AUSTRALIA Trends and Developments Contributed by: Sven Burchartz and Jessica Bell, Kalus Kenny Intelex
Women’s Participation in Sport The last year has continued to see an increase in female participation in sport in Australia. Nota - bly, for the first time in the nation’s history, the majority of Australian athletes at the 2024 Olym - pic and Paralympic Games were women, mak - ing up 55.6% of the team. Australia went on to achieve its most successful Olympic campaign to date, securing 18 gold medals in Paris, 13 of which were claimed by female athletes. Of the 53 medals won by Australians overall, 32 were won by women. Outside of the Olympics, women’s participation in sport continues to receive significant support and investment from the Australian government, with further funding of AUD160 million allocated to providing more than 100,000 women and girls with better facilities at their local clubs. There has also been a significant investment in women’s cricket from Cricket Australia, with the national governing body announcing a ten-year plan to bolster women’s cricket in Australia, which includes increasing its financial commitment to the sport significantly, focusing on grassroots participation and improving infrastructure. The investment by Cricket Australia coincides with the Australian Women’s Cricket Team’s complete domination of the 2024-25 Ashes Series against England, winning the Series 16-0. The Series also saw record crowd attendances across the seven-match series, signalling the growing inter - est in the women’s game. Transgender Athletes in Sport The inclusion of transgender athletes and their inclusion in sport continued to reach headlines in 2024. By way of example, Australian trans pro-surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson was the first openly trans
last of its kind. We anticipate that scrutiny will continue to focus heavily on leagues and teams, not just within the AFL, but across all contact sports, and how they manage, and should man - age, their response to concussion in the future. Concussion in Sport: Motorsport The concussion conversation also made its way into non-contact sport in 2024, following a major accident at the Vailo Adelaide 500. During the Friday qualifying session, driver Ritchie, Stana - way suffered a 52G impact when he hit the wall at turn eight of the road circuit. While Stanaway was initially cleared from the medical centre to return to the track during the Saturday morning’s practice session, he ultimately withdrew from the weekend due to delayed concussion symptoms. Stanaway’s incident is not the first of its kind in motorsport, however it has since led Motorsport Australia to introduce Motorsport Concussion Management Guidelines from 2025. The new guidelines require that any competitor who is suspected to be concussed following an inci - dent: • be excluded from competition for a minimum period of 14 days if they are over 18 years, or 21 days if they are under 18 years; and • must receive clearance from a medical prac - titioner (including participating in a return- to-sport assessment) before returning to the track. The introduction of concussion guidelines in motorsport serves as a reminder that even non-contact sport can lead to athletes suffer - ing concussion. Regardless of the sport, careful management steps must be taken to ensure that all athletes, regardless of their discipline, return to sport at the appropriate time after suffering head trauma.
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