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Australia
Debbie Simms, Manager - Ethics & Women, Australian Sports Commission

Australia's continuing efforts to address issues facing women and girls in sport are predominantly coordinated by the Australian Sports Commission at a national level. State Departments of Sport and Recreation, sporting organisations, community groups, schools, local governments and women and sport associations significantly contribute at the state and local level. The following report is a summary of the key women and sport initiatives the ASC has implemented since 1998.

Active Women: National Policy on Women and Girls in Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity 1999-2002
The federal government's new policy on women and sport, developed in conjunction with Commonwealth agencies, state and territory governments, national sporting organisations and lobby groups, was launched by the Federal Minister for Sport, the Hon Jackie Kelly, MP, in late 1999. The policy's overriding aim is to foster a culture that encourages and supports the full involvement of women and girls in every aspect of sport, recreation and physical activity in Australia. For more information, refer to Point 1 of the Windhoek Call for Action in Chapter 2 of this report.

Active Australia
Active Australia is a national initiative designed to encourage and enable more Australians to lead healthier, more active lives. It focuses on two main areas: encouraging people to be more physically active, and working to improve the places where people can be physically active. A key role for the Community Programs and Social Policy Section of the ASC is to ensure that Active Australia is relevant to people from non-dominant groups. Comprising the Indigenous Sport Unit, Disability Sport Unit, Ethics & Women in Sport Unit and the Junior Sport Unit, the major strategy for this section is to work with national sporting organisations to achieve inclusion of people with disabilities, women, Indigenous people and young Australians. All units in the section are responsible for working with industry groups to ensure that programs for these people are relevant, appropriate and contemporary, and all units work together to develop policies aimed at ensuring social inclusion in sport and to address related ethical issues.

Community Forums Research
In 2000, the Community Programs and Social Policy Section conducted fora in 12 councils across Australia to look at issues for women, older adults, people with a disability and young people in accessing sport and recreation. A report summarising the information gathered from the forms was produced and used to guide the Section's future direction in relation to specific population groups' access to and participation in sport and physical activity.

Harassment-free Sport Strategy
In response to government legislation and the growing legal and ethical responsibilities and concerns around sport, the ASC developed the Harassment-free Sport Strategy. Aimed at creating a safer and more tolerant sport environment, particularly for women and girls, the Strategy has been evolving and responding to sports' needs and legislative requirements since 1998. The Strategy now includes a number of components to assist individuals and organisations. For more details, refer to Point 2 of the Windhoek Call for Action in Chapter 2 of this report.

Women and Sport Management And Leadership Project
In 1996, the ASC initiated a three-year project to address gender inequities in management, leadership and decision making in Australian sport, in response to the significant under-representation of women in these positions at all levels in the sport and recreation industry. The project involved four phases:

As a result of this project, it was agreed to develop a national mentor program for women entitled Mentor as Anything! For more information on the program, refer to Point 4 of the Windhoek Call for Action in Chapter 2 of this report.

Centenary of Women's Participation in the Olympics Project
The ASC worked in collaboration with the Office of the Status of Women, Australia Post and the French Embassy to commemorate and celebrate on May 20, 2000, the centenary (100 year anniversary) of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games - the first Olympics at which women could compete. For further information on this initiative, refer to Point 2 of the Windhoek Call for Action in Chapter 2 of this report.

Publications
The following women and sport resources are available from the Australian Sports Commission's Publications Unit by e-mail at pubs@ausport.gov.au, and some can be downloaded from the Web site www.activeaustralia.org:

Good Practice

Cook Islands

The Cook Islands Sports and Olympic Association established a working group known as the Women and Sport Committee. The Committee has since reported success with its Canada Fund Outer Island development program, hosting workshops with the theme of "Empowering Women and Sports: For Women by Women."

New Zealand
Debbie Richardson, Olympic Programs Manager, New Zealand Olympic Committee
Trish McKelvey, Manager Sport Development, Hillary Commission

The New Zealand Olympic Committee now has 12.5% of decision-making positions (governance and management) filled by women. An Olympic program has been devoted solely to gender equality, and to encouraging women to take on roles at all levels and in all structures, especially in the executive bodies of national sports-related organisations. In addition, a gender audit of all National Federation sports is currently being undertaken.

The Hillary Commission for Sport, Fitness and Leisure received the 2000 IOC Women and Sport Trophy for Oceania in recognition of the success of its Winning Women strategy.
In addition, model Harassment policy and procedures were sent out to all National Sports Organisations and regional Sports Trusts in 1999, and a series of training workshops were offered to all sports in 1999 and again in 2001.

Samoa
Dennis Miller, Oceania National Olympic Committees (ONOC)

A significant event in shaping the further destiny for Samoa women in sport administrators occurred on November 16th, 2001 when 90% of the SASNOC's members came together with representatives from major Government Organisations and NGOs for the Inaugural Samoa Women in Sport and the Challenge of Change Workshop, held at the Central Bank Conference Room in Apia, Samoa.

The Samoa Honourable Minister of Sport Youth and Culture, Ulu Vaomalo Kini, and SASNOC Vice-President Lefau Moana Soonalole both made reference in their official addresses to the valuable input women bring to the organisation of sport. This issue was further validated by reference to former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch's proclamation that sport must not only be made more accessible to women, but women must also play a leading role in all of the professions in the Olympic movement.

Adding further weight to the empowerment of women in sport administrators was the Parliament Under Secretary for the Ministry of Women's Affairs, Safuneituuga Neri Paaga. Safuneituuga was inspirational, and cited the need for groups to work collaboratively to ensure the most effective use of available resources.

The outcomes of the 2001 Samoa Women in Sport Workshop resulted in two resolutions being passed, and the continuing adoption and adaptation of the 1994 Brighton Declaration and the 1998 Windhoek Call for Action. Consensus was reached and the decision was made to formalise steps to ensure the Samoa Women's in Sports Commission is launched by March 2002.

Palau
Baklai Temengil, Secretary General, Palau National Olympic Committee

Since Palau became a NOC in 1999, it has had the opportunity to begin a collaborative effort to bring more women to sports. The organization adopted the Brighton Declaration in 2000. Three of the seven members of the Palau NOC Executive Board are women, and most Palau sports programs and National Federations have women leaders. Palau also attended the Women and Sports Conference in Paris, and plans to attend the next one in Canada.

Tahiti

Evelyne Whitman of Tahiti was the first woman ever elected as President of a National Football Association, heading up La Fédération Tahitienne de Football.

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