Football Victoria (FV) is proud to roll out the Change Makers program to more than 60 Clubs (4x cohorts), statewide as part of the Victorian State Government’s Preventing Violence Against Women Through Community Sport initiative.
Women and girls are a key focus of Football Victoria’s Strategic Plan 2019-22 with a bold strategic objective to reach 50:50 gender equity by 2027.
The Change Makers project is a partnership between Football Victoria, Victoria University (VU) and Regional Sport Victoria (RSV). The project builds on a strong relationship between FV and VU who have been successfully working together since 2019 to address the gendered drivers of violence in football clubs. This work to date has predominantly occurred in metro settings so to extend our reach into regional Victoria we have joined forces with RSV.
We will continue to develop and build a community of practice within Victorian football clubs to enact change through evidence gathering, education, goal setting, transformative action, and social analysis to help FV reach their ambitious target of 50/50 equity
More than 50 community Clubs have already participated in Change Makers and with another 60 set to begin, the Victorian football community is showcasing its commitment to achieving gender equity.
In total, Minister for Community Sport and Prevention of Family Violence Ros Spence announced more than $1.8 million would be allocated for 12 different initiatives from organisations across Victoria, including Football Victoria.
“Our community sporting clubs can play a vital role in shifting attitudes and clubs like these are leading the way, creating opportunities to address inequality and promote safe environments for all to get active,” Spence said.
Karen Pearce, FV Executive Manager Equity, Growth and Inclusion hailed the State Government’s commitment to women and girls around the state.
“Sporting organisations play a vital role in driving positive change. We are extremely grateful for this support and look forwarding to working with our community to shift attitudes and work towards achieving gender balance,” Pearce said.
“With an expectation of further significant growth off the back of co-hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ we must ensure we can bring about significant cultural change and greater respect for women and girls across the football ecosystem” said Pearce.