Mildura Rural City Council has been recognised at state level for its delivery of a program that made significant strides to improve gender equity in sporting clubs throughout the region.
Council delivered the Victorian Government-funded Gendering in a New Era In Mildura Sports program between 2022 to 2025, which has received a 2025 LGPro Award for Excellence as the winner in the Diversity and Inclusion category.
The state-funded program aims to empower sporting clubs to create safe and inclusive environments for women and gender-diverse individuals, combining education, training and auditing tools to identify gaps in sporting clubs and implement strategies to address them.
Some of the changes resulting from clubs’ participation included:
- More equitable distribution of club resources for equipment, uniforms, facility improvements and player payments
- Retrospective recognition of women’s achievements.
- More family-friendly facilities
- Bystander intervention training addressing gender-based violence.
Clubs that have completed Gender Equity training, a club audit to create an action plan to document changes and have continued ongoing engagement in the program;
- Imperial Football Netball Club
- Meringur Football Netball Club
- Merbein Cricket Club
- Ouyen Rams Cricket Club
- Nichols Point Soccer Club
- Sacred Heart & St Andrews Tennis club
- Sunraysia Hockey Association
- Koowinda Hockey Club
- Waratahs Hockey Club
- Ouyen Bowls Club
Two new clubs have recently joined the program and have completed gender equity training and have started completing their audit:
- Mallee Bandits Baseball Club
- Red Cliffs Football Netball Club
These clubs or associations have completed MRCC’s Respect in Sporting Clubs workshop in response to identified needs:
Whole club training completed with:
- South Mildura Sporting Club
- Softball Sunraysia
