Football Queensland appoints women into key leadership positions with 50/50 gender parity goals

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Following the recent surges nationwide in female participation, Football Queensland (FQ) has also proven they are making important strides in their 50/50 gender parity plan, with FQ appointing women to higher positions in the sports hierarchy.

Throughout the state, FQ is committed to achieving 50/50 gender parity in participants, referees, committees and club officials by 2027.

FQ has announced that of 10 FQ members, five have been women, hitting an impressive 50/50 representation.

These representatives are chosen from their local communities, proving that the push for change in equity comes from the members of the community.

These members include Sarah Jones (Far North & Gulf), Roslyn Minnikin (Metro South Chair), Azra Rantucci (Northern), Jodie Dickens (South Coast) and Rebecca Whisker (Sunshine Coast).

In conjunction with these appointments, Football Queensland also announced the re-election of Board Director Amy Chapman following the recent Annual General Meeting as the FQ Board of Directors.

FQ President Paula Robinson commented:

“Following a huge 2023 that saw the game reach new audiences and engagement levels like never before and after FQ recorded an incredible 44% increase in outdoor female players in the first quarter of 2024, we are excited to further consolidate the growth of female representation on the pitch with similar progress off the pitch in vital governance roles,” she said.

These appointments are a key part of the Football Queensland 2024-2026 Women’s & Girls Strategy and show the effort made to deliver on this mission.

In Pillar One: Participants & Clubs: A main goal is for 100% of Queensland club boards, committees and FQ members to meet the 40/40/20 gender representation by 2027.

These appointments prove that FQ is well on the way to this goal not just in leadership but also state-wide through all the different footballing communities.

FQ President Paula Robinson also commented, “Having such a diverse group of esteemed members within football’s governance ranks helping to design an inclusive future for the game in Queensland will ensure that more participants, particularly women and girls, can get involved in the game earlier and remain engaged for life.”

Retaining participants and early involvement in the game is another goal within Pillar One of the 2024-2026 Strategy.

Also in Pillar 2: Advanced Pathways one of the strategies includes:

Increase the awareness of the 50/50 gender parity initiative through storytelling and regular representation of achievements in all our published collateral and marketing promotions.

This news post is a prime example of the media and storytelling strategies towards the equity goal of 2027.

The announcement shows dedication to the ambitious plans of Football Queensland for the Women’s 2024-2026 strategy.

In this process, FQ will be making the football scene a more accurate industry of Australian’s diverse sporting community.

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Victory unites with Roasting Warehouse in culture-led partnership

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The Melbourne-based anf family-owned business will join the Victory family, uniting two institutions which represent the city’s culture and identity.

A partnership with local roots

As the newest partner of Melbourne Victory, Roasting Warehouse joins forces with a vital part of the city’s sporting landscape.

The club’s Managing Director, Caroline Carnegie, outlined why the partnership bears so much value to both parties.

“We are excited to collaborate with Roasting Warehouse, a community-oriented destination for high-quality coffee, proud of its foundations in Melbourne,” said Carnegie via official media release.

“Football and coffee sit at the epicentre of Melbourne’s culture. The two go hand-in-hand, consistently at the centre of the conversation that stirs Melburnians, which is no different to the conversation sport and Melbourne Victory stir in the State.”

Indeed, this is a partnership which combines the identity, passions and culture of an entire city, therefore giving it the foundations required for long-term, mutual success.

Representing the best of Melbourne

Both Victory and Roasting Warehouse are hugely successful in their respective industries. They are institutions with community-oriented philosphies, who pride themselves on craft and quality.

“We’re incredibly proud to partner with Melbourne Victory, a club that represents the heart, passion, and ambition of Melbourne,” revealed Roasting Warehouse Head of Brand, Alexander Paraskevopoulos.

“As a Melbourne-founded, family-run business, supporting a team that means so much to the local community feels very natural for us.”

Furthermore, through their high-quality blends, Roasting Warehouse will look to prepare Victory’s players and staff for high performances on the pitch as the seasons nears completion.

But this is about far more than just fueling athletes.

This is a partnership which embodies and unites two of Melbourne’s greatest strengths and cultural markers – a connection forged from the city’s very own DNA.

 

For more information about Roasting Warehouse, click here.

Football NSW supports Female Coaches CPD as Women’s Football Surges

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Football NSW has used the platform of the AFC Women’s Asian Cup to deliver a targeted professional development workshop for female coaches, bringing together scholarship recipients for an evening of structured learning and direct engagement with elite women’s football.

Held at ACPE last month, the session was open to female coaches who received C or B Diploma scholarships through Football NSW in 2025. Coaching accreditation carries a financial cost that disproportionately affects women, who are less likely to have their development subsidised by clubs or associations operating in underfunded community football environments. Scholarship access changes that equation at the point where many women exit the pathway.

Facilitated by Football NSW Coach Development Coordinator Bronwyn Kiceec, the workshop focused on goal scoring trends from the tournament’s group stage, with coaches analysing attacking patterns and exploring how those insights could translate into their own environments. The group then attended the quarter-final between South Korea and Uzbekistan at Stadium Australia.

The structure of the evening mattered as much as its content. Female coaches in community football rarely have access to elite competition environments as a professional resource. The gap between the level at which most women coach and the level at which the game is analysed and discussed tends to reinforce itself. Placing scholarship recipients inside a major tournament, as participants rather than spectators, closes that gap in a way that a classroom session cannot.

Female coaches remain significantly underrepresented across all levels of the game in Australia. The pipeline that will change that depends not only on accreditation access but on the professional networks, peer relationships and exposure to elite environments that male coaches have historically taken for granted.

The workshop forms part of Football NSW’s ongoing commitment to developing female coaches through scholarships and structured learning opportunities.

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