Western Australia

The Western Australian Government is committed to achieving gender equity in governance and leadership positions across the sport and active recreation sector.

The Women in Leadership Target (the Target) was introduced in Western Australia (WA) in 2019 through the former Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) with the aim of achieving 50% representation of women on all recognised State Sporting Association (SSA) boards and committees.

This was extended to include recognised State Active Recreation Organisations (SAROs) in 2022-23 and became a requirement for Peak Bodies in 2024-25.

The Gender Diversity Case for Change has been developed in partnership with the sport and recreation industry and helps organisations to understand the business case for gender diversity, to motivate and support them to address gender inequality.

To read more about the Gender Diversity Case for Change, please visit the Department of Creative Industries, Tourism and Sport (CITS) website, opens in a new tab.

As of 31 March 2026, 91% of the recognised SSAs, SAROs and Peak Bodies had achieved this target. The overall representation of women on boards and committees was 52%, with 39% of Chair and 53% of Deputy Chair positions occupied by females.

Timelines

Recognised SSAs, SAROs and Peak Bodies are required to report against the following areas bi-annually in November and March:

• Gender composition of board/committee
• Gender composition of Chair and Deputy Chair

National Gender Equity in Sports Governance Policy condition

• For selected recognised organisations, 50% of all members of both the Nominations Committee and Finance, Audit & Risk Committee (or equivalents) must be women and/or gender diverse. This will be reported annually in March.

Non-Compliance Measures

There is a funding impact through CITS’s Industry Investment Program for organisations that have not achieved 50% representation of women and/or gender diverse people on their boards and committees by 31 March each year.

Recognised ‘Provisional’ organisations are required to work towards the Target, with support from CITS.

For further details in relation to the policy clauses, please contact your CITS Adviser.

Industry support

CITS will continue to support the sport and active recreation sector to improve gender equity in governance and leadership positions to achieve the targets identified in the Policy. This will be achieved through:

• individual support provided through CITS Advisers
• development of Achievement Action Plans
• provision of resources and delivery of learning and development initiatives
• consultation and data collection