2 September 2021

Jane Howlett, Minister for Women and Minister for Sport and Recreation,

Investing in women and getting Tasmanians active

The Tasmanian Liberal Government is investing in policies and actions to ensure women and girls are supported and empowered to fully participate in our economic, social, political and community life.

Many of the initiatives outlined in the Tasmanian Budget 2021-22 are about increasing opportunities for women in the workforce, including in those areas traditionally dominated by men.

These commitments include:

• $350,000 per annum for three years, to develop an industry-led approach to enable and empower more women into work;
• Increasing the Women in Leadership Scholarship program from $50,000 per annum to $100,000 per annum and extending the program until 2024-25;
• Increasing the International Women’s Day Small Grant Program to $20,000 per annum over the next four years;
• $75,000 to develop a Women in Building and Construction Strategy to raise awareness of career options for women within this sector; and
• $25,000 for a Girls in Property Pilot Program to be delivered in partnership with the Property Council.

These funding commitments will further enhance the actions set out in the Tasmanian Government’s Leadership and Participation for Women Action Plan 2021-23 and the Women on Boards Strategy 2020-25: Continuing our progress.

Our commitments will create meaningful change for women right across our community and economy.

The Tasmanian Government is also investing significantly into the State’s sport and recreation sector with more than $60 million over the next four years to get more people involved in physical activity.

We are doubling our Ticket to Play vouchers from $100 to $200 to reduce the cost of participation in sport for children from five years up to the age of 18 years.

The Department of Communities Tasmania will also deliver five competitive merit-based grants programs including:

• The $10 million Improving the Playing Field Program;
• The $55,000 National / International Sport Championship Program;
• The $150,000 Sporting Competitions Access Fund;
• The $1.15 million Sport and Recreation State Grants Program; and
• The $1 million Community Support Levy Grant Program.

The Government has also committed to a range of large infrastructure projects including:

• $5 million to the Silverdome for netball facility upgrades;
• $10 million to Football Tasmania for four upgrades across the State to deliver better facilities for players and to help Tasmania’s push to host base camps for international sides during the Women’s World Cup in 2023;
• $2 million in funding for stage one of the Queenborough Oval Redevelopment change rooms; and
• $1 million in funding for new change rooms, extra public toilets, storage and medical rooms at the Launceston City Football Club.

Stadiums Tasmania, which will oversee the development and management of stadium assets in the State, will receive an equity contribution of $65 million over three years from 2021-22 in addition to $14.5 million for operational costs.

The Tasmanian Liberal Government knows that active Tasmanians are healthy Tasmanians which is why we are delivering this significant investment into sport and recreation.

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