Zoe Daniel (Goldstein, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The benefits of sport are well known. Sport improves our physical and mental health and teaches important values like teamwork, discipline and respect. A positive experience of community sport can be transformational, and for our kids it can lay foundations they carry for life. But the reality is not everyone has access to sport. The costs and time involved in playing team sport, being part of a club, paying for uniforms, committing to practice, and travelling to and from game simply are not an option for many families. That’s why I'm a fan of Team Sport 4 All, an organisation that supports kids who otherwise couldn't be part of club life.

It all started on Bluff Road in my electorate of Goldstein in 2007, with a few parents from the Hampton Rovers Football Club banding together to cover the costs for some kids whose families couldn't afford for them to play. From these humble beginnings in Bayside, Team Sport 4 All is now operating across the Melbourne metro area, with programs tailored to help address the barriers facing children and families who are underrepresented in sport. I'm so pleased that Team Sport 4 All is about to scale further, after receiving substantial funding through the government's Play Our Way program, which seeks to provide greater opportunities for women and girls to access, participate and remain involved in sport. Over the next three years this funding will support up to 1,510 seasons of sport for girls from low-income, welfare-dependent families, with a focus on expanding the program into two new locations and specific programs to open doors for girls from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to participate. Team Sport 4 All is all about addressing social isolation for the long-term and doing everything possible to keep kids active in a sporting community as they move through all the challenges of growing up. This is particularly relevant to girls, many of whom stop playing sport in their teenage years.

I commend the efforts of everyone involved in Team Sport 4 All, including their more than 60 volunteers, but there's more work to do if sport is to be truly equal in Australia. That's why I am fighting for female-friendly change rooms across Goldstein, specifically at the Sandringham Football Club at the landmark Trevor Barker Oval. Currently, there is only one open space for players to get changed in, which has one toilet cubicle, an open urinal and no private showers, just four showerheads side-by-side. With the dramatic rise in the numbers of girls and women playing AFL, this setup is outdated and inappropriate. Girls should not have to get dressed in their cars to play sport. While we work towards this, I congratulate Team Sport 4 All and encourage further support for their efforts in bringing more of our kids off the sidelines and onto the field.