In the Early Beginnings

Around the time of Australia’s Federation at start of the 20th century, sport became a means for an emerging nation to place itself on the world scene. This early desire for international success outweighed sexual prejudice and even today men – and women -who succeed on the international sports field, become national icons.

Many of the early sports established in Australia were popular in England. Cricket, croquet, tennis and cycling were among them. According to the Australian Sports Commission the world’s first bike race for women was held over two miles at Ashfield, New South Wales in 1888. The first Australian championship in golf (male or female) was the Australian Ladies’ Championship played Geelong, Victoria in August 1894, yet it would be more than three decades before a women’s amateur golf controlling body would be formed. Even then women could only become ‘associate members’, having access to the course only on special days, mainly during the week. This practice persisted until the 1970s when it required equal opportunity legislation to correct it.

1930’s

In the 1930s women and sport lobby groups began to spring up around the country. High on their agenda was the need for more women’s sports grounds. Fanned by a new wave of confident and empowered women fresh from universities, women’s sports began a new era, played, administered and promoted by women for women. Sportswomen began writing for the press and writers like Ruth Preddy and Lois Quarrell did much to lead the way. In Melbourne, Victoria in the mid-1930s a separate monthly newspaper devoted entirely to women’s sport, The Sportswoman, was published. World War II signalled the end of many of these dedicated publications and columns. Women did not truly re-enter sports journalism in any numbers until the 1980s ushered in anti-discrimination legislation.

1950’s

In the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, Australia’s 44 women athletes won seven golds, two silvers and three bronze medals while the 243-strong men’s team won six golds, six silvers and 11 bronze medals. In total, women have comprised 23% of Australian Olympic teams from 1948 -1996 but have won 38% of the medals. More information on the Olympic Movement

Tennis player Evonne Cawley’s formative years saw the passing of legislation that freed indigenous Australians from social restrictions, allowing them to join sporting clubs. Only a handful of indigenous women have made their mark representing Australia. One of the most recognised is 400m-world champion Cathy Freeman (track and field).

1980’s

In the late 1980s Government moves helped open the door for more women to participate. In 1984 the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act was passed followed by several state equal opportunity acts. It made it unlawful to discriminate against a person on the grounds of sex, marital status or pregnancy. Sporting clubs were forced to open an option of full membership to women.

A major initiative came the following year with the establishment of the federal government group on women in sport whose report in 1985 titled Women, Sport and the Media, proposed the establishment of the Women’s Sport Unit associated with the Australian Sports Commission (ASC). The unit became to being in 1988 and developed the national Active Girls campaign that further

Bibliography

Australian Bureau of Statistics; Participation in Sport and Physical Activities 1996/1997.
*Cashman, Richard (1997). Australian Sport through Time: The History of Sport in Australia. Sydney: Random House Pty Ltd.
*Daly, John A (1994). Feminae Ludens. Adelaide: Openbook Publishers.
*Daly, John A (1982). Ours Were the Hearts to Dare. Adelaide: Gillingham Printers Pty Ltd.
*Griffin, Rhonda; McLeod, Sharon and O’Malley Toni (1996). Outstanding Australian Sportswomen. Canberra: Australian