27-05-2025
Players across Victoria to protest cuts to gender equity programs
Women football players across Victoria are planning a protest against recent Victorian state budget cuts programs around gender equity and inclusion in sport.
The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR) and the Preventing Violence Through Sport Grants Program were both axed after Treasurer Jaclyn Symes handed down her first budget earlier last week.
In response, Not All Clubs Media has led an initiative across social media to call on the state to reinstate the programs and "commit to a long-term strategy to make sport safe, equal, and accessible for women and gender diverse people".
The plan is for players to wear red armbands this weekend when they run out.
One armband will be worn to stand against the cuts and defunding, and another will be worn to honour the women who have been killed this year due to gender-based violence.
"These initiatives and programs were among the first of their kind — designed to make sport safe, more inclusive, and more equal for women and gender diverse people. Without them, we risk going backwards — towards more harm, more silence, and fewer women and gender diverse people in the game," a statement read on social media.
"This is happening during a national crisis of gender-based violence. Already this year, 29 women have been killed by violence. Last year, it was 103.
"We refuse to go backwards. We refuse to be silenced. We refuse to stay quiet while safety is defunded."
The cuts to the programs were announced at a Sport and Experience Economy meeting on Wednesday last week, where the secretary acknowledged that some of the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions lapsing programs would not receive further funding, and thus conclude over the coming months.
Director at Equal the Contest and former Mt Alexander Falcons player Mitch Nivalis said clubs and people wanted to learn, but could not do so without financial support.
"My experience screening Equal the Contest right across Victoria and the conversations with audiences as a result, is that people want to learn," Nivalis said.
"They want to know how to improve their clubs so everyone has equal access and everyone feels safe and welcome. But they need support and the Victorian state government has just removed that support with this decision, and with it, hope for women, girls and gender diverse people in sport.
"This decision by the Victorian state government undermines years of cumulative work done in partnerships between sports clubs, local government, academia, women's health, prevention of violence organisations and regional sports assemblies.
"This is long-term work and axing the Office for Women in Sport and programs like Change our Game is a failure for every woman in Australia experiencing and at risk of gender based violence."
Nivalis said it also had an impact on men and boys at football clubs.
"It's also a failure to men and boys, who were benefiting from programs and environments that create new narratives for behaviour in sport," they said.
"The momentum for men's allyship was just starting to build traction. If anything, now is the time to increase support for this work to capitalise on this potential for change.
"My question is, what happens now to the Fair Access initiative? What happens to all the funding given to male dominated clubs to support women's programs — where's the accountability going to be to ensure this is actually followed through and not just funnelled back to men's teams?"
A spokesperson said the Victorian government "will always support women and girls' participation in sport and recreation".
"The functions of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation will continue to be held within Sport and Recreation Victoria," they said.
OWSR administered the Change Our Game Program, which aimed at increasing the participation, leadership and visibility of women and girls in sport and active recreation.
The Preventing Violence Through Sport Grants Program supported Victorian community sport and recreation in addressing gender-based violence, including family violence, sexual violence, and other forms of violence against women.
The state budget was announced on Tuesday last week, with a focus on the cost of living and families, which promises a $600 million surplus for the first time since the pandemic.
It placed thousands of public sector jobs on the chopping block as the government aims to save $3.3 billion.
