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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 7 Hansard (4 June) . . Page.. 1825 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

We acknowledge that women participate in sports less than men do and that women's sport is underfunded, compared to men's, in club sporting contributions. But we do not have clear data to tell us by how much and in what areas.

We are supportive of measures which can effectively address this imbalance but do not believe this bill is a good tool to achieve what is a good end. We need to look at much broader issues such as those Ms Dundas referred to.

What is women's sport? Is it sports that are traditionally women's sports, such as netball, which is very popular? Is it women playing sports that are traditionally men's sport, such as rugby? Is it more broadly about physical activity and even about social group contact?

We need to be aware that there are activities other than team competitive sports. We could encourage bushwalking, tai chi, dancing, yoga and so on, also activities that improve physical fitness. Do we know whether the lower participation for women is across the board, or is it only in the team competitive sports?

What is needed for women's participation levels to increase or to be maintained? As adolescents, women tend to drop out of active recreation more than men do. Is it increased awareness at school level of the kinds of activities and programs that create supportive environments for girls' physical activity?

Do we need more facilities? Do we need more football stadiums. Do we need more rock eisteddfods? The Rock Eisteddfod has certainly resulted in very strong physical activity by girls and has had a positive impact on substance abuse in our community. It is important not just for physical fitness and physical activity but in a social sense as well. Many forms of dance are extremely physically strenuous and can have an important social impact on young people, particularly young people at risk. Look at breakdancing, for example. With a cultural group significantly at risk, you can see a relationship between substance abuse and engagement in this form of physical activity, which is a solid part of their cultural identity.

Is sports funding targeted funding for the non-gender specific sporting groups in Canberra to support them in encouraging women to get involved? Roslyn Dundas said she is in a mixed netball team. Is there something we need to be doing through promotions, uniforms, new competitions or whatever to encourage more women to participate in mixed teams? Mixed-team soccer, touch football and netball are popular social sports in the inner north. Often it is social networks or work networks which draw people into teams and competitions. How could we support drawing in women in that way?

My point is that there are many ways that government could be looking into women's participation in sports. How broadly do we see sport to be? What is the definition of sport? We can look at how we can encourage physical activities more generally, look at the problem and work out appropriate targeted means to address the problem.

There is a lack of clarity in available data. The Gambling and Racing Commission-although it has records from all the clubs showing how much money they gave, for what purpose or to which individual or organisation-could not identify easily how much

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