Supporting women in sport

Minister for Sport Senator Kate Lundy and the Minister for the Status of Women Julie Collins today encouraged women aspiring to be leaders in sport to apply for a grant to help them realise their potential.

Under the Sport Leadership Grants and Scholarships for Women program grants of up to $5,000 for individuals and $10,000 for organisations are available to assist women to undertake accredited sport leadership training in the areas of coaching, officiating, governance, administration and management, communications, media and marketing. Sport leadership pathway scholarships of up to $10,000 per annum for three years are also available.

Minister Lundy said it was fitting to open the grant round on International Women’s Day to highlight the contribution of women in sport.

“Women are making a valuable contribution to sport in Australia and increasingly progressing to senior roles in the sporting community,” Senator Lundy said.

“The Gillard Government enthusiastically supports a future for women with ambition in sport whether it is through participation, or in an administration, volunteering or coaching capacity.

“Women are making their mark in sport, but there is still plenty of work to do to ensure greater participation of women in sport.”

Minister Collins said successful grant and scholarship recipients would also attend a two day residential leadership workshop to further develop skills to enable them to reach their leadership potential.

“Since its inception in 2002 this grant has supported more than 20,000 women with a total funding allocation of more than $3.7 million,” Ms Collins said.

“The program has helped many women in sport and has contributed to the careers of people like Diana Taylor, who is a Board member of AFL club Geelong and the Chief Executive of Women’s Golf Victoria, Bronwen Young.

“These are just a handful of the examples of how this grant program has helped women in sport realise their potential.”

Applications are now open and close on April 27, 2012. For more information or to apply visit: www.ausport.gov.au/participating/women/get_involved/grants_and_scholarships