NORTHERN Victoria upper house MP and member of Animal Justice Party, Georgie Purcell, has thrown her support behind calls for the return of independence and suitable funding for the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, or OWSR.
First established in 2017 by the Victorian Government, the office was the first of its kind in Australia.
The Office for Women in Sport and Recreation is the home of the Change Our Game campaign that’s aimed at increasing the number of women and girls taking part in sport and recreation.
The axe fell on the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation as well as the Preventing Violence Through Sport Grants Program in May’s State Budget, with the Office and its programs absorbed into other departments.
Ms Purcell called the move “completely inexcusable.”
“We are in the grips of a gender-based violence epidemic nationally,” she said.
“We know the consequences of gender inequality are as clear as day, which makes the Victorian Government’s cuts to women’s sports completely inexcusable.
“This isn’t just about cuts to sport; it’s a major roadblock in our fight against gendered violence.
“The callous decision by the Victorian Government to cut the office, which had tirelessly been challenging gender imbalances in sport, will have disastrous impacts on women and girls.”
As part of the effort to have the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation returned to a standalone part of Government, Ms Purcell said she’s sponsoring a petition in support of the move.
The petition was started by national advocacy group, Women Sport Australia, and requires the support of a member of parliament to be run in electronic form.
In the preamble to the petition, the group said the effort aims to draw “to the attention of the Legislative Council that the Victorian Government has defunded the Office for Women in Sport and Recreation (OWSR) and cut funding to violence prevention programs that address the structural drivers of gender-based violence”.
“As of 17 June 2025, 33 women have been killed by violence in 2025. In 2024, it was 103,” the petition says.
“A third of women who play community sport in Victoria have considered leaving their club due to inequitable treatment.
“Women and girls across all sports continue to speak out about exclusion, silencing, harm, and misogyny.
“These are not isolated incidents, they are symptoms of embedded cultural problems that demand structural solutions.
“The OWSR was the first of its kind in Australia. It played a vital role in embedding gender equality into the fabric of Victorian sport, supporting leadership opportunities for women and girls, implementing policy and funding education and prevention programs to address the issues.
“Without this office, these cuts threaten the progress made toward safer, more inclusive sporting spaces.
“Defunding the programs and OWSR, which are designed to challenge this imbalance, is disastrous.”
The petition is accessible via the Victorian Parliamentary website.
