Minister for Sport Kate Ellis and Minister for the Status of Women Tanya Plibersek announced the recipients of the 2010–11 Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women (SLGSfW) program last week.

The grants and scholarships, jointly funded by the Australian Sports Commission and the Office for Women, were awarded to 117 individuals and organisations across Australia in the areas of coaching, officiating, governance, management, administration and communications/media.

The program had helped more than 16,500 women over the past eight years.

’Australian sport needs more women involved in senior positions and leadership roles,’ Ms Ellis said.

’This program aims to boost the number of women in leadership roles and will help increase their representation on national sporting organisation boards from current levels of just 25 per cent.’

Through the SLGSfW, women in upper sports management are eligible for scholarships of up to $10,000 a year for three years, individuals are eligible for one-off grants of up to $5,000 and organisations are eligible for grants of up to $10,000.
’The Government strongly supports women who are interested in a future in sport, whether they're focused on becoming elite coaches, administrators or managers of sporting organisations,’ Ms Plibersek said.

’The grants provide a tangible way for women to obtain the skills and attributes required to succeed in sport leadership roles.’

Ms Ellis met with and congratulated the ten South Australian recipients at Equus Pony Club in Adelaide today.

Ms Ellis was joined by Australian Matilda's captain and Asian Cup champion, Melissa Barbieri, a previous grant recipient.

Ms Barbieri's grant is supporting her to complete an Asian Football Confederation A Licence coaching accreditation, designed to educate coaches in the technical requirements of team football and team management.

’This course will help me to take the next step in my career, developing the skills I need to coach women's football at the highest level,’ Ms Barbieri said.

The Australian Government has a strong commitment to women's sport. Earlier this year Ms Ellis released the Australian Government new way forward for Australian sport: Australian Sport: the Pathway to Success, which included and injection of $195 million into Australian sport.

This policy outlines additional strategies for bolstering the involvement of women in sport at all levels including establishing a 'women in sport register', new Women in Sport Awards and additional resources to improve the media coverage of women's sport.

’Women have a vital role to play in the development of sport in Australia and we need to recognise and encourage that involvement,’ said Minister Ellis.

For more grant information, including terms and conditions, visit: ausport.gov.au/women or call 1800 224 412.