International Day of the Girl 2023
Girls just wanna have... fair access to community sport!
That’s what the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation is calling for today on International Day of the Girl.
Observed globally on October 11, International Day of the Girl shines a spotlight to the specific issues faced by girls.
Today, we celebrate the powerful role girls play in our families, communities, schools and sporting clubs.
We also reflect on the progress made towards gender equality in our sector, and highlight that further conversations are needed at a grassroots level to accelerate this change.
Women and girls are still fighting for fair access in community sporting clubs across Victoria.
The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation has today released the next phase of our Fair Access Policy Roadmap campaign.
The campaign aligns with the second phase of the Roadmap – the Readiness Phase – and encourages conversations on what inequality and fair access can look like in community clubs.
It’s time to lift our game.
It’s time for Fair Access.
Are you ready?
Sarah Styles, Director at the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, said, “Today on International Day of the Girl, we highlight the progress made in gender equity and fair access in the sports sector. We hope the Fair Access Policy Roadmap and the stories shown in these videos can act as a catalyst for further reflection and change.”
The world-first, three-phase Roadmap is supporting all Victorian councils to have gender equitable access and use policies in place for community sports infrastructure, with the requirement to have a policy in place to form part of eligibility criteria for Victoria Government community sports infrastructure funding from 1 July 2024. Since the launch of the Roadmap in August 2022:
- more than 1,500 people have participated in activities as part of the Roadmap’s Education Phase
- a state-wide, 13-stop Fair Access Roadshow took place, with the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR) meeting with 90% of local councils in-person
- extensive Gender Impact Assessment training has been provided to local councils, in line with the Gender Equality Act 2020
- state sporting bodies have been supported with Navigating Fair Access forums, raising awareness of the Roadmap and its aims across the sector.
The Roadmap was developed by OWSR, in partnership with Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) and VicHealth, following consultation with the sport, local government, and gender equality sectors. The campaign released today aligns with the second phase of the Roadmap – the Readiness Phase – and aims to encourage conversations on what inequality and fair access looks like in community clubs, encouraging change progress directly at a grassroots level.
The Education Phase of the Roadmap has formally concluded, and the Readiness Phase of the Roadmap is now underway.
For more information about the Fair Access Policy Roadmap click here
Wednesday 11 October 2023
