Balance the Board Policy
Balance the Board is a policy to support increased representation of women on boards across Victoria’s sport and active recreation sector.
It requires all recognised Victorian sport and active recreation bodies to have a minimum of 40% women directors on its board to be eligible to apply for the Victorian Government’s Community Sport funding programs.
This includes state sporting associations, state sport and active recreation bodies, and national sporting organisations without a recognised Victorian state body.
Balance the Board addresses Recommendation 3 of the Inquiry into Women and Girls in Sport and Active Recreation, which recommended mandating a 40% minimum quota for all funded sport and active recreation organisations.
New requirements for the policy
From 1 July 2027 and in alignment with the National Gender Equity in Sports Governance Policy.
There will be 2 new requirements under Balance the Board.
These are:
- board leadership: for either a chair or deputy chair role, if both are present, to be held by a woman
- key sub-committees: for select organisations, board sub-committees relating to nominations, and finance, audit and risk, will be required to have a minimum of 40% women members.
Impact of Balance the Board
Since Balance the Board was announced in 2017, the number of organisations with gender balanced boards has increased from 45% to consistently more than 90% at any point in time. The policy came into effect in 2019, across more than 100 funded organisations.
Further resources are available from the Australian Sports Commission
- The ASC National Sports Director Register which connects sporting organisations with a pool of candidates looking to join a sports board
- Best practice recruitment guides and resources on the ASC National Governance Resource Library
- Free ASC governance education for directors on sporting boards.