Active participation in outdoor recreation has direct links with social, physical and mental wellbeing. However, women and girls remain underrepresented in participation statistics. We know there are a range of barriers to women and girls active participation, but two key areas include:
i) a lack of female role models in the promotion of outdoor recreation activities, and
ii) the typical focus of the promotion of women’s participation as passive, not active, amongst others.
Be Fearless was designed to target these two key barriers.
We want to inspire girls to find activities they enjoy. We have events, activities and inspiration from other girls to help you get motivated to make your move.
Camping for Women is a website and organisation created and contributed to by women campers for women campers.
The Camping for Women tagline is ‘The Global Resource for Women Campers’ which is the vision to continually build a comprehensive resource catering to the wants and needs of women campers irrespective of their location.
Facebook Group
The Women’s Adventure, Travel and Camping Hub aims to connect adventurous and wander-lusting female souls who love the outdoors, across the globe.
The Queensland Women’s Strategy 2016-21 provides a framework for government, the private sector and the wider Queensland community to take significant action to achieve gender equality in Queensland. Based on the best available evidence, it also reflects the views of a wide range of community members, and representatives from the non-government, government and private sectors.
Encouraging lifelong participation in sport and active recreation is vital to the overall health and wellbeing of Queensland’s women and girls. Plus, it’s fun!
It is time to Join the Movement, change the perception of exercise and make physical activity inviting, exciting, energising and inclusive with all the benefits that come along with it.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population statistics from 2012 have revealed that the participation rate in physical activity for boys (70%) was significantly higher than that for girls (56%). Additionally, the participation rate was consistently higher for boys across each age group category.
Getting a little bit more active each day may sound hard, but there are simple ways you can add a bit of activity into your everyday life to make your work, study, family commitments, housework and homework active and fun!
The Women and Girls Advisory Committee on Sport and Recreation was established to provide advice on how the government can improve women’s and girls’ lifelong participation in sport and active recreation.
These resources have been developed in response to the recommendations established by the Advisory Committee on Women and Girls in Sport and Recreation in an effort to assist sport and recreation organisations with identifying how women and girls can be better supported, and encouraged to be more active and stay more active.
Barriers to participation vary for females at different stages of their lives. Check out the barriers to participation fact sheet for ideas on how you can help encourage females in your family, school or community to get active.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population statistics from 2012 have revealed that the participation rate in physical activity for boys (70%) was significantly higher than that for girls (56%). Additionally, the participation rate was consistently higher for boys across each age group category.
This reflects findings from previous studies (in 2005 male participate rates were recorded at 88% compared to 82% for females). This means that some girls are missing out on the opportunity to:
develop leadership skills
develop self confidence
make new friends
stay fit and healthy
For girls, it’s even more important to promote physical activity in the school and home environment since they are less likely than boys to participate in physical activity after they leave school. Their experience with sport and active recreation may also influence whether they continue to participate in physical activity as adults and parents.
While some girls thrive on sport and competition, others may like to participate in more social physical activities, which may influence their decisions to be active as adults. It’s important to know and understand the challenges and barriers preventing women and girls from being more active so that you can be supportive and understanding of her needs.
Australian business, government and sport leaders are being urged to back a new
strategy to achieve gender equality in sport by 2025.
Business leader, philanthropist and passionate advocate for equality and health,
Susan Alberti AC, invested in the development of a unifying vision and set of
priorities to achieve this goal, saying the work is long overdue.
“There has never been a more exciting time for women and girls in sport in Australia.
Our elite women are now among the best and most admired globally and previously
male-led and dominated sports are now opening up for all.
“At the same time, some organisations at grass roots, state and national level are
still really struggling to envisage what true equality looks like and how to get there,”
she said.
To help address the issue, Alberti funded the establishment of the Australian Women
in Sports Advisory Group which is Chaired by Professor Clare Hanlon from Victoria
University. A powerhouse of Australian leaders was drafted to the group including
CEO of Sport Australia Kate Palmer AM; leading sport administrator and CEO of
Collingwood Football Club, Mark Anderson; PwC CEO Luke Sayers AM; Westpac
Director and former Chairman of KPMG, Peter Nash; the Male Champions of
Change Sport Program Director, Julie Bissinella, and Susan Alberti.
The result is a strategy focused on achieving no boundaries for women and girls in
sport and according to Kate Palmer, it’s exactly what the sector needs to accelerate
change.
“This provides a blueprint for gender equality that sports can customise rather than
start from scratch”.
“‘The strategy includes the business case for gender equality; the priorities we need
to focus on and a framework for measuring progress and success. Anyone involved
in sport can pick it up and in 5 minutes figure out the role they can play,” according to Ms Palmer.
Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins welcomed the Advisory
Group stating “I commend Susan Alberti’s leadership and advocacy for women and
girls in sport”.
“Women’s equality and participation in sport is one of my priorities as Sex
Discrimination Commissioner and I welcome initiatives such this.”
Male Champions of Change Sport working with McKinsey has developed the
framework for sports organisations to assess their progress. Founder and Convenor
of the group, Elizabeth Broderick said having clear measures for tracking change is
critical:
“The days of token efforts are long gone and gender equality and pay equality in
sport won’t happen through good intention. We can see clearly that when you invest
in and develop women and girls equally with men, the market expands and the
whole sport lifts.”
Professor Clare Hanlon said support for “No boundaries” has been incredible so far.
“The physical, psychological, health and community benefits of getting more women
and girls into sport is so clear. We have such momentum and now is the time to
harness that for lasting change. It’s been amazing to see business, sport,
government, fans and athletes get behind this work,” she said.
“No Boundaries for women and girls in sport” will be officially launched in early 2020. At the same time, and in a world first, the 18 members of Male Champions of
Change Sport will publicly report progress against the detailed and consistent set of
gender equality and pay equality measures which form part of the strategy.
More women than ever are embracing adventure and the outdoors, and there’s been a huge surge in women-only events and groups. In the wake of our second sell-out women’s only event with Salomon, We Are Explorer’s reporter Brooke Nolan reflects on why these events are so important.
Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has captured the world’s attention in a fierce and passionate speech at the United Nations headquarters, accusing world leaders of failing to act on climate change.
For the first time ever, a woman has won the Transcontinental Race, beating 200 men to take the title in one of cycling’s most gruelling events.
Germany’s Fiona Kolbinger, a 24-year-old cancer researcher, was one of just 40 women in the 265-rider race from Burgas in Bulgaria to Brest in France’s north-west region.
A Brisbane teenager has become the second-youngest person to swim the English Channel twice in one day, swimming 68 kilometres in 22 hours to make it happen.
Brianna Thompson, 17, lost a layer of her tongue and suffered from severe leg cramps and jellyfish stings in the swim from England to France and back — a feat of endurance only achieved by 20 others.
Her Sunshine Coast-based training partner, Sam Penny, said Brianna also had a swollen throat and faced the constant threat of hypothermia from swimming in the 16-degree Celsius water.
If you ask Pam Burridge what she sees when she looks at this black-and-white photo, she’ll give you a distinctly technical description: “I see her riding a board eight-foot-six long and really difficult to ride.”
The fact that the photo was taken in 1911, and the surfer is a young woman, doesn’t faze Burridge, a surfing world champion.
“Swimming and surfing is very bound up in these new horizons that [were] opening up for women in the early 20th century.”
Letham was not a curiosity in her own era: she was a celebrity.
Father-daughter bonds are strengthened when they do activities together, including in the outdoors.
Seeking the views of about 1,300 girls and 400 fathers for her book Fathers and Daughters taught author Madonna King so much. But one thing that stood out were those connectors that seemed to grow the bond between fathers and daughters.
Three things were raised repeatedly: the bond that working the land created, the significance of shared beliefs, and the connection between sport (outdoor activities) and a good father-daughter relationship.
Country girls close with dads “Girls who were raised in rural areas boasted a treasured bond with their fathers”
Opinions or beliefs “Girls who shared the same views as their fathers developed a solid alliance”
Bonding in activity “Girls who ran or went bike riding or camping with their fathers enjoyed a good relationship”
The conventional wisdom behind being mentally strong and confident is to quash all negative thoughts and emotions. Doubt, fear, and discomfort are considered signs of weakness and should be “conquered”. As a professional rock climber and mountain adventurer for the last 22 years, I’Emily Harrington presents an alternative approach to such feelings. Beating them and/or pretending they don’t exist doesn’t work.
When Miriam Lancewood and her partner Peter set off to live alone deep in the New Zealand wilderness, they told their families they’d be back in a year.
But the couple came to enjoy their nomadic, off-grid lifestyle — foraging for edible plants and killing their own animals — so much that they’re still living it, nearly a decade later … Read More
I regularly pee in the woods. I’m not particularly proud of this, however this is where I am at with my life. I am not a gym junkie or church going. I am well past the school-gate mums group. I am not a joiner. But I have joined a women’s only hiking group. Within this group, there are numerous adventures and journeys I can join. However, within this group, there is also my self-imposed, physical requirement to ensure that I am not ‘that’ person holding everyone back. There is also a level of dedication and commitment that middle-aged me no longer has, especially now there are no children at home.
When I committed to joining a New Zealand hiking adventure, it was the promise of regular pre-preparation exercise that was one of the motivations. Exercise in the beautiful outdoors and, I assumed, easily within my strolling capacity (insert maniac laughing). I have since discovered that hiking requires equipment, training, donkey-like-stamina, and patience. I may not be ‘that’ person just yet, but I could be (one day). And I love that person. She is the reason I like this hiking group of women. She will be the one who sets the pace from behind. For not everyone is designed to be the motivator, marching out front, setting a cracking pace and muttering – step, one, two, three. Some of us are much better at the back, cracking jokes about hiking poles being walking sticks, discussing family hilarities and dishing out relationship advice or recipes. This me personifies what I am looking for: a like-mind, similar-age friend. She is also the lookout when I need to pee.
Middle-age is a difficult space to fill. Our ability to make new friends once revolved around our children, or through our work. Our kids are no longer around and our focus on climbing the corporate ladder is no longer so important. Suddenly, friendships become harder to develop and cultivate. Our palette becomes more discerning. We are less interested in nurturing external drama when our middle-age bodies have so much internal change anyway. Our sense of self takes a battering from wrinkles to droopy everything – eyelids, arms, boobs. We discover that overnight we have somehow become invisible. Last to be served at the coffee counter, despite the fact that we will probably be the one paying.
Our own mothers may have joined a knitting/reading/painting group, a CWA, or some other volunteer association. But in my world, as a middle-aged woman, I have no desire to sit on the sidelines of life and watch others embark on adventures. I want to experience hiking trails right around the world. And with women that know I need to pee every two hours. I like the idea of walking with my new friends and discussing our mutual goals and experiences. I am not ready to be completely invisible. These women see me, and I see them. I understand that not all women are like me, some women need the gym, others knitting. But for me, a couple of hours walking in the green energy of the bush discussing backpacks and peeing under a tree is my therapy.
As an older woman, retirement should be a wonderful time to do exciting things with your new-found freedom. A considerable part of your life may have involved taking care of your kids and spouse and focusing on your career, leaving very little ‘you’ time. Finally, that time is here. This is the next exciting chapter of your life.
Monique Forestier could be the poster child for trying new things. She is one of Australia’s best rock climbers, being one of only two Australian women to complete a route graded 34.
But the only reason she started rock climbing was because someone gave her a free pass to a climbing gym in St Leonards when she was in her early 20s. She thought she’d give it a go, and loved it straight away.
“I thought it was incredible – I didn’t think I was going to do anything with rock climbing but it’s changed my life,” she said.
Sharks leaping from the ocean, waves crashing into the side of your small sea vessel as you sleep, a bucket toilet with no privacy.
For many this would be the voyage from hell, but for Bundaberg’s Eleanor Carey it was a world-record-setting attempt she was determined to complete.
Ms Carey has just returned home to Bundaberg after rowing 4,000km across the North Pacific Ocean as part of a three-woman team.
They rowed from California to Hawaii in a 7.6m ocean rowing boat named Danielle, taking 62 days, 18 hours and 36 minutes, finishing their journey earlier this month
‘Women now make up close to half of practitioners and researchers in outdoor education, but their leadership skills and hard work often go unrecognised’
“Bear Grylls is famous for his outdoor adventures – but how many people have heard of Megan Hine?” asks Associate Professor Tonia Gray.
Australian women are as physically active as men, if not more, creating the opportunity to increase their participation level in sport, Australian Sports Commission (ASC) research has revealed
Travel Play Live is a multi faceted publishing, content, events and marketing company which operates various platforms within the women’s adventure, travel and tourism space. With a fresh perspective on publishing, via ‘Travel Play Live – The Women’s Adventure Lifestyle Magazine’, we put community at the heart of our message to create client solutions that help to amplify content to our owned and partner audiences who are as passionate about Australian Women’s Adventure as we are.
Queensland and national mountain biking champion Eva Plessing says there are so few female competitors in Australia she is regularly forced to race against men.
While there has been a 20 per cent increase in recreational participation rates across Australia over the past 12 months, very few women are taking part in competition
The Rewilding Project is a movement that reconnects women to the natural environment. A unique way of experiencing the outdoors vital for women’s physical health, fitness and wellbeing.
An unknown on the world stage at the start of the season, Australian Rhiannan Iffland has stormed to the Red Bull Cliff Diving title with five wins from seven events.
They are extraordinarily talented female athletes who have climbed to the pinnacle of their sport.
After years of dedication, sacrifice, commitment, disappointment, sometimes heartbreak – and in many cases severe injuries along the way – thousands of women athletes have come from around the world to compete for gold against the world’s best at Rio.
And when we watch them from the comfort of our lounge room, marvelling at their elite skills, prowess and power, is it okay to call them “girls”, or should they be referred to only as “women”?
It’s a question that has prompted strong responses on social media, as some people hit out at commentators who have called female athletes girls during the opening days of the Olympics
The video shows Annty Marais, a parkour coach, mover, athlete; Fizz Hood, a movement artist, stunt woman and parkour coach; and Shirley Darlington, parkour coach working simultaneously, demonstrating the grace of this unique and somewhat unusual sport.
Overall, gender differences in the rate of sports participation exist across all activities (including participants, coaches, officials, administrators and Board Directors), age categories, and in most population sub-groups.
Females within segments of the population; including persons with disability; culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) groups; Indigenous; young girls, teenagers and mature age Australians; are generally under-represented in sport participation when compared to their male cohort. Therefore, concerns exist that gender bias may be preventing half our population from receiving the full benefit of participation in sport and physical activity.
