Victorian Government budget cuts to gender equity and inclusion in sport programs saw a collective of sporting teams across the state protest the move in an on-field display of unity.
Joining the red armband protest led by Not All Clubs Media, Mooroolbark Football Club’s senior women each donned two red armbands alongside their opponents Blackburn during their match on Saturday 31 May.
The armbands were used to protest the defunding of safety and equity in sport and to honour the 29 women who have been killed by gender-based violence in 2025.
Senior women’s coach Keryn Ralph said it felt like a responsibility of the club and the team to back the initiative.
“As a social experience, women don’t feel safe. I coach a team of young women and they’re making their way through a world that can be really unsafe for women,” she said.
“So we just felt like it was something that’s a responsibility of ours, but also a responsibility of men to really get behind.”
As someone who works in the drug and alcohol field, where she engages with a lot of women who experience family violence, Keryn said it was “an extremely important cause” to highlight the defunding of programs directly linked with violence prevention in sport and community.
The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR) and the Preventing Violence Through Sport Grants Program were both axed when newly appointed Treasurer Jaclyn Symes handed down the 2025-26 budget on Tuesday 20 May.
OWSR was an Australian-first subdivision of the sport and recreation portfolio dedicated to increasing female participation and equality in sport and administered the Change Our Game Program.
The Preventing Violence Through Sport Grants Program provided funding to clubs and recreation organisations to address violence and its prevention.
A Victorian government spokesperson told the ABC it would “always support women and girls’ participation in sport and recreation”.
“The functions of the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation will continue to be held within Sport and Recreation Victoria,” they said.
But a Not All Clubs Media spokesperson said “these weren’t just initiatives”, that the programs and having a dedicated office for women in sport was a “commitment to cultural change and violence prevention”.
“These cuts remove the only state-funded efforts focused on making sport safer and more inclusive for women, girls, and gender diverse people,” they said.
“At a time when violence against women is rising, defunding these vital programs is putting people at risk. Sexism and gender-based violence in sport and across the wider community will grow – more women will be pushed out of the game, severing vital community links.”
Calling on the State Government to reinstate the OWSR, fund violence prevention programs in sport and commit to a long-term strategy to ensure sport is safe and equal, Not All Clubs started a petition garnering over 1200 signatures and initiating the red armband protest.
“Our red armband protest sent a clear message: we won’t stay silent while progress is erased and our safety ignored,” they said.
The protest saw clubs from South Croydon to Mordialloc, Sandhurst to Darebin wear the red stripes in a show of solidarity.
Although what the defunding of these programs means is yet to be fully understood, Keryn said from a club and broader perspective, she hoped it wasn’t a backwards step in the momentum gained in women’s sport.
“Our club at Mooroolbark is extremely supportive of our women’s program. We had programs that ran last year around inclusivity, around gender equality and gender equity,” she said.
“I can only speak for my sporting club but if that funding goes then it is possible our club isn’t able to move forward in that space either.
“We’ve only been a senior women’s team for probably the last three to four years, and we had a vets women’s team the year before that. It’s only five years that we’ve been here, so it’s pretty new, and we felt like we were getting really great momentum with gender equity at our club as well.
“We would hate, across all clubs we play against as well, for that to stall.”
Keryn said, however, that Mooroolbark would continue to push for inclusivity, gender equity and prevention of violence as a club.
“I’d like us to be a club that is a destination club that people want to go to because we’ve got really great values and a really great culture.
“That is something we’re driving, and I think with getting behind causes like what we did on the weekend, like what we do in reconciliation week and for diverse communities, that’s an area I’d really like to continue to develop at the club as well.”
The petition can be found at, change.org/p/save-our-game-reverse-vic-govt-cuts-to-gender-equity-violence-prevention-in-sport
