During this program, coaches and officials will be supported by the Australian Spors Commission (ASC) team to
develop
and implement mentor programs, and drive gender equity and positive sport experiences for women and girls within
their club or organisation.
The program provides an immersive experience focusing on equity, inclusion and cultural safety to provide
greater access to sport. It's about enabling, empowering and supporting women mentors, with the tools to
influence positive change and navigate change management in their clubs or organisation.
All program participants will be required to nominate either a sponsor or peer support from their club or
organisation. The peer support or sponsor will attend a series of virtual workshops to define and explore their
role in driving gender equity.
Perth key dates
Venue location is to be confirmed.
Introduction session (virtual — Microsoft Teams)
- Thursday 20 February 2025
- 6 pm to 7 pm AWST
Workshop 1 (in person, 2 days)
- Tuesday 25 February to Wednesday 26 February 2025
- 9 am to 4 pm AWST both days
Check-in 1 (virtual — Microsoft Teams)
Workshop 2 (in person, 2 days)
- Tuesday 6 May to Wednesday 7 May 2025
- 9 am to 4 pm AWST both days
Check-in 2 (virtual — Microsoft Teams)
Workshop 3 (in person, 2 days)
- Tuesday 24 June to Wednesday 25 June 2025
- 9 am to 4 pm AWST both days.
Sponsor or peer support role
Peer support
- A peer support or ally may be a fellow coach, committee member, administrator, staff member or
volunteer who works with you at your club or organisation.
- A peer support ensures you haven an advocate within your club or organisation as you work to drive
change and increase gender equity.
Sponsor
- A sponsor may be your manager or head coach, a committee member or a fellow staff member.
- A sponsor provides the benefits of a peer, with the additional commitment to providing you and your
mentees opportunities to develop and progress. Opportunities may include:
- shadow or assistant coaching sessions with other coaches
- professional development
- networking
- providing a reference for job applications
- other activities that specifically target your career progression or that of your mentees.
What to expect
The program will take place in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.
Program participants will attend 3 in-person sessions over a 5-month period consisting of 2 days each
(6 workshop days total). In between these sessions, mentors will put their learning into practice,
mentoring women and girls into coaching or officiating roles. Between the in-person sessions,
participants will attend virtual check-in and learning sessions.
The following topics will be explored during the in-person sessions:
- Modern mentoring
- Understanding yourself and how you interact
- Understanding and connecting with others
- Developmental coaching conversations
- Mentor program design.
- Content for your mentor program
- The modern approach to coaching and officiating
- Adapting coaching and officiating practices to modern societal expectations
- Active inclusion and engagement with diverse communities
- Coaching and officiating women and girls in sport.
- Leading change and influencing others
- Navigating and managing change
- Influencing positive change within your club or organisation
- Facilitation skills.
Diversity of applicants
The ASC welcomes applicants who reflect the diversity of the Australian population and encourages
individuals who identify as women from the following backgrounds to apply:
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- culturally and linguistically diverse
- LGBTIQ+
- people with a disability.
ASC also welcomes applicants with a diversity of experience. While some coaching or officiating
experience is essential, applicants are asked to highlight other experience relevant to the mentor
program, such as teaching experience, other roles in sport (as a coach or official, committee member,
administrator etc), or participation in other mentor programs.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this program, applicants will need to:
- identify as a woman. There are no gender requirements for the sponsor or peer support.
- be 18 years of age or older
- be working with a club or organisation where you can mentor women and girls in community
coaching or officiating roles
- identify either a peer support or sponsor from their club or organisation who will attend
components of the program
- have coaching or officiating experience (minimum of 2 years). While coaching or officiating
experience is required, the ASC also encourages applicants who possess a combination of other
relevant experience, such as teaching experience or participation in previous mentor programs.
Participant support
The following support options are available to applicants.
Eligibility
Interested in the program but not sure if it's right for you? Please email coaching@ausport.gov.au to discuss.
Support to attend
- Support is available to enable attendance at the program for those who may not otherwise be
able to attend. This could include (but is not limited to) travel support, translators,
childcare, breast feeding area or bringing a support person. Please email coaching@ausport.gov.au to discuss how ASC
can support you.
- On request, ASC will supply you with a letter of support to your employer to attend the
program.
Application evaluation
All applications will first be assessed against the eligibility criteria and then all eligible
applications will be evaluated by an internal assessment panel at the Australian Sports Commission.
Evaluation criteria
- Relevant experience
- Coaching or officiating experience, or a combination of coaching or officiating
experience with other relevant experience
- Readiness to mentor
- Demonstrates readiness to commence (or continue) mentoring either during the
program period (preferred) or after the program
- Relevance and motivation
- Clearly articulates why they are intrinsically motivated to take part in the
program
- Clearly articulates a vision for positive impact at their club or organisation.