Maternity leave by Australian sport: Netball policy is no match for cricket and other codes

Netball Australia’s maternity was formerly heralded as the best in Australian sport. Now, it has dangerously fallen behind the other codes that attempt to keep their stars from leaving the sport.

Cricket Australia’s maternity leave contract extension guarantee has raised the bar for women athletes with the new policy benchmark prompting several Australian sports to look closely at their agreements during bargaining negotiations.

Up until netball introduced a maternity leave policy in Super Netball in 2017, elite sports women were either too scared to contemplate motherhood or forced to give up their careers in the pursuit of a family.

But now, it has all changed.

With women’s sport growing quickly and many elite athletes code-hopping, organisations are scrambling to put together the most comprehensive maternity policies in order to keep the stars in their code.

Netball Australia’s policy, once the pinnacle, is now at the bottom of the pile and all codes are looking to copy Cricket Australia’s lucrative offer – which includes 12 months paid parental leave and a guaranteed contract extension the following contract year.

Romelda Aiken-George of the Swifts and her daughter

NRLW STRUGGLES

The NRLW is currently working towards a policy in their long-winded CBA negotiations, but that’s too late for Shanice Parker.

Parker, 24, gave birth to her son, Jakari, in early 2022. She fell pregnant just before the contracting period and with NRLW having no maternity policy set in place she was left on her own, without a job.

She had to fund her own physio and fitness support before joining the Newcastle in 2022 and then cover the travel costs for her baby and a career for away games.

Parker said the Knights had been as supportive as possible with the coach’s wife and daughter even coming to training to watch her son if she couldn’t find anyone.

She said it was fantastic the players’ association was pushing for a maternity and parental policy.

“The ultimate goal is for anyone who falls pregnant under contract to still be paid,” Parker said.

“There also needs to be a carers policy so children under 24 months and a carer can travel to games and the NRL pay for accommodation.

“A lot of players have fallen pregnant before me and dropped off the radar because there was no support in place to keep them at the top level.”

Aussie cricket has set a new benchmark for maternity leave

BASKETBALL OPTIONS

Four-time Olympian Laura Hodges had a very different experience to Parker, with the WNBA’s maternity policy being put in place while she was pregnant with her daughter Ava, in 2018.

But she said there had been many times during her career where she had wondered if her dream to start a family would end her time on the court.

Watching Rachael Sporn and Abby Bishop return to the sport after having children gave her hope it was possible.

Under the policy, which is under revision now, players could choose to pause or suspend their contracts or take a payout. There are also provisions for carers to travel to games to support children under 2-years-old.

Now the Players’ Association is calling for more security when a player falls pregnant during the final year of their contract – similar to what Cricket offers its athletes.

“It was a huge thing for me,” Hodges said.

“When I had Ava my contract had finished so I had to work really hard to go back and prove myself. All the work with a newborn, trying to get fit again, the lack of sleep and not having a guaranteed contract took a mental toll.”

FOOTBALL’S SINGLE PARENT OPTION

Former Matilda and now Co-Chief Executive at Professional Footballers Australia Kate Gill said their maternity policy, adopted in 2019, met the needs of most of the players but small adjustments were being discussed as part of the new CBA including allowances for single parents.

“We have taken our time to work through this process to develop the policy,” Gill said. “We have leaned on Cricket Australia’s policy – it is quite advanced and progressive – we just have to iron it out for a practical standpoint for our players.”

Daisy Pearce and her twins Sylvie and Roy

AFLW INCREASE OFFER

Julia Chiera, Head of AFLW at the AFL Players’ Association, says their code has a maternity and parental policy but it is currently under review.

Like the other codes AFLW wants to copy Cricket and offer players who fall pregnant under the final year of their contract a guaranteed spot back in the squad should they wish to take it.

The problem though is AFLW clubs are restricted to how many players they can keep on their list. Currently players off contract are placed on the inactive list, but paid in full – meaning they lost their spot in the team.

Chiera said it puts perceived pressure on players to not get pregnant during the season so they aren’t taking up the spot of a fit player.

“We need to be flexible so teams have an expanded list and are able to hold onto players on parental leave,” she said.

NETBALL’S BLIND SPOT

Super Netball faces a similar situation with clubs able to contract just 10 full time players each season and no long term deals.

It was this conundrum that led to the Firebirds shooter Romelda George-Aiken being forced out of the club last year.

The long-time Firebirds player fell pregnant in the final year of her contract – the club had no guarantee she would be fit come the start of the following season so they didn’t renew her contract.

George-Aiken has proven she was more than capable of making a comeback – signing with the NSW Swifts this season.

Australian Netball Players’ Association chief executive officer Kathryn Harby-Williams, currently negotiation a new CBA with Netball Australia, said the Aiken-George scenario was one she didn’t want to see repeated.

“It’s really important that we stay leaders in this space. It is incumbent on us to look after the players as best we can,” she said.

“We don’t want our athletes to be limited because they want to have a family or pursue their career – we want them to be well supported.”