The announcement comes ahead of the Queensland Firebirds’ demonstrating their ongoing commitment to pride allyship during this weekend’s Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) inclusion round, where the team will don rainbow Pride bibs in their clash with the Melbourne Vixens at John Cain Arena on Sunday.
Administered by Pride in Sport, the PSI is an independently administered national benchmarking system used to assess LGBTQ+ inclusion within Australian sport.
An initiative of the Australian Human Rights Commission and the Australian Sports Commission, the index provides the opportunity for all national and state sporting organisations to have their LGBTQ+ related initiatives, programs and policies evaluated against global best practice.
The Silver Tier achievement comes just three months after NQ achieved Bronze Tier status.
“Achieving Silver Tier recognition is a testament to our efforts to embed LGBTQ+ inclusion at all levels of our business and our game and represents a major step towards transitioning diversity and inclusion from a function to a practice,” NQ Chief Executive Officer Kate Davies said.
“We’re immensely proud to be recognised alongside Australia’s leading sports and look forward to continuing our work with Pride in Sport.”
Pride in Sport is a national not-for-profit sporting inclusion program spearheaded by Australia’s largest LGBTQ+ health organisation, ACON.
NQ has been a member of Pride in Sport for three years, building its reputation as a leader in LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport after introducing SSN’s inaugural Pride Match in 2021.
That leadership will continue with the Firebirds wearing their rainbow Pride bibs against the Vixens and changing to the Pride logo across social channels. This ties in with the home team’s ‘Everyone Belongs’ theme, a campaign representing Netball Victoria’s four key pillars of inclusion – LGBTQ+, multiculturalism, people with a disability and First Nations communities.
Since that inaugural SSN pride match in 2021, NQ has prioritised LGBTQ+ training, inclusive policy development and increasing the visibility of LGBTQ days of significance, all to demonstrate active allyship and send a clear message there is a place for everyone in netball.
“The PSI framework allows us to consolidate action and celebrate progress, but it also highlights where there is opportunity to do more, and in 2024 we have a specific focus on community engagement,” NQ Head of Diversity and Inclusion Autumn Pierce said.
“It was so energising to attend the Pride in Sport Awards last week with fellow inclusion champions across sporting codes, and I left the event so excited to continue working towards the gold standard of LGBTQ+ inclusion in sport.”
For more information about Netball Queensland’s commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion, visit https://qld.netball.com.au/pride-sport.
