Level the playing field – good practices for Pacific women’s leadership in sport

From the board room to the locker room, we share ten good practices for advancing women’s leadership in sport.

1.    Power transformation – strengthen organisational capacity for women’s leadership and gender equality. 

Good governance, financial management and human resources are the ‘load-bearing’ posts of an organisation and allow it to deliver advancements in women’s leadership and gender equality. 

2.    Play it forward – develop strategic plans that explicitly promote gender equality. 

Strategic plans are an important mechanism to elevate, prioritise and resource actions to achieve women’s leadership and gender equality. 

3.    Change from the inside out – undertake organisational gender equality, disability, and social inclusion assessments.

Providing effective support for women’s leadership requires understanding the current situation. By taking stock of existing commitments and strengths and identifying areas for improvement, organisations can establish a baseline against which to track progress. 

4.    Inclusion beyond the boardroom – advance women in leadership across the entire organisation. 

Strategically appoint women into priority leadership and decision-making positions, particularly those that influence whole-of-organisation decisions in a nuanced way such as building audiences and brands or securing sponsorship and investment.

5.    Empower women leaders to thrive not just survive – provide tailored leadership and professional development opportunities. 

Women who move into leadership positions within sports organisations face unique challenges and biases. Developing new or different leadership skills is important for women to establish themselves as strong and effective decision-makers.

6.    Power of the collective – invest in effective women’s leadership networks. 

Networking is often male-dominated and conducted in settings outside the workplace where women may feel uncomfortable – or after hours when some women have caring responsibilities. Women’s leadership networks ensure supportive environments for women to collaborate and strengthen their professional network for career advancement.

7.    Women mentoring women works – support the next generation. 

Early career women leaders often seen seek other women mentors to gain insights, skills and experience to succeed in their leadership roles. Gender equity at the leadership level accelerates when women leaders who have overcome social and cultural barriers reach back and mentor other women.

8.    Change the system to change the game – create high-performance career pathways for women.

Support women to navigate formal accreditation/certification systems and offer targeted development and financial support combined with experiential learning.

9.    Unlock peak performance – offer equitable high-performance pathways for women athletes.

Ensure next steps in women athletes’ journeys are visible and attainable through enhancing age-grade pathways and establishing professional national women’s competitions.

10.    Sport is a force for change – increase the visibility of women coaches, officials and players.

Showcasing strength, leadership and resilience as female traits supports a public narrative that values the contributions of women and girls.

These tested examples of good practice provide valuable insight into how sports organisations can promote equal opportunities, reduce gender-based discrimination, and create pathways to success for all women and girls.

Importantly, many of these lessons learned resonate beyond sport and can be used by any organisation seeking to promote gender equality in the workplace.

You can find more tips and real-life examples from the Pacific Women Sports Administration Program, in the good practice guide for women’s leadership and sports in the Pacific, available for download below.

The Pacific Women Sports Administration Program sits under the umbrella of Pacific Women Lead, Australia’s regional gender initiative aimed at ensuring that Pacific women and girls, in all their diversity, are safe and share equitably in resources, opportunities and decision-making, with men and boys. The program is delivered in close partnership with Netball Australia, Oceania Rugby, Tennis Australia and FIBA Oceania.

Download the Women's Leadership in Sports in the Pacific report.