Human Rights and Equal OpThe Current Playing Field 1991-2002

The Current Playing Field 1991-2002

Commissioner Pru Goward Federal
Sex Discrimination Commissioner

20 May 2003

Women and Sport Forum

Carlton Crest Hotel

Sydney NSW 2000

• Ladies and Gentlemen,
  thank you for inviting me here today.
• It gives me great pleasure
  to address the 'Sport Needs More Women' forum.
• Today, I have been asked
  to discuss the 'current playing field' and consider the issue of women in
  sport over the last decade - 1991 to 2002.
• Winning the Olympic
  bid in 1994; preparing for the games and then hosting the Olympics in Sydney
  in 2000 meant that sport was quite a focal point of this past decade - predominately
  in Sydney, but the buzz spread Australia wide.
• So, how did women -
  and in particular Australian women - fare as sport came under the spotlight?
• Let's begin by looking
  at their participation rates over this decade.

Participation rates

• Traditionally sport
  has been a male domain and although men continue to be the main players women
  are, in some areas, increasing their presence.
• 38 per cent of the all
  participants at the Sydney Olympics were female.
• Only 9 national teams
  were all male - an improvement from the 1996 Atlanta games where 26 nations
  sent all male teams.
• Women made up just under
  half of the Australian team (45 per cent).
• Again an improvement
  from Atlanta where they made up 40 per cent of the team.
• It is not only in Olympic
  teams that female participation rates increased.
• In the 2002 Commonwealth
  Games 46 per cent of the team was female.
• This was an increase
  from the 1990 team where women only accounted for 38 per cent of athletes.
• Bringing suburban joggers
  into the picture with elite athletes the conclusion remains that in general,
  men are more likely to participate in sport than women.
• 42.2 per cent of men
  participate in organised sport - compared to 37.7 per cent of women.
• In 2001 a large percentage
  of Australian women participate in non-organised sport (62.2 per cent of women).
• The discrepancy between
  the male and female participation rates is less, with 64.5 per cent of men
  participating in non-organised sport.
• Bear in mind that it
  is organised sport that is synonymous with a career in sport.
• That men participate
  in sport more frequently than women is true across all age groups.
• The biggest discrepancy
  being amongst 18-24 year olds - in 1999-2000 53.7 per cent of men and only
  36.6 per cent of women played any sport.
• This appears to be reflective
  of a trend for women to give up sport after leaving school as the participation
  rate of women in sport aged 15-18 is high, at 60.3 per cent.

Earnings:

• Unfortunately the gender
  gap is not only evident when considering sports participation rates.
• Contrary to sporting
  mantra, it appears that first place is actually a relative concept -substantially
  less prize money is on offer if you are a female ... it doesn't matter if you
  took out first place.
• For the first time
  since 1995 equal prize money was paid between the men's and women's championships
  at the Australian Open in 2001.
• And while equal Prize
  money is also paid at the US Open, this is not a global trend - A gender gap
  remains at the other two grand slam tournaments.
• In 2002, the winner
  of the Wimbledon Championship men's single's received 525,000, while the
  women's singles champion received only 486,000.
• In 2003 at the French
  open women will get paid 760,500 euros while men will get paid 780,000 euros.
• It is not just when
  collecting prize money that professional sports women feel the gender gap.
• It is reflected in their
  total earnings.
• Annika Sorenstam, Ladies
  Professional Golf Association 1998 Player of the Year won four tournaments
  and a then-record $1,092,748.
• If she had been on the
  men's PGA tour, that would have put her in 24th place for earnings.
• In 1999, Karrie Webb,
  the top-earning female golfer had prize winnings totalling $1,591,959.
• This was less than half
  of the earnings in this year of David Duval-the top-earning male golfer. He
  took home prize money totalling $3,429,873.
• This gender gap in earnings
  and prize money should come as no surprise.
• Despite commitments
  to equal pay, women across all industries and occupations in Australia
  earn less than men.
• When full time earnings
  are compared for men and women in the same position, women earn 85 cents in
  the male dollar. When part time and casual workers are added into the equation
  this figure drops to 63 cents in the dollar.
• Some sports are however
  rectifying this inequity.
• A journalist commenting
  on the gender gap between the earnings of professional runners in the US concluded
  by saying "my advice to women is quit your day job and become a professional
  runner. You may be a lot poorer, but at least you will achieve relative parity
  with your male counterparts."
• Earnings and participation
  are directly linked to sponsorship and media coverage.

Media coverage

• And the media's coverage
  of and society's watching of women's sport is troubling.
• We have conflicting
  views on how we like to view women - non aggressive, non adversarial, non
  gladiatorial.
• Sport is so often seen
  as the confirmation of male virtues - fast, strong, competitive.
• In fact sport is also
  about skill, as women's tennis so ably demonstrates.
• Sadly there seems to
  be evidence that the changes to equal prize money for women and men in some
  tennis tournaments can be attributed to three things:
  1. some consciousness
     raising;
  2. the arrival of pretty
     young women on the court;
  3. seeing women as
     victims, as stories.
• Their presence appears
  to make women's sport more "watchable" - but only individual sports.
• Team sports in particular
  struggle to receive coverage.
• This is a topic for
  a book. Time does not allow us to delve into it in today's discussion.
• One observation can
  be made however - the money, sponsorship and lack of media exposure given
  to women's team sports is emblematic of the way the western world views women
  - non aggressively, not emphasising their physical strength and not as gladiators.
• What a dilemma for the
  sports woman.
• So is sport ahead or
  behind of the game in relation to women's participation in other sectors in
  society?
• The gender inequity
  experienced by women in sport in relation to participation rates, media coverage
  and earning capacity is far from an anomaly.
• It is part of the big
  picture gender inequity experienced by women across the board - we need look
  no further than our workplaces.
• For example, women's
  presence is far less prevalent than men's in key decision making positions
  throughout national sporting organisations.
• In 2002 17 per cent
  of executive director/general manager positions were held by women.
• Now there is no requirement
  for not being the fastest, strongest, highest here if the stomachs hanging
  over the belts at quarter time on the footy field are anything to go by.
• Although it is greater
  than the percentage of women holding these positions in other areas - only
  8.2 per cent of women hold board of director positions in Australia - it is
  down from the 1995 figure where women made up 25 per cent of these positions.
• On the other hand, the
  discrimination experienced by women in sport is more direct than in other
  sectors -
• Certain sports are literally
  closed to women, they remain limited in the range of sports in which they
  can participate.
• For example it is illegal
  for women in New South Wales to participate in boxing and kickboxing.
• In 2001, there was a
  legal challenge to this ban when triple world kickboxing champion Holly Ferneley
  took the Boxing Authority and the State of NSW to the Federal Court.
• She argued that the
  refusal of the Authority to register her as a kickboxer due to her sex amounted
  to discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act.
• In my role as Sex Discrimination
  Commissioner I was able to intervene in the case as an amicus curiae (friend
  of the court).
• The Boxing Authority
  vehemently argued that boxing was dangerous and put women at risk of becoming
  'sideshow freaks.'
• Justice Wilcox found
  that as the Boxing Authority was a State administered qualifying body, the
  Federal Sex Discrimination Act could not regulate its activities, including
  the registration of boxers.
• He did infer however
  that he did not necessarily agree with the restriction and concluded by saying
  that although the legislation left him no choice in the matter, the ban could
  be overturned by the NSW Parliament by amendment of the Boxing and Wrestling
  Control Act 1986 (NSW).
• Subsequently I have
  written to every member of the NSW Parliament urging amendment of this Act.
• To my surprise, even
  some women MPs replied that they had trouble supporting women playing such
  a dangerous sport.
• I bet they didn't say
  that when Lauren Burns won the gold for Tae Kwon Doe - another version of
  female boxing.
• As you can see the Sex
  Discrimination Act has impacted women's involvement in sport this decade.
• The Sex Discrimination
  Act tries to eliminate all forms of sex based discrimination.
• There are however exemptions
  to the Act.
• Of relevance, is section
  42 of the Act which essentially allows the exclusion of persons of one sex
  from participating in any competitive sporting activities in which strength,
  stamina or physique of competitors is relevant.
• The impact of this?
• Women's smaller, 'more
  fragile' frames can be seen as reason for their non participation in sports.
• It hits young women
  the hardest.
• Because while there
  is a widespread acceptance of girls playing boys in sport, young women playing
  against young men is a 'quantum leap' that many find harder to imagine.
• As a result young women
  are often forced to hang up their 'footy boots' as their mixed competitions
  end and only competitions for boys continue to exist.
• An 11 year old girl
  in South Australia for example was not allowed to play in the under 13 boys
  SA boys football competition and no equivalent competition was offered for
  girls her age.
• Surprisingly, some don't
  necessary see this exemption as an obstacle to women's participation in men's
  sport.
• AFL chief executive
  Wayne Jackson, recently told the SA Press Club 'it would be a very brave person
  who would say a female would never play AFL ...I think 20 years ago the answer
  would have been clearly no.'
• Although, actually seeing
  this occur is a topic more in our next speaker's time frame!
• Attitudes on other issues,
  such as sexual harassment in sport are also changing.
• Most importantly, silence
  on this issue is being lifted. The result being stronger codes of practice
  on sexual harassment are being issued.
• In 2001 for example,
  the NSW Gaming and Racing Minister released a report that considered sexual
  harassment in horse racing.
• The report found that
  there was a bank of unreported cases of harassment - reasons why complaints
  go unreported are complex however the lack of assistance in the industry to
  encourage reporting was noted as a key reason.
• The report made a series
  of recommendations including instituting anti-harassment policies to try stamp
  out harassment.
• In August 2001 the NSW
  State Government took steps to eradicate discrimination and harassment in
  sport (including sexual harassment) in general by launching Play by the
  Rules an internet based training for coaches, players and officials.
• Playing sport while
  pregnant became a focus in 2001-02 as elite netballer Trudy Gardner was banned
  by Netball Australia from playing while she was pregnant.
• Her ban was the consequence
  of a blanket ban placed on all pregnant players by Netball Australia in mid
  June 2001.
• The ban was imposed
  by Netball Australia concerned with risk and potential consequences from injury
  to pregnant players.
• Despite medical opinion
  and evidence to the contrary.
• Ms Gardner made a complaint
  of pregnancy discrimination to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
  which was terminated as there were no reasonable grounds of reaching a settlement
  between the parties.
• Ms Gardner took the
  complaint to the Federal Magistrate's Court where it was found that Netball
  Association had discriminated against her on the basis of pregnancy in imposing
  an interim ban on pregnant netballers.
• Again, in my role as
  Sex Discrimination Commissioner I was able to intervene in the case.
• The Netball Association
  accepted that it had discriminated against Ms Gardner, but argued that its
  actions were protected by an exemption for voluntary bodies under section
  39 of the SDA as they were "in connection with" the provision of services
  to their member associations.
• Federal Magistrate Raphael
  decided that the exemption did not apply because it provided protection for
  voluntary bodies only in their relationships with member organisations, not
  individuals.
• The actions of the Netball
  Association constituted unlawful discrimination under the SDA.
• Ms Gardner was awarded
  $6,750 in damages (a sum agreed by the parties) and costs.
• This decision confirms
  that exemptions to the SDA must be read narrowly to ensure the maximum protection
  of the rights of women including pregnant women.
• The case brought scrutiny
  onto the issue of women participating in other sports when pregnant.
• Last year, horse racing
  stewards began canvassing support to prevent jockeys riding beyond the first
  trimester.
• Currently Australian
  racing rules currently require jockeys only to prove their fitness to ride
  at trackwork or on raceday.
• It is not specific about
  the requirements for pregnant jockeys - and female jockey's believe women
  should have the right to continue to ride for up to six months.
• The Australian Racing
  Board did not think there was any need at the moment to make a specific rule
  about pregnant riders.
• Precedents, including
  the Gardner case, suggest that it will be difficult for such bans to be imposed
  on pregnant women playing sport:
  • Women are allowed
    to compete in rodeos while pregnant.
  • Basketballer Trish
    Fallon was MVP of the WMBL final when pregnant in 1997.
  • Nova Peris competed
    while pregnant in Edmonton in 2001.
  • Pat Hurst played
    at the LPGA's season ending Tyco/ADT Tour Championships this month despite
    being seven months pregnant.
• Perhaps the most interesting
  aspect of the debate around pregnant women and sport is what it says about
  the way view pregnant women in general.
• We encourage them to
  remain 'active' during pregnancy - active meaning pilates, aqua aerobics or
  yoga - not sweating it out on the netball court.
• This debate is not about
  women in sport - it is about denying women control over their pregnant bodies
  by hiding behind 'the best interests of the child'.
• Yet our concern about
  the best interests of the child is very inconsistent.
• Despite the fact that
  evidence actually shows that it is in the best interests of the child to have
  access to their mothers full time after birth -we continue to fail
  to provide paid maternity leave and force many women back to the workforce
  in this period.
• In general, this past
  decade we have continued to send contradictory messages to women. Clearly
  seen than in the sporting arena.
• We express concern about
  poor body image - which more and more young girls and women seem to suffer,
  yet do nothing to promote women in sport as role models.
• Rather we prefer to
  bombard women with the skeletal figures of Hollywood as the ideal body.
• As we look towards the
  next decade, let's rethink the messages we send women and let's make sport
  a part of the positive message we do send them.
• Fairness for all on
  the sporting field assumes all are men.
• The challenge is to
  make women part of that all.

Thank you.

Last
updated 12 June 2003