Equality in Sports

PETITION (signing our petition here)

To the Speaker and Members of the Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory

This petition of certain residents of the Australian Capital Territory draws to the attention of the Assembly that: systemic barriers prevent equitable participation by girls and women in community and representative sport in the ACT. We note that:

• Community sport is often inaccessible for many children in the ACT due to the cost of participation, travel and equipment, with disproportionate impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, low-income, refugee and migrant families and people with disability.
• Sport in the ACT is gendered in ways that disadvantage girls, particularly during puberty, when menstrual health, body changes and lack of supportive environments and products contribute to girls withdrawing or disengaging from sport.
• Research and lived experience show that absence of coach education about puberty, menstrual health, trauma-informed practice and respectful relationships creates environments where girls’ needs are misunderstood or ignored.
• Lack of flexibility in training expectations, inadequate access to menstrual products and other supports and absence of inclusive coach and club practices are barriers that disproportionately affect girls’ participation in sport.
• These barriers are structural and systemic, not isolated incidents, and require legislative and policy action to ensure safe, inclusive and equitable sporting environments for all in the ACT.

Your petitioners therefore request the Assembly to:          

1. Amend applicable legislation and registration requirements to mandate coach education in puberty, menstrual health, trauma-informed practice, respectful relationships and inclusive environments for all recognised community sporting clubs in the ACT.
2. Embed minimum standards for subsidised access and financial inclusion in the Associations Incorporation Act or relevant ACT sport policy so that clubs receiving community infrastructure and grants must provide transparent, affordable pathways for participation by low-income, newly arrived and marginalised girls and girls with disability.
3. Require that coach accreditation and club registration conditions in the ACT include evidence of training and compliance with inclusive practice standards that support girls’ health, dignity and sustained participation.
4. Support implementation of practical measures to address transport barriers, subsidised registrations and menstrual health provisions at sporting venues.

These changes will help ensure that girls and women in the ACT can participate fully, safely and without structural disadvantage in community and representative sport.

Signing our petition here.