offered, she jumped straight in. In 2016, Bardwell transitioned into her role as chief executive.

Fair Game’s recreation coordinator, Katharine Mulligan, joined the organisation in 2024 and asked about Bardwell said: “I think you would have to pry her cold, dead body away from Fair Game. I don’t know what kind of Fair Game exists without her at this point.”

Moving into her role, Bardwell held herself to an incredibly high standard. She says: “I worked way too many hours. I’ve had sleepless nights, and when I started, I didn’t have anywhere near as many grey hairs.”

Yandeyarra Remote Community School principal Samantha Dalton has known Bardwell for years, and likens her to a duck.

“She’s probably kicking her little feet like crazy, but all you can see on the surface is smooth sailing. Because of her level of organisation and her can-do attitude, she just smashes it.”

Bardwell says Fair Game focuses on establishing long-lasting relationships with the communities they work with, as it helps the programs work better and benefits the volunteers.

Recently, Dalton invited Bardwell to celebrate the Yandeyarra School’s 50th anniversary, despite not having seen her in years.

Bardwell had been delivering programs in Yandeyarra for years leading up to this anniversary, building connections with the community. According to Dalton, Bardwell provided several photos from over the years for their celebration.

“She had spent years and years with these kids while they were growing up, so it was really lovely to see the reaction of the kids. The kids would see Nikki and give her a big hug. She’s like family.”

Despite the impact Fair Game is already having on bridging the gap, working in the not-for-profit space is never smooth sailing.

Fair Game funds its several programs through donations, government and non-government grants and sponsorships. The programs include Fit & Healthy in the Outback, Game On!, and Equip for Sport.

Fit & Healthy in the Outback is a program where health sessions focus on evidence-based practices in areas of oral, foot, ear and hand hygiene, lung health, mental wellbeing and nutrition.

Fair Game volunteer Matt Ryan has travelled to the Kimberly to deliver this program. He says it was designed in consultation with professionals and is about preventing adverse health outcomes because of the statistically higher rates of ear infections and preventable diseases in remote areas.

“You’re on programs such as Healthy Hands, which is about washing your hands, or Healthy Ears which is about when your ear is hurting to go to the clinic or tell mum or dad, and Healthy Lungs….it’s just trying to even get one kid to learn something from it or so. The kid knows that when something happens to tell their parents.”

The city of Karratha’s club director, Anouska Angove, is Fair Game’s point of contact. She says that Fair Game and the city have been working together for five or more years.

She says Fair Game helps bridge the gap in Karratha’s big sporting community through its equipment donation program, Equip for Sport. Coordinating donations, she has seen requests for equipment such as football boots and sporting gloves.

“Without some of this equipment, some of these kids can’t even play.”

Fair Game’s 2025 Annual Report reveals that the donation of pre-loved sports equipment over the year was equivalent to 529 large household wheelie bins diverted from landfill.

Samantha Dalton met Bardwell through their mutual work in remote communities. Working as the principal in community is very hard work, she says, but extremely worth it.

Dalton believes that although working in remote communities is not for the faint-hearted, more teachers with a passion for educating are always needed. She says that the work of Bardwell and Fair Game helps those already living and working in communities. She believes that Fair Game’s focus may not be the same as the teachers’, but that helps to fill the gaps.

“They’re kind of the water between the bricks, and so you’ve got all these things in our community that kind of live in isolation, whereas Fair Game brings it all together and in a really safe and healthy and helpful way.”

Katharine Mulligan is responsible for planning the logistics for the Fair Game volunteers who travel across WA on programs. Like Bardwell, she initially volunteered for the organisation, but has since moved into a staff position.

“I don’t know any other chief executive that’s as hands-on with the volunteer side of things than Nicki,” she said. “She’s super passionate about the work that we do, for sure.”

Despite their growing volunteer base, Bardwell has noticed changes in the volunteering sector.

She is concerned that many people are reluctant to commit to one organisation when volunteering, and instead prefer several micro-volunteering opportunities.

Volunteering Australia’s recent report on ABS volunteering statistics confirms this downward trend. Formal volunteering organised through clubs or organisations, has decreased to 22.6% in 2025. There has instead been a shift to informal volunteering, with a higher percentage of 29.5 in 2025.

Bardwell says Fair Game bucks that trend, still attracting people willing to volunteer at the organisation for longer periods.

“I think that’s due to our concerted effort to really bring people in and make them part of the organisation.”

Her focus on the group’s atmosphere is felt by the whole organisation.

Matt Ryan says his favourite part of volunteering is seeing Fair Game’s impact on the children.

He describes Fair Game’s atmosphere as extremely inclusive, full of amazing, like-minded people who want to give back.

“Nicki was definitely a big part of creating the culture with Fair Game, and making sure all the volunteers are up to scratch and perform well to do the work that needs to be done.”

Fair Game runs these programs and delivers equipment donations year-round, meaning Bardwell and staff don’t really have a quiet time, however, she says this is a good thing.

“It means we can offer lots of opportunities to volunteers, but also we can meet community needs by not being stuck in school holiday periods and that sort of thing.”

Despite the ongoing inequality of living outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, particularly in remote areas, Bardwell is grateful to be part of a much larger puzzle that strives to help close the gap.

As she puts it: “There’s so many organisations and so many amazing people working in communities and living in communities that are working towards the same goal, I think we can be proud of what we’re doing and the fact that communities keep inviting us back means that we’re doing something right.”