Information and photo courtesy of volleyball.org.au
Volleyball Australia (VA) has joined the Australian Sports Commission and other national sporting organisations to welcome the National Gender Equity in Sport Governance Policy which was announced earlier this week.
The Policy aims to address the underrepresentation of women in leadership positions across the Australian sporting landscape.
Amongst the details of the Policy, the following targets have been set for national and state sporting bodies to reach in the coming years:
· 50% of all board directors are women and/or gender diverse
· 50% of board chairs are women and/or gender diverse
· 50% of specified board sub-committee members are women and/or gender diverse
Globally, volleyball has been a leader in gender equity with men and women competing at the same events and venues for equal prize money.
Off the court, VA’s commitment to gender equity is already highlighted by a majority of females on the Volleyball Australia Board and a female appointed as CEO of the 2025 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide.
“Today’s announcement by the Federal Government and the Australian Sports Commission sets a mandate for all sports to be more inclusive and we’re proud that in Volleyball we already comply with the key thresholds announced by the Minister,” said Andrew Dee, Volleyball Australia CEO. “While the Policy stipulates that funding will be withheld from sports which don’t comply, this has never been the incentive for VA to increase the female voice in our game. It’s simply the right thing to do.
“Whether it be at a community or elite level, we are incredibly fortunate that participation numbers in Australian volleyball have remained gender-equal for a long time now, and that should always be reflected in how the game is governed and managed.
“Whether it be our office staff, high performance teams, our Board and Committees and even the coaches and administrators in our state and territory bodies, Volleyball is a gender equity leader in sports governance and we welcome that being reflected in other sports organisations around the country.”
ASC Chair Kate Jenkins AO said she looks forward to leading the important next steps.
“As someone who has worked in the gender equity and inclusion space for decades, today’s announcement is an important forward step for the sport sector,” she said. “I’m optimistic about the positive impact this policy will have for sport at all levels.
“While this policy focuses on gender equity, it sets a framework to improve representation of all elements of diversity including age, cultural background and disability in the longer term.
“A range of resources, practical tools and programs will be made available to organisations to support them to meet these targets and navigate the challenges that may arise with substantial change like this.”
The Policy announcement comes at a time when volleyball continues to rise on the domestic and global stage. Beach volleyball is one of the most-watched and most-popular sports at the Olympic Games and featured front and centre at the Paris 2024 Olympics under the Eiffel Tower. The sport attracted significant broadcast and digital audience growth since Tokyo 2020 (IOC).
There are 800 million global fans of the sport of volleyball (Volleyball World/Nielsen), with the 2023 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Mexico reaching 166 million viewers across broadcast and digital platforms, including a cumulative broadcast audience of 35.8 million in China.
The Adelaide BVWC audience is estimated at 250 million viewers based on alignment with the Asian time zone.
Over 450,000 tickets were sold for beach volleyball at the 2024 Olympic Games across 14 days of competition (62% French and 38% international attendees), ranking the sport in the top-five attended events in Paris out of the 9.5 million total tickets sold.
The 2023 Beach Volleyball World Championships in Tlaxcala, Mexico sold 70,000 tickets; the 2025 Adelaide BVWC will have an estimated 75,000 attendees across a wide range of ticketing and hospitality options over the 10-day event.
Comprising over 10,000 interstate and international spectators, this will generate an estimated impact of between $17m and $23m to the South Australian economy.
QUICK LINKS
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