Fair
Access

Women and girls are still fighting for fair access and basic necessities in community sporting clubs across Victoria.

If the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup showed us anything, it's that the level of support for women in professional sport has skyrocketed — especially in spaces once considered male-dominated. Unfortunately, the same level of support is not yet reflected in many community sporting clubs across Australia. Thankfully, things are changing — but we still have a way to go.

Many women in community sporting clubs across Victoria still face significant barriers — a lack of allocated change rooms or appropriate facilities, limited access to field space, coaching staff, umpires and trainers.

Beyond the physical, there remains a pervasive stigma that women's sport is not taken as seriously as men's. The challenges that result from gender bias ultimately prevent women and girls from thriving — or potentially excelling into positions of leadership.

The Office for Women in Sport & Recreation (OWSR) were seeking a compelling campaign to highlight these issues, raise awareness, and foster a sense of urgency to prioritise fair access across the community sporting sector in Victoria.

We chose to address existing barriers in community sport through unscripted interviews that capture the lived experiences of women from different walks of life — letting their voices carry the weight of the message without interference.

Through the introduction of allies in this space, we also highlighted the ripple effect these barriers are having on women and girls in the community — and how some sporting clubs are tackling these issues in real time to create genuine cultural shift.

To break this cycle, we believed it was important to also touch on the unconscious bias exhibited by some adult participants — people conditioned by old ways of thinking in community sport. This was balanced by the refreshing, unguarded views of young children, yet to be affected by societal norms or gender stereotypes.

This contrast powerfully illustrates that gender bias is a behaviour that is learnt over time — and that we all have the power to change the narrative by breaking the cycle before it starts.