Made possible by the Victorian Government’s Celebrating Female Sporting Icons initiative, the statue will recognise her significant contribution to the netball community, immortalising her in sporting history, and inspiring the next generation of female athletes and leaders.

The statue will be erected outside John Cain Arena at Melbourne Park. The statue will be co-funded and created by renowned sculpture artists Gillie and Marc – co-founders of Statues for Equality, a global movement to balance gender and racial representation in public statues.

McMahon has been involved in netball as both a player and coach for the last 25 years and represented Melbourne Phoenix and later Melbourne Vixens as a player more than 200 times.

At age 21, she made her debut as the youngest member of the Australian Diamonds and was part of the team which won the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur.

McMahon captained Australia 12 times in an international career which spanned 14 years and 118 Test matches and included two gold and two silver medals across four Commonwealth Games and two Netball World Cup victories.

The Victorian Government will work closely with the Melbourne and Olympic Parks Trust and Netball Victoria to deliver the statue and is committed to ensuring greater representation and recognition of women and girls in sport and recreation.

The recent budget committed $11.6 million to continue programs which drive participation and inclusion for women and girls.

This includes boosting Change Our Game activities to achieve greater visibility of women and girls, as well as continued support for scholarships, community action and broadcasting programs.

The Government also invested $64.6 million in the recently completed Melbourne Sports Centres – Parkville, which features some of the best hockey and netball facilities in the Southern Hemisphere. The venue is set to host more than 500,000 players and spectators each year, with 80 per cent of all participants being women and girls.

The Women in Sport Leadership Centre will also be based at the Centre and is set to deliver programs which drive cultural change and grow female leadership in sport, through the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation.