Today, 26 June 2019, is a landmark day for Australian women’s soccer. In the early hours of the morning, FIFA announced Australia and New Zealand will jointly host the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Not only will this be the first time two countries have hosted a World Cup together, but it will also be the largest ever FIFA Women’s World Cup. Hosting such a special sporting event means a lot to the Matildas and New Zealand’s Football Ferns.

The announcement comes at a pivotal time for Australian women’s sport, with a number of world first initiatives recently announced to progress gender equality in Australian sports.

The Australian Women in Sport Advisory Group recently released the No boundaries for women and girls in physical activity roadmap. The roadmap is a world-first strategy for gender equality in sport, and its goal is to eliminate all barriers for women in sport and physical activity.

The Minister for Women, Hon. Marise Payne, welcomed the roadmap for change saying she “encouraged people working in and with the sports sector to get involved and imagine the potential when there are truly no boundaries.’

In another recent world-first, the Male Champions of Change (MCC) Sport released the Pathway to gender equality in sport including pay equality report. The report represents the first time that sector leaders have united globally to agree and report on a consistent set of measures and assessment criteria to drive progress on gender equality and pay equality in sport.

For more information on women in sport you can visit Male Champions of Change in Sport and No boundaries for women and girls in sport.