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GOING BEYOND THE ‘FEEL-GOOD FACTOR’ TO ACHIEVE EQUALITY IN PARA-SPORT KATIE KELLY OAM Katie Kelly OAM won Australia’s first Gold Medal in Paratriathlon at the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Katie is passionate about promoting inclusiveness for Australians living with a disability and is the founder of Sport Access Foundation, which provides financial assistance to support participation in sports for Australian children with disabilities. She is on the Board of Deaf Sports Australia and is an Ambassador for the Royal Deaf Blind Institute for Children. Katie tweets @katiek23
In November 2019, the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) announced a new four-year landmark deal to close the pay gap between the Australian women’s football team, the Matildas, and the Australian men’s team, the Socceroos. In essence, the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), would put Australia’s finest women’s footballers on equal par with their Socceroo peers while also addressing other policies for women, including pregnancy leave. The most significant part of this agreement was the collaboration between key stakeholders of the game. The FFA administrators, led by CEO David Gallop, and the Football Players Association CEO John Didulica, set a clear mandate on why equity in pay at the highest level of football in Australia was paramount to the game’s long-term success. As stated in the CBA fact sheet1, the agreement, “… achieves a deal unique to Australian sport – anchored in genuine partnership, gender equity and leadership – that positions the Socceroos and the Matildas as not only our pre-eminent national teams but as global leaders within the football community”.
Perhaps most telling was the buy-in from Socceroos players, including captain Mark Milligan, who had recently watched the Matildas with his children at the 2019 World Cup in France. Milligan said: “It really drove home how important it was during those negotiations that the Matildas got what they deserved”.2
Women’s sport still has a long way to go in giving women a level playing field, but the FFA has led the way, and in this fast-growing market, an ever-expanding number of fans will demand that other sports follow suit.
