Minister Sussan Ley: Female athletes must have the same rights as men.

Imagine if a male colleague – same title, same skill set and qualifications, same level of responsibilities– flew business class on an important work trip while you sat back in economy. Just because you were female.

What if your employer then put your supposedly ‘equal’ male colleague up in a five-star hotel while
you stayed at lower-standard accommodation. Again, a decision determined purely by your gender.
It would be a case made straight for HR and national outrage. I’m sure we can all predict the social
media reaction right now.

So why is it acceptable for men and women to still have separate travel and accommodation policies in some of our major sports in 2016?

Right from the start, let’s not play the ‘it’s just sport’ card.

Sport is now big business in this country, with national sporting governing bodies who don’t just
receive millions of dollars in corporate funding, but also millions from taxpayers just like you as well.

These taxpayer funds are designed to assist sports with both elite development of their athletes and
grassroots participation.

While it’s up to a sport to fund their own travel costs for players, my clear personal view is that it’s
only fair that if a sport receiving taxpayer support can afford to fly their male athletes up the front of the plane to a world cup or championship, then their female athletes should too. It’s not only a question of equity, but standard workplace policy.

If the sport can’t afford this, then the men should join their female colleagues back in economy.

Let’s also not deal the ‘men generate more business than the women’ hand.

We have seen women’s sport really come to the fore in recent years, with many of our national teams like the Matildas and the Southern Stars outperforming their male counterparts on the world stage.

We are also now quick to share in the success of our female athletes and celebrate them as a fresh new generation of role models and leaders in sport, particularly at a time when the public is fast tiring of the loutish antics and indiscretions from some of their male counterparts that seem to fill our national back pages like a never-ending carousel.

I strongly believe the momentum is starting to shift in Australia towards greater recognition of the
genuine sporting prowess and achievements in women’s sport.

But it can’t just be feel good gestures and pats on the back.

It needs to be backed with ongoing progress and action towards gender-equity in sport. Luckily, we are not starting from scratch.

In recent years we have seen positive work by the Federal Government’s Australian Sports
Commission that has helped increase the number of women sitting on sporting boards from about 27 per cent to 39 per cent in the last few years, as well as helping women’s sports develop important and innovative corporate sponsorship and promotional opportunities that help boost their profile and revenue.

Various sports and media outlets should also be congratulated for their growing commitments to
publicising and professionalising women’s matches domestically, albeit overdue.

Ensuring elite female athletes heading to major international tournaments have the same access to
travel and accommodation entitlements is another positive step towards greater gender-equity in
Australian sports.

Making it a condition of our major sports continuing to access generous taxpayer subsidies ensures this becomes a statement of action, not just words.

Of course, pay remains the big game, but with every piece we add, we move closer to completing the puzzle.

For the record, nobody is denying there are plenty of male sports stars in Australia who are not only gifted athletes, but exemplary members of the community.

But does that entitle them to sit at the front of the plane, while their female colleagues sit at the back?

Ask HR and see what they think.

Sussan Ley is the Federal Sports Minister and Member for Farrer in Western NSW.