Gender inequality remains a long-standing issue in many team sports in Australia.

The latest 2024 survey from Ausplay showed significant gender gaps in participation across Australian football and other sports. In comparison, the gender gap in volleyball was smaller, with an estimated 161,197 male and 138,963 female participants. 

The sport was among the most gender-balanced in Australia and globally, not only in player ranks but also in administration, with half the board and most state and territory chief executives being women, according to Volleyball Australia.

Australian Sports Commission data shows volleyball’s participation rate from both genders is far more balanced compared to other team sports in Australia. Infographic: Joyce Teng.

Volleyball WA Board member and marketing professional Michelle Hort said her work environment felt equal, though different roles tended to attract different genders.

“Marketing, administration, accounting, roles in HR tend to be fairly female-dominated, whereas some of the sport coordinators, coach developments, not saying there’s no women, but they tend to attract more of a male type,” Ms Hort said.

The National Gender Equity in Sports Governance Policy was released by the Australian Government in September 2024 to address the underrepresentation of women in sports administration. Failure to meet targets by July 2027 would result in withheld government funding.

Ms Hort said the policy encouraged female representation on boards and in developing women as chairs. She said: “Females are often now seen on the boards, but they aren’t necessarily the chairperson. That’s still quite a male-dominated position.”

When asked about the efforts to ensure visibility of female players, Ms Hort said it’s a conscious effort to represent both male and female teams simultaneously.

She said the WA state team, Perth Steel, included both women’s and men’s teams and received equal coverage: “When the state league games are streamed, they are both streamed. It’s a package deal with the women’s and the men’s.

“They seem to always come together,” she said. “Like in football there was never a women’s state team or club team. Whereas in volleyball, there has always been a men’s and a women’s team.”

For Perth Steel Women’s team and Balcatta Cats player Hayley Fry, parity was evident not only in visibility but also in funding.

Fry noticed although volleyball wasn’t massively funded like the AFL, the funding was shared evenly.

She said the Perth Steel women’s team received the Women in Sport grant in 2023, providing a three-year, $100,000 annual grant, supporting operations including flights, accommodation, uniforms, coaching, free access to fitness programs and a 24-hour recovery centre.

“It’s been a huge opportunity to grow the sport,” she said. “Not only because we wouldn’t need to pay anything, but also that Volleyball WA could use any other funding or sponsorship money for the men’s team.”

Curtin University lecturer and gender researcher Matty Phillips said volleyball’s emphasis on skill, strategy, and teamwork over masculinity and aggression helped create a more inclusive sporting environment for women.

“I think particularly what other sports can learn from volleyball is seeing how true representation can really have beneficial impacts,” he said. “While there is female representation in many other team sports, it certainly wasn’t to the level that we saw within volleyball.”

Dr Phillips said more representation made young women feel more connected and showed them possibilities for involvement.

He acknowledged progress but said more could be done to truly achieve parity.

While there’s visibility, he said commentary surrounding women’s games still focused more on appearance than athletic merits.

He said greater parity, more acceptance, and support were achieved, but the narrative that everything is solved within the setting is incorrect.

“Social change does take a long time, but it doesn’t mean that it’s not worthwhile.”