Empowering Women & Girls in Sport Integrity Program
Sport Integrity Australia is empowering women and girls to enter, stay, and thrive in sport at all levels.
What is the program?
The Empowering Women and Girls in Sport Integrity Program was established in January 2024, to bolster ongoing efforts to tackle abuse, bullying, discrimination and sexual misconduct.
The Federal Government has invested $1.125 million to the Program over five years, with a focus on safety and integrity issues facing women and girls in sport.
Why is the program needed?
Through this Program, we are seeking to ensure a proactive, coordinated and sustainable approach to prevent and respond to integrity threats to women and girls across all levels of sport in Australia.
As the agency responsible for preventing and addressing threats to sport integrity, we have a significant role to play in protecting women and girls from integrity threats, and to help them thrive in sport at all levels.
Women’s sport has experienced a period of extraordinary growth in recent times and there is growing concern around integrity threats to women and girls, such as:
- Online abuse
- Discrimination
- Child safeguarding
- Competition manipulation
- Doping risks
These threats can cause serious long-term harm, negative impacts on equal participation, and limit the numerous benefits that women and girls can provide to sport.
All people in sport need to understand that abuse, bullying, harassment, sexual misconduct, discrimination, victimisation and vilification and cheating are not acceptable.
Fast facts
- During January 2022 to April 2023, almost 65% of the National Integrity Framework (NIF) related complaints progressed to investigation related to alleged prohibited conduct against women or girls.
- Research has found that women athletes received three times as many negative comments online as men (27% compared to 9%) and that over a quarter of all comments regarding sportswomen were negative, sexist, sexualised, or belittled women's sports. (Source: Plan Australia International, April 2019)
- During January 2022 to April 2023, child safeguarding concerns accounted for 80% of complaints investigated by SIA. Of these, over 70% raised concerns over male coaches and young girl athletes.
- In 2023, 22% of CEOs, across 65 Australian Sport Commission (ASC) funded National Sporting Organisations were women.*
- In 2023, 25% of Board Chairs across 65 ASC funded National Sporting Organisations were women.*
*These figures are lower in 2024 given the recent departure of high-profile CEOs and Board members.
The Empowering Women and Girls in Sport Integrity Program Strategy
The Empowering Women and Girls in Sport Integrity Program Strategy seeks to support and encourage women and girls' participation and sustained leadership in all aspects of sport and continue to invest in evidence-based research to inform future policy and procedure.
The Program’s structure is based on four key pillars:
- Support Women in Leadership by strengthening integrity environments: In collaboration with key partners, we will seek to strengthen the integrity environment for women and girls in sport and to influence and enhance positive behaviours from those in key leadership positions. We aim to remove integrity threats (such as discrimination, harassment and abuse) from leadership environments that create barriers for women entering and remaining in long term leadership roles.
- Empower through Education: Strengthen our own agency's integrity frameworks, policies and processes and seek to empower women and girls to access and utilise these policies and procedures, including the 1800 Safe Sport Hotline, to educate and empower, deter and prevent integrity threats that create barriers for women and girls.
- Influence through Partnership: Partner with women and girls’ initiatives across government, sport, industry and business to embed integrity initiatives to proactively address integrity threats to women and girls.
- Understand and Strengthen the Integrity Environment: Undertake an annual intelligence assessment of the environment, identify research priorities and partner in research to inform future policy, procedures and education to proactively strengthen the sporting integrity environment.
Alignment with National Sports Strategies
The Program is aligned to several Australian Government investments to support equal opportunities in cultural, recreational and sporting activities at all levels and seeks to improve the integrity environment as a foundation to support the successful implementation of these national strategies and policies:
- National Sport Strategy 2024–2034: Focus on healthy, active, connected communities.
- National High-Performance Sports Strategy (Win Well): Achieve excellence while maintaining integrity.
- National Sport Participation Strategy (Play Well): Promote physical activity and inclusivity.
- Pathway to Empower – A Strategy for Women and Girls in Sport: Increase participation and leadership.
- National Gender Equity in Sports Governance Policy: Ensure fair representation and opportunities for women.
Program snapshot
