Community Leaders United By Sport (CLUBS)

In 2019 and 2020, Monash Council was funded by Sport and Recreation Victoria to run a gender equality in sport pilot program. We took part in this program because we wanted to help clubs:

Challenge gender stereotypes and roles to create environments where everyone feels equal and respected
Increase women's participation in all aspects of sport and recreation, including decision-making

Club members participated in focus groups that identified and explored key barriers and opportunities for gender equity in sports clubs from a player and committee member perspective. Nominated representatives from each club also participated in leadership training to develop skills and build capacity to implement change.

We shared some of the insights from the first year of CLUBS in an in-person forum in 2019, and you can also see a brief video about the program below:

Some of the broad learnings are:

Club culture is the most important issue for women and girls (not physical infrastructure)
Small changes can make a big impact
Clubs will be successful at creating a better culture if they listen to the voices of the women and girls at their clubs

For more detailed learnings and suggested strategies and actions clubs can undertake, we have put together a report of the program. You can download it here: CLUBS Report(PDF, 786KB)

You can also see specific resources on:

Monash Sports Clubs CALD Engagement(PDF, 2MB)

Monash Sports Clubs Inclusive and Welcoming Physical Environments(PDF, 4MB)

Monash Sports Clubs LGBTIQ Engagement(PDF, 2MB)

CLUBS was led by Monash Council in partnership with Link Health & Community and Monash University.