Finalists Announced for 2021 Australian Pride in Sport Awards
The finalists for the 2021 Australian Pride in Sport Awards have been announced. Now in its forth year, the event – to be held on Tuesday 13 April in Sydney– will see sporting identities, clubs and codes across the country gather to celebrate LGBTQ inclusion throughout Australian sport in 2020.
First held in 2018, the Australian Pride in Sport Awards is the first celebration of its kind dedicated solely to recognising exceptional efforts in making sport more inclusive of LGBTQ people. It is produced by Pride in Sport, the national not-for-profit sporting inclusion program spearheaded by Australia’s largest LGBTQ health organisation ACON.
The cocktail evening will feature drinks and canapes at Hyatt Regency on Sydney’s Darling Harbour.
Hosted by ABC Journalist and Twenty10 Board Member, Mon Schafter, this event features drinks and canapes, prominent keynote speakers and includes the much anticipated award ceremony. It’s considered the ‘must-attend’ event on the LGBTQ sporting calendar and is attended by leading advocates including Pride in Sport Patrons Alex Blackwell and Ian Roberts, sports administrators, athletes, and corporate supporters.
The Australian Pride in Sport Awards honours athletes, employees and organisations as it showcases the results of the Pride in Sport Index (PSI) – the national benchmarking instrument used to assess LGBTQ inclusion within Australian sport.
Co-Founder of the Pride in Sport Index Andrew Purchas said the awards builds on progress in achieving LGBTQ rights and ongoing work in making sporting arenas, fields, and spectator stands more inclusive.
“The focus on LGBTQ inclusion, zero tolerance of homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia, not only within the corporate sector via their diversity and inclusion practices, but also within sport and society as a whole is unprecedented. Sport has the opportunity to ensure that this focus translates to meaningful societal change and is not just fad. Sport breaks down barriers. Sport aims to create a fair go for all”, Purchas said.
Pride In Sport National Program Manager Beau Newell added: “Many of Australia’s sporting organisations are recognising that positive steps need to be taken to ensure sexuality or gender identity does not impact ones ability to play, watch or be involved with sport at any level. The Australian Pride in Sport Awards allows us to celebrate the outstanding achievements of clubs and individuals in improving and promoting LGBTQ inclusion within Australian sport.”
The 2020 Australian Pride in Sport Awards is on Tuesday 13 April 2021 6pm – 9pm at Hyatt Regency, Darling Harbour Sydney NSW. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
2021 AUSTRALIAN PRIDE IN SPORT AWARDS FINALISTS
ALLY OF THE YEAR
- Sean Dixon, Athletics Australia
- Jane Russo, Touch Football Australia & Athletics Australia
- Cara Stagg, National Rugby League
- Craig Tiley, Tennis Australia
COMMUNITY SPORTS AWARD
- Bushrangers Sporting Alliance
- ClimbingQTs
- Melbourne2020 International Gay and Lesbian Aquatics (IGLA) Championships
- VicTennis
INCLUSIVE INITIATIVE AWARD
- BlocHaus Bouldering LGBTQ+ Inclusion
- Glam Slam at the Australian Open
- Pride Football Australia
INCLUSIVE COACH OF THE YEAR
- Greg Jaekel, Curtin University Goats/Perth Rams
- Stuart Mackay, Freezone Volleyball and NSW Volleyball
- Heath Wilson, Melbourne Rovers FC
OUT ROLE MODEL OF THE YEAR
- Jonathan Banks, Perth Spectres Basketball Club
- Courtney Hagen, Carlton Brunswick Cricket Club
- Stella Lesic, Bushrangers Sporting Alliance
- Reid Smith, Perth Pythons Hockey Club
POSITIVE MEDIA AWARD
- Megan Maurice, for ‘Tackling homophobic attitudes: the straight men who play for gay rugby clubs‘
- Mon Schafter & James Carmody, for ‘Sporting bodies unveil policies for greater inclusion of trans and gender diverse people‘
- Amanda Shalala, for ‘Ricki was one of Australia’s first out transgender sportswomen, the treatment she got may surprise you‘
COMMUNITY SPORTING ORGANISATION OF THE YEAR
This award is determined via the results of the Community Sporting Club Pride in Sport Index.
- Climbing QTs (Rock Climbing)
- Flying Bats Womens Football Club (Football)
- Maitland Touch Association (Touch Football)
- Melbourne University Soccer Club (Football)
- Melbourne University Softball Club (Softball)
- Sydney Convicts RUFC (Rugby Union)
Also being announced at this event will be the Gold, Silver and Bronze tier Pride in Sport Index (PSI) results, and the overall Sporting Organisation of the year (based on the highest results in the PSI).
N.B. Our aim is to announce four finalists across each category. These numbers may vary form time to time.
About Pride In Sport
Launched in 2016, the PSI was developed in conjunction with the Australian Human Rights Commission, the Australian Sports Commission and Bingham Cup Sydney, alongside an advisory group comprising representatives from a range of peak sporting bodies including the National Rugby League, the Australian Football League, the Australian Rugby Union and Football Federation Australia.
The Pride in Sport Index is an initiative of the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Australian Sports Commission and a legacy of the Bingham Cup, Sydney. Following the release of the Out on the Fields study in May 2015, the largest international study examining homophobia in sport, these organisations commissioned Pride in Diversity to develop a Pride in Sport Index.
The Pride in Sport Index™ (PSI) is the first and only benchmarking instrument specifically designed to assess the inclusion of people with diverse sexualities and genders across Australian sport. Participating in the index will allow Australian sporting organisations to not only assess their own practice, but determine that which constitutes good practice, along with the ability to benchmark their own initiatives against an external measure and other sporting organisations.
Pride in Sport is an ACON program, one of three within the Pride Inclusion Programs that specifically look at the inclusion of people of diverse genders and sexualities within sport, the workplace and health service provision.
Media Inquiries:
David Alexander, ACON Media and Communications
E: dalexander@acon.org.au T: (02) 9206 2044
M: 0428 477 042