Ms SPENCE (Yuroke—Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Community Sport, Minister for Youth) (14:22): On International Women’s Day it is a privilege to update the house on our work to elevate women and girls in community sport. In 2017 the Andrews Labor government established the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, an Australian first, and last year we invested $11.6 million to provide more opportunities for women and girls on and off the field, from sports broadcasting and board training to scholarships and community activation grants to unleash their potential.

Cultural change does not happen overnight, and we know that you cannot be what you cannot see, which is why we committed to the world’s first 40 per cent women on boards quota for funded state sport associations. The days of girls getting changed into sports uniforms in the car or behind the canteen should be long behind us, which is why we have invested $45 million over the past five years in the Female Friendly Facilities Fund to make sporting venues safe and suitable for women and girls.

Today I announced $1 million for research to identify new ways of advancing gender equality in sport and recreation, and on Sunday I joined the Minister for Women to announce $2.3 million for clubs to promote gender equality and to call out and prevent violence against women. This Labor government has never shied away from levelling the playing field for women and girls. We established the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation and we pioneered the Family Friendly Facilities Fund, and it is this government that can be trusted to continue to advance women in sport and at all levels.