Past Initiatives & Projects

In 2024, Pride in Sport launched the inaugural Pride in Sport Festival — a national celebration of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport, designed to bring communities together through local events, workshops, and sporting activations.

Funded by the Australian Sports Commission, the festival aims to increase visibility and participation of LGBTQ+ people in all levels of sport, from grassroots to elite. The first wave of events kicked off across Victoria, with a focus on regional locations such as Ballarat, Bendigo, and the Surf Coast, and has since grown to include more states and sporting codes.

The festival supports sporting organisations to run inclusive events through a $80,000 funding pool, backed by over $30,000 worth of in-kind resources, templates, and promotion provided by Pride in Sport. Events have included community sport days, education workshops, inclusive coaching sessions, and rainbow round celebrations.

Importantly, this is not a one-off campaign — the Pride in Sport Festival is an ongoing project, with new rounds of funding and participation being planned for future years. The festival will continue to grow, with more sporting codes, clubs, and communities coming on board to celebrate inclusion, belonging, and pride through the power of sport.

Status: Active – preparing for future iterations
Focus: Community engagement, education, visibility, and inclusion in sport

In 2024, Pride in Sport received funding from The Vans Checkerboard Fund via TIDES Foundation to support the development and implementation of its most comprehensive strategic document to date — the 2024–2027 Pride in Sport Strategic Plan.

This national project focused on advancing LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport by strengthening internal operations, engaging key stakeholders, and laying the groundwork for new tools and programs. The grant enabled:

• The finalisation and public release of the Strategic Plan.

• Internal alignment of policies, delivery models, and member engagement approaches.

• Development of an LGBTQ+ Action Plan for member organisations.

• Launch of new evaluation tools and benchmarking improvements.

• Hosting of national and sector-specific roundtables.

While still active, this project has already had measurable impact across Pride in Sport’s work with 100+ member organisations and continues to guide the program’s long-term vision.

Year: 2024
Funded by: TIDES Foundation – Vans Checkerboard Fund
Focus: Strategic planning, evaluation tools, stakeholder engagement, and sector alignment
Status: Project completed – strategy available on website.

In June 2024, Pride in Sport partnered with SBS Sport to launch a compelling four-part video mini-series for Pride Month, now streaming on SBS On Demand – Watch: Pride Month Campaign | Stream free on SBS On Demand.

📺 Highlights:

• Episode 1: The Beginning – Featured personal stories from LGBTQ+ athletes reflecting on their start in sport.

• Episode 2: The Choice – Focused on the decision to come out publicly and the impact of that journey.

• Episode 3: The Challenge – Addressed ongoing barriers faced by LGBTQ+ athletes and how inclusion can drive positive change.

• Episode 4: The Future – Highlighted the crucial role allies play in creating welcoming sporting cultures.

🌈 Impact:

The series showcased diverse voices from across Australia’s sports community, demonstrating how stories of LGBTQ+ athletes shine a light on inclusion, belonging, and the continued importance of allyship.

Pride Month was amplified further through a coordinated social media campaign, distributing shorter video cuts across Pride in Sport’s Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn platforms to broaden reach and inspire engagement.

Launched in 2023, the Pride in Sport Collective was a national initiative bringing together 12 National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) to make Australian sport more inclusive for LGBTQ+ communities.

Led in partnership with Touch Football Australia and funded by Sport Australia, the Collective focused on breaking down barriers to participation, improving mental health outcomes, and building safer sporting spaces through:

• Community events and engagement

• Governance and policy reform

• Inclusive marketing and education campaigns

Participating NSOs included:
Touch Football Australia, Cricket Australia, Water Polo Australia, Gymnastics Australia, Badminton Australia, Paddle Australia, Australian Fencing Federation, Hockey Australia, Australian Eight Ball Federation, Australian Dragon Boat Federation, Diving Australia, and Squash Australia.

This project highlighted the power of collaboration and demonstrated how sport can lead the way in supporting gender and sexual diversity across all levels of play.

Launched on 1 October 2020 at the Sydney Cricket Ground, this world-first initiative saw eight of Australia’s peak National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) come together to publicly commit to greater inclusion of transgender and gender diverse people in sport.

Led by Pride in Sport and the result of extensive collaboration and preparation, the launch marked a historic moment in Australian sport. Each participating NSO unveiled newly developed or updated governance policies and inclusion guidelines aimed at creating safer, more welcoming environments for trans and gender diverse athletes, staff, volunteers, and fans.

The NSOs that launched their inclusion policies on the day were:

• AFL

• Cricket Australia

• Hockey Australia

• Netball Australia

• Rugby Australia

• Tennis Australia

• Touch Football Australia

• UniSport Australia

• Water Polo Australia

The event was widely recognised as a landmark moment, with each sport’s leadership emphasising the importance of inclusion, visibility, and respect. These policies were developed in response to research showing high rates of discrimination and disconnection from sport experienced by trans and gender diverse people.

This coordinated approach showcased sport’s powerful role in improving mental health outcomes, promoting belonging, and sending a clear message: sport is for everyone.

Since the launch, more than a dozen additional NSOs have committed to developing or strengthening their own trans inclusion frameworks, including Athletics Australia, Gymnastics Australia, Surf Life Saving Australia, and more.

📅 Date: Thursday 1 October 2020
📍 Location: Sydney Cricket Ground
🤝 Led by: Pride in Sport, in collaboration with NSOs
🌏 Global First: The first time multiple sports jointly launched national trans inclusion policies

Learn more: Guidelines for the Inclusion of Trans and Gender Diverse People in Sport (PDF)

In 2018, Pride in Sport, in partnership with Australian sportswear brand SKINS, launched the first Rainbow Laces campaign in Australia — inspired by the UK initiative. The campaign aimed to tackle homophobia in sports by encouraging athletes, clubs, and fans across multiple codes to lace up in rainbow-coloured shoelaces ⁠— a vibrant symbol of support for LGBTQ+ inclusion.

SKINS manufactured and distributed over 100,000 pairs of rainbow laces, making them available to both elite teams and grassroots clubs. This initiative was supported by professional players and sports teams from codes like football, rugby, AFL, and netball, all uniting under the message: “boot out homophobia” from sport.

Notably, the campaign was championed by SKINS Executive Chairman Jaimie Fuller, who said:

“Sport isn’t about who or what you are… By its very nature, sport and inclusivity and diversity should go together.

The week-long Rainbow Round of Sport (from March 31 to April 4, 2018) saw high-profile support from clubs like the Brisbane Lions, GWS Giants, North Queensland Cowboys, Sydney FC, Brumbies, Waratahs, and NSW Swifts, plus notable athletes including Johnathan Thurston and Michelle Heyman.

This marked the first large-scale Rainbow Laces initiative in Australia, blending community engagement with professional sporting visibility — showcasing Pride in Sport’s commitment to eradicating homophobia and promoting inclusion at all levels of sport.