National Gender Equity in Sports Governance Policy

Since 2019, the Victorian Government has required recognised state sporting organisations to have a minimum of 40% women directors to be eligible for key funding programs. This approach to gender balance on boards remains unchanged, as each government has the flexibility to determine its own approach and timeline to embedding the new national policy.

The policy does include requirements that will be new in Victoria. These are:

• board leadership: for either a chair or deputy chair role to be held by a woman or gender diverse person
• key sub-committees: for larger organisations, board sub-committees relating to nominations, and audit and risk, will also be required to have a minimum of 40% women members.

To support these new requirements, the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation will consult with state sporting associations and state sport and active recreation bodies on the support different organisations require, as well as preferred timelines.

Victorian recognised state sporting organisations are already required to have a minimum of 40% women on boards to be eligible for key government funding programs. This remains unchanged.

Timelines to meet new aspects under the national policy will be confirmed after consultation with the Victorian sport and recreation sector.

No. This myth has long been disproven.

Board quotas support overcoming systemic and structural barriers that have historically prevented all Victorians equal access to board opportunities.

Research by Deakin University also confirmed the positive effects of gender balanced boards, such as enhanced decision making for organisations and better experiences for women directors. Learn more in our related links below.

All organisations that operate within the Victorian sporting environment, including community clubs, are strongly encouraged to adopt this policy and work to implement the gender targets, even though they may not be explicitly included within the scope of this policy.

All organisations that operate within the Victorian sporting environment, including professional clubs and leagues, are strongly encouraged to adopt this policy and work to implement the gender targets.

A national sporting organisation is recognised by the Australian Sports Commission as the pre-eminent body for the development of a specific sport in Australia. National sporting organisations are eligible to receive funding from the Australian Sports Commission. View the Australian Sports Directory for a list of recognised national sporting organisations. For example, in the sport of basketball, its national sporting organisation is Basketball Australia.

State sporting associations, sometimes also called state sporting organisations, are the recognised pre-eminent governing body for a sport in a particular state Victoria. These organisations are responsible for developing a specific sport from community participation to high performance levels in a jurisdiction. In Victoria, the Victorian Government determines the eligibility for recognition. View the list of all recognised state sporting associations in Victoria. For example, in the sport of basketball, its state sporting association in Victoria is Basketball Victoria.

A professional league, for the purposes of the new National Policy, is a privately owned competition outside of those leagues managed from within a national sporting organisation or state sporting association. Most leagues that we see and enjoy are managed within a national sporting organisations. At times though, this ownership structure is different, which is why the National Policy also specifies that these privately owned leagues are strongly encouraged to also follow the policy’s requirements. Privately owned leagues are not eligible to receive funding from the Australian Sports Commission. For example, in the sport of basketball, the National Basketball League (NBL) is privately owned, and would be considered a professional league under the National Policy.