Female footy umpiring crisis

Victoria Rawlings and Damian Anderson are on the front line of trying to improve what has become a dismal situation, the improvement and conditions and respect for female umpires in Aussie rules football.

Their report ‘Girls and women in Australian football umpiring: Understanding registration, participation and retention' rattled a few cages when it was leaked to the media in mid-2022. Subsequently, the Australian Football League (AFL) apologised 'to any woman who suffers harassment or sexism of any kind, and would encourage them to report it to their local club, to their league or to the AFL itself'. 

Victoria Rawlings is a Former AFLW and AFL NSW/ACT Umpire, a lecturer at Sydney University and the co-author of the report ‘Girls and women in Australian football umpiring: Understanding registration, participation and retention'. Damian Anderson, Former AFL National Community Umpiring Development Manager and co-author of the report. 

The report addresses the issues in Umpire club culture and identifies the next steps (and recommendations) for the AFL and other sport codes to consider. 

> Club Respect helps sports clubs build and maintain a deep culture of respect.

> Club Respect is a national harm-prevention initiative by the Dugdale Trust for Women & Girls, of which the Victorian Women’s Trust is Trustee.