Council seeks feedback on new policy to tackle gender inequality in sports

THE City of Greater Geelong has released its Draft Fair Access Policy for public feedback, aimed at addressing and eradicating gender inequality in community sports.

The draft policy sets out the City’s strategy for improving the identification and elimination of systemic barriers to gender equality within sports and assisting sports clubs to do the same.

According to the Victorian Government’s ‘Change Our Game State of Play Survey 2022-23,’ women are 2.5 times more likely than men to feel unwelcome at their sports clubs, with 28% considering leaving due to unfair treatment.

Issues highlighted include inadequate access to prime playing venues and unfavourable competition and training schedules for women and girls.

The policy proposes improvements such as designing female-friendly sports infrastructure, ensuring fair resource allocation, and boosting female representation in sports club governance.

Mayor Trent Sullivan said the policy outlines actionable steps for improvement.

We know that rates of sporting participation are considerably higher for men than women, but we also know about the significant benefits of greater participation in sport for our community.

This policy considers some of the underlying causes of the reduced participation of women and girls in sport, and identifies the steps we can take to make change.

Councillor Eddy Kontelj highlighted the importance of community input, particularly from local sports clubs, in refining the policy to effect real change.

“Local sporting clubs are the experts in what the issues and challenges are for their specific club.”

“Getting as much input from the community as possible will ensure we get this policy right so we can make real change in this space.”

“By investing in women, we will accelerate positive progress.”

The consultation period is open for four weeks, starting from Tuesday, 2 April, until Tuesday, 30 April.