The Tasmanian Liberal Government is committed to increasing women’s participation and leadership in sport.
Today we joined forces with Womensport and Recreation Tasmania to host a panel of leading women in sport to talk about their experiences and ways to promote and increase the profile and pathways for women.
Womensport and Recreation Tasmania is an advocacy body for female participation in sport and active recreation and provides programs and services targeted at increasing female participation in all aspects of sport and active recreation.
Today’s panel featured a number of high-profile sports leaders including Tracey Gaudry, new CEO of the Hawthorn Football Club and Kate Palmer, CEO of the Australian Sports Commission.
In Tasmania female representation on sporting organisation boards rose to 38 per cent last year and remains above the national average of 36 per cent. Further the percentage of Tasmanian sporting organisations that have female president or chairs remains above the national average.
It’s also great to see the increase in physical activity participation by females, with recent statistics showing that female participation in regular activity is higher than that of Tasmanian males (60 per cent compared with 56 per cent of males).
The Tasmanian Liberal Government has a strong track record of investing in women’s sport including our partnership with the AFL, and in particular North Melbourne, which has seen the number of female teams in Tasmania grow from seven to 62 in the past two years, and our $250,000 commitment in the 2017-18 State Budget to upgrade Rugby Park to improve women’s infrastructure and performance lighting.
Together with Womensport and Recreation Tasmania, we are also keen to promote the achievements and pathways for women as leaders in sport; as coaches, officials, participants and administrators.