Kicking goals for women and girls - Fair Access Policy and Action Plan endorsed

We know sport and recreation fosters respect and fair-mindedness while also supporting the physical and mental well-being of our residents.

Fair access is about ensuring everyone who wants to, can fully participate and reach their full potential, which also means equal opportunity and access to their local sporting and recreational facilities.

Council's Fair Access Policy seeks to address barriers historically experienced, by women and girls particularly, and identify ways to improve access to, and use of, Council-owned community sports infrastructure.

This includes, for example, appropriate change rooms along with equitable training and competition timetabling.

The Policy also includes actions Council can take including:

  • Ensuring safer and more inclusive infrastructure to improve the training and playing experience for women, girls, and gender-diverse people (including change rooms, bathrooms and amenities, sports lighting, car parks, pathways, sensory rooms, prayer rooms etc.)
  • Ensuring Council-owned recreation and leisure centres are managed in line with a Fair Access Policy, and
  • Providing support to sports clubs to develop women in leadership or governance roles.

Under the State Government's Fair Access Roadmap, all Victorian Council's are required to have a Fair Access Policy in place to be eligible to receive infrastructure funding.

At its 23 July 2024 meeting, Council endorsed the Fair Access Policy and Action Plan. You can view the endorsed Policy and Plan on our website.

Policy Principles

The Policy and Action Plan is based on six principles of inclusivity, full participation, equitable access and use, equal representation, encouraging and supporting user groups, and prioritising user groups committed to equality. These principles have been developed by the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, Sport and Recreation Victoria and VicHealth, in consultation with representatives from local government, State sport and recreation sectors.

  • Community sports infrastructure and environments are genuinely welcoming, safe, and inclusive.

  • Women and girls can fully participate in all aspects of community sport and active recreation, including as player, coach, administrator, official, volunteer, and spectator.

  • Women and girls will have equitable access to and use of community sport infrastructure:

      • of the highest quality available and most convenient
      • at the best and most popular competition and training times and locations
      • to support existing and new participation opportunities, and a variety of sports

        • Women and girls should be equitably represented in leadership and governance roles.

        • Encourage and support all user groups who access and use community sport infrastructure to understand, adopt, and implement gender-equitable access and use practices.

        • Prioritise access, use, and support to all user groups who demonstrate an ongoing commitment to gender-equitable access and use of allocated community sports infrastructure.

        The Policy

        Under the State Government's Fair Access Roadmap, all Victorian Councils are required to have a Fair Access Policy in place.

        The overriding objective of the Fair Access Policy is to improve access to, and use of, community sports infrastructure by women and girls.

        The Policy seeks to address barriers experienced by women and girls in accessing and using community sports infrastructure. It will aim to ensure that all Council-owned facilities that deliver community sports implement welcoming, accessible and inclusive environments , while also ensuring appropriate infrastructure to support women and girls.

        You can learn more about the Fair Access Policy on our website.

        Action Plan

        The Action Plan acknowledges sports clubs and sporting codes are at differing levels of implementing fair access. It aims to support clubs to enact change and play a role in increasing engagement of women, girls, and gender-diverse people in community sports clubs.

        You can learn more about the Fair Access Action Plan on our website.