By Ali Wastie, Chief Executive Officer, City of Greater Geelong
The Victorian Government’s Fair Access Policy Roadmap aims to develop a statewide foundation to improve access to community sports infrastructure for women and girls – and councils have a vital role to play.
Greater Geelong is Victoria’s second-largest city, located 75 kilometres south-west of Melbourne and stretching 1,247 square kilometres across unique suburban, coastal and country areas.
If you know anything about our community, it’s that we are sports mad. We’re home to both men’s and women’s AFL Geelong Cats sides, Geelong United Basketball and more than 325 grassroots sporting clubs.
We are an active bunch, involved in everything from football (AFL and soccer), netball, basketball, tennis and swimming, to archery, gridiron, underwater hockey, rowing and pickleball.
At the City of Greater Geelong, we are committed to supporting community sport because we know the immense health and social benefits of leading an active and connected life.
Part of that involves helping local women and girls to fully participate in and enjoy sport, who according to our City of Greater Geelong Sport & Recreation Census typically play sport less than men and boys.
In fact, the Change Our Game State of Play Survey found women are 2.5 times more likely to report feeling unwelcome at their sporting club compared to men and 28 per cent have considered leaving their club due to inequitable treatment.
Some of the concerns raised through the survey included women and girls not having access to the best courts and feeling like their opinions were less valued.
There are some encouraging trends though, with 95 per cent of all sports facilities in Greater Geelong available for all genders and 84 per cent of clubs reporting on women and girls’ results and achievements.
One of the ways we are tackling this is through our recently adopted Fair Access Policy, which the City enthusiastically developed alongside other councils in response to the Victorian Government’s Fair Access Policy Roadmap.
The policy outlines how the City plans to improve our ability to identify and eliminate systemic causes of gender inequality across sport.
It also looks at how we will support sporting clubs to do the same.
Mayor Trent Sullivan said the new policy would pave the way to creating a sporting environment that was equitable and supportive for all.
“We know that playing sport is beneficial for women and girls in terms of their physical and mental health, confidence levels and community connection, however their participation rates are lower than men and boys,” Mayor Trent Sullivan said.
“Our Fair Access Policy includes principles and approaches to address known barriers so that females have fair opportunity and equitable access to their local facilities.”
As a result of the new policy, equality will be considered and prioritised in all current and future Council planning, policy, service delivery, facility allocations and practice when it comes to community sports infrastructure.
This includes how infrastructure is designed, how resources are allocated and representation in the governance of clubs.
We got to this point thanks to the insights from community members, with more than 85 per cent of respondents identifying as female.
Community members told us that negative behaviours needed to be addressed, such as criticism and anti-social behaviour towards females that were barriers to participation; and that clubs required support in creating welcome, safe and inclusive environments.
The draft policy gained majority support from those who took the survey or quick poll. Respondents were excited about addressing inequalities, promoting inclusivity, ensuring safety and access to resources, and advocating for fairness and quality in sport participation.
Feedback was also sought from sporting clubs, advisory committees to Council, other councils, and the Office for Women in Sport.
Edward Wilson, Regional Manager – Barwon, AFL Barwon (footy and netball) said AFL Barwon saw the Fair Access Policy development and implementation as a fundamental policy to support, engage and drive outcomes that supported all members of the community.
“We’ve been impressed with the significant degree of detail, engagement and development undertaken by the City in developing this policy, with an unprecedented experience of collaboration and insight influencing the final product,” Mr Wilson said.
AFL Barwon found that the lack of courts and grounds was its biggest issue when it came to meeting increased demand and engaging females.
“We believe the policy will shape equitable opportunities for all within the community and are a full supporter of the Fair Access Policy’s implementation,” Mr Wilson said.
“Thank you to the City for their commitment and leadership in engagement, to deliver a sound and equitable policy.”
Local sporting organisations reported that some clubs had embraced diversity and inclusion better than others, there were lower levels of female representation at the executive level and that women’s participation in sport after COVID lockdowns was slower to rebound.
By getting into the nitty gritty of the challenges and barriers that face women and girls from participating, we can find solutions together to flip the script.
This will involve long-term collaboration between all levels of government, sporting bodies, community clubs and of course, women and girls.
Short and long-term sustainable actions aimed at creating meaningful change form part of our action plan, such as:
- Consulting with women and girls to understand their preferred game facility preferences to influence local sports associations/leagues and peak sporting bodies
- Prioritising capital works budgets that increase and improve safe access to community sports and active recreation infrastructure, such as gender-neutral change rooms and upgraded security lighting
- Undertaking Gender Impact Assessments and Safety Audits of community sports and active recreation infrastructure, which will inform future design
- Encouraging clubs to discuss with women and girls on what would encourage them to take on a leadership position, such as training and mentoring support, and more convenient times of committee meetings
- Incentivising fair access to community sport and active recreation infrastructure, through financial, recognition and reward, prioritisation of capital works or other means
- Long-term investment into programs targeting women and girls’ participation with a view to creating ongoing sustainable programs
Like most councils, we’re working to progressively replace or modernise ageing facilities that were built for men and are no longer fit for purpose.
The recent growth in female participation in sports such as Aussie Rules, soccer and cricket is fantastic and something we want to continue to encourage.
Female participants in these sports have and are continuing to contend with facilities that don’t meet their needs, while clubs are grappling with finding space for all the extra participants.
We’ve heard too many unfortunate stories of women and girls having to get changed in their cars.
As a result, Council has invested heavily to address this and has rolled out new changerooms in several sporting facilities across our region that are suitable for all genders, but there are many still needing to be upgraded and heavy investment required to do so.
This creates a financial challenge for us and we are grateful for any funding support we can receive from the state and federal governments.
The 2024 Paris Olympics was a great example of how supporting girls from a young age to get involved in sporting activities can develop into a lifelong passion, goal setting and improved confidence.
As a matter of fact, we had a number of local female athletes who competed on the world stage.
“Australia’s 11th fastest woman of all time, Geelong’s Mia Gross, debuted in Paris after starting her athletic journey at age nine sprinting down the Landy Field track for Grovedale Little Athletics Club,” Mayor Trent Sullivan said.
“As a supporter and manager of hundreds of grounds, arenas and facilities, Council is thrilled to have played our part in her sporting development.”
We are committed to helping women and girls to fall in love with community sport, whether they become world-class athletes like Mia or not, and feel welcome and empowered.
I’m excited about the task ahead as we break through systemic barriers to give women and girls the fair access they deserve.
Featured image: City of Greater Geelong is supporting increased sports participation for women and girls. Image credit: City of Greater Geelong.
