SPORT

BY BLAKE METCALF-HOLT

 

UPROAR has been voiced across Victoria, including in Gippsland, following the state government’s decision to axe the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation and the Preventing Violence Through Sport Grants Program.

Both results came during this year’s State Budget, and were revealed during a May 21 Sport and Experience Economy meeting, with announcements that certain Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions programs would cease.

Female footballers and clubs across Victoria protested the decision, with players wearing red armbands and a second strip to honour the women lost to gender-based violence this year.

With the State Budget focussing on the issues of cost-of-living and families, thousands of public sector jobs were put in the firing line as the state government aim to save $3.3 billion.

In a statement provided to the ABC, the state government said: “(We) will always support women and girls’ participation in sports and recreation. The functions of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation will continue to be held within Sport and Recreation Victoria.”

Entering its eighth-year, the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation had funded 580 grants, worth more than $2.9 million in total, for community sport and organisations such as basketball, cycling, hockey, surfing, and volleyball across the state.

The government post were active in female participation in sport, offering professional development scholarships, community activation grants, and sports media opportunities for women.

Latrobe Valley-based not-for-profit regional sports assembly, GippSport recently secured a Change Our Game community activation grant to deliver a new Youth Women’s Leadership and Governance Program, supporting the next generation of female leaders to be delivered in 2025/26.

The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation also facilitated the Fair Access Policy Roadmap, an Australian-first policy which aimed to provide women and girls fairer access to community infrastructure, by supporting local councils to develop locally relevant gender equitable access.

The Preventing Violence Through Sports Grants Program (PVTSGP) had previously run for three years, providing funding for partnership projects that focussed on:

Building the capacity of community sport and recreation to address the gendered drivers of family violence, sexual violence, and all forms of violence against women in their communities;

Implementing the Safe and Inclusive Sport: Preventing Gender-Based Violence Guide for state sporting associations, regional sport assemblies, women’s health and community health services, local councils, and other organisations, and;

Building networks and partnerships between community sport and recreation and primary prevention experts.

These were utilised across a variety of community sports including football, netball, basketball and cricket, as well as upskilling local committees, umpires, and coaches on their understanding of gender-based violence.

The much heralded Orange Round campaign across local football leagues and other sports associations (Gippsland League Orange Round is held June 21) is delivered through the PVTSGP, reaching more than 200 clubs and associations, and provides local workshops and tailored resources.

GippSport echoed theirs and the region’s disappointment in this closure, writing to relevant ministers denouncing these decisions and urging them to reconsider.

It was sent to Minister for Community Sport, Ros Spence, Minster for Family Violence, Women, and Government Services, Natalie Hutchins, and Minister for Equality, Vicki Ward on behalf of GippSport and its partners at Gippsland Centre Against Sexual Assault (office based in Morwell) and Gippsland Women’s Health.

“As a funded partner in the prevention program and long-standing supporter of the Fair Access Policy roadmap, we have seen first-hand how critical these initiatives are in advancing gender equity and preventing violence through the powerful platform of community sport,” GippSport Executive Officer, Dan Poynton penned.

“The decision to discontinue these efforts risks stalling momentum, particularly in regions like Gippsland, where the needs are great and local capacity is limited.

“We urge the Victorian government to reconsider the decision to withdraw investment from this space.

“Maintaining a gender equity function within Sport and Recreation Victoria and funding place-based prevention initiatives in regions like Gippsland would be a wise and values-driven decision – especially in the face of rising gender-based violence across the state.”

Per the Gippsland Family Violence Alliance, four out of five Gippsland LGAs exceed the state average for family violence incident rates, with Latrobe City second in the state for family violence police call outs (per 100,000 population) and East Gippsland number one in the state in 2024.

Latrobe City also saw a 14.73 per cent increase in family violence incidents from the year prior, with a total of 3115 incidents from January to December 2024.

“In Gippsland, the prevalence of family violence remains among the highest in Victoria,” Mr Poynton added.

“We cannot afford to lose traction now.”