Fair Access Principles

On this page

• Creating more welcoming, safe and inclusive environments
• Ensuring everyone can fully participate in all aspects of community sport
• Ensuring women and girls have equal access to and use of community sport infrastructure
• Ensuring equitable representation of women and girls in leadership and governance roles
• Supporting all users of community sport infrastructure to implement gender equity
• Prioritising groups committed to ongoing equal access of community sports facilities

The below principles will help guide local government, public land management groups and sporting organistions in bringing Fair Access to life.

Please refer to your local council’ to understand the action plan for implementing their gender equitable access and use plan. (We call this Fair Access, but they may not call this out in their policy's name).

Creating more welcoming, safe and inclusive environments

Principle 1 of the Fair Access Roadmap is that community sports infrastructure and environments are genuinely welcoming, safe and inclusive.

You can create more welcoming, safe and inclusive environments by:

• ensuring inclusive and non-offensive photos and words are displayed in club rooms
• modelling respectful language on and off the field and including club appointed officials to support this through education and calling out offensive behaviours
• ensuring outdoor lighting is turned on in carparks after dark and consider how you can increase the safety of participants travelling to and from your venue
• creating access schedules for change rooms that provide a safe environment on game and training days
• creating club awards that are reflective of and achievable for all players.

Ensuring everyone can fully participate in all aspects of community sport

Principle 2 of the Fair Access Roadmap is that women and girls can fully participate in all aspects of community sport and active recreation, including as a player, coach, administrator, official, volunteer and spectator.

You can ensure everyone can fully participate by:

• providing training, mentorship and support for club members who want to learn to coach, officiate or join a committee
• considering and making changes to maximise other ways that your facility is used – for example, keeping outside lighting on for evening walking groups, providing access to change rooms for school groups or fitness classes or facilitating access to your court or field for other sports
• providing spectators and visitors with access to all amenities, including bathrooms and baby change facilities.

Ensuring women and girls have equal access to and use of community sport infrastructure

Principle 3 of the Fair Access Roadmap is that women and girls will have equitable access to and use of community sport infrastructure.

This means:

1. of the highest quality available and most convenient
2. at the best and most popular competition and training times and locations
3. to support existing and new participation opportunities and a variety of sports.

You can ensure women and girls have equal access by:

• consulting with players, coaches and parents to understand the needs of participants before allocating training and game times
• sharing a training schedule at the start of a season, fairly distributing facility use between all users
• considering modified or participation-based programs that may attract new people to your club, such as AFL 9’s, Freestyle Golf or Hockey Sixers
• introducing low-commitment and low-cost options to introduce new participants to your sport or club.

Ensuring equitable representation of women and girls in leadership and governance roles

Principle 4 of the Fair Access Roadmap is that women and girls should be equitably represented in leadership and governance roles.

You can ensure women and girls are equitably represented by:

• setting goals within your club around the number of women on a committee, in executive or decision-making roles and in coaching/officiating roles
• supporting women and girls to complete their coach/official accreditation
• offering programs and mentorship for playing leaders to feel supported and encouraged in their roles
• creating a coaching mentor program or pathway to support women and girls in developing their skills and experience within your sport
• providing flexibility to all board members.

Supporting all users of community sport infrastructure to implement gender equity

Principle 5 of the Fair Access Roadmap is to encourage and support all user groups who access and use community sport infrastructure to understand, adopt and implement gender equitable access and use practices.

You can help everyone to understand gender equitable access and use by:

• supporting men and boys with training on how to be an active bystander, ally, or mentor
• considering only allowing professional sporting competitions with equal prize money to take place within your facilities
• encouraging user groups to develop a Gender Equity Action Plan or their own Fair Access Action Plan

Prioritising groups committed to ongoing equal access of community sports facilities

Principle 6 of the Fair Access Roadmap is to prioritise access, use and support to all user groups who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to gender equitable access and use of allocated community sport infrastructure.

You can prioritise groups committed to ongoing equal access of community sports facilities by:

• providing discounted lease charges to clubs that support and encourage the growth of women and girls participation in their sport
• giving first allocation of pavilions, courts and grounds to clubs with women and/or girls teams.