ABSTRACT
Professional women’s sport in Australia is undergoing a period of unprecedented growth in its numbers of professional leagues, salary, television broadcast, and talent development opportunities. The history of women’s competition in sport in Australia is over 120 years old; however, since these formative years, the professionalization of women’s sport in Australia has been slow. In more recent times, we are now witnessing a rapid increase in interest, salaries, and sponsorship of a variety of professional women’s leagues – in both traditionally female sports (such as netball), and increasingly growing into new franchises and leagues in the traditionally male football codes and cricket. This chapter presents the history and evolution of professional women’s sport in Australia, with particular attention to current professional leagues and sport codes, and the expansion of professionalization to new and emerging sports across the country.
