Balance the Board Policy

Balance the Board is a policy to support increased representation of women on boards across Victoria’s sport and active recreation sector.

It requires all recognised Victorian sport and active recreation bodies to have a minimum of 40% women directors on its board to be eligible to apply for the Victorian Government’s Community Sport funding programs.

This includes state sporting associations, state sport and active recreation bodies, and national sporting organisations without a recognised Victorian state body.

Balance the Board addresses Recommendation 3 of the Inquiry into Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation, which recommended mandating a 40% minimum quota for all funded sport and active recreation organisations.

New requirements for the policy

From 1 July 2027 and in alignment with the National Gender Equity in Sports Governance Policy, there will be 2 new requirements under Balance the Board. These are:

1. board leadership: for either a chair or deputy chair role, if both are present, to be held by a woman
2. key sub-committees: for select organisations, board sub-committees relating to nominations, and finance, audit and risk, will be required to have a minimum of 40% women members

Reporting on Balance the Board

Organisations that sit under the policy are required to report on their progress each quarter. In 2025 this is due 1 March, 1 September, 1 June and 1 December.

If an organisation falls below the minimum 40% requirement, the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation will work with them to agree an action plan to meet the minimum 40% benchmark once again. For example, in the event of a vacancy arising (e.g. casual vacancy on a board), the organisation is expected to meet the gender equity target as soon as practicable after the casual vacancy occurs.

An action plan is important, as not meeting the requirement can not only impact that organisation’s ability to access funding, but the ability for affiliated community associations, leagues or clubs to access funding as well.

Impact of Balance the Board

Since Balance the Board was announced in 2017, the number of organisations with gender balanced boards has increased from 45% to consistently more than 90% at any point in time since the policy came into effect in 2019, across more than 100 funded organisations.