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 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 will be 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 DLGSC website, opens in a new tab.

As of 31 March 2024, the overall representation of women on SSA, SARO and Peak Body boards and committees had increased to 52.1%. This was an increase of 1.8% from the previous year and an improvement on the approximate 40% in 2018.

Timelines

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

• Gender composition of board/committee
• Gender composition of Nominations Committee and Finance, Audit and Risk Committee (or equivalents)
• Gender composition of Chair and Deputy Chair

Non-Compliance Measures

There is a funding impact through DLGSC’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 DLGSC.

Industry support

The DLGSC 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 DLGSC sport advisory staff
• development of Achievement Action Plans
• provision of resources and delivery of learning and development initiatives
• consultation and data collection