It was International Women’s Day last Thursday, and Woodend-based Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell was pleased to be able to talk to Kyneton Women’s Football Club representatives about gender equality in sport.
The KWFC members were visiting Parliament House to help raise awareness about the significant challenges faced by women and girls in community sport across the state.
Ms Purcell called on Minister for Community Sport, Ros Spence, to address two critical issues.
1 — Commission an independent audit of government women’s sports grants to ensure that every dollar is being used to directly fund women’s sports; and
2 — Enforce the ‘Fair Access Roadmap’ policies guaranteeing women equal access to local grounds alongside their male counterparts.
“It is hard to believe that in 2025 we are still advocating for these fundamental rights, to ensure women and girls receive the same respect and opportunities as everyone else,” it was stated.
“We need to ask ourselves, what tangible steps are we taking to ensure women are respected, supported, and that barriers to access are removed.”
It was pointed out that one only had to look at the comments on the t-shirts made recently about players and the team (pictured) to see how far one had to go before women are treated with respect.
“Policies are important, but real activism and accountability are even better,” Ms Purcell said.
The MP stated sexism in sport was not just isolated to the Kyneton women’s team, it existed everywhere and an equitable playing field was needed to change that.
