ARE WE THERE YET?

Following the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the global mood was triumphant. Record-breaking audiences and mainstream visibility gave the impression that gender equality in sport was finally within reach—that the battle had been won.
But when we looked beyond the headlines and into the lived realities of the players—their pay, conditions, and treatment across national teams—a different picture emerged. Women’s sport has experienced breakthrough moments before, only to see progress stall. The danger now is that widespread celebration creates a false sense of achievement. This “gender-equality fatigue” risks dampening momentum just when it’s most needed. Our film addresses this urgent gap: the need to push beyond symbolic victories and hold institutions accountable for delivering real, lasting change.

This documentary sparks a global reckoning with the gender inequality entrenched in elite sport, revealing the real experiences of players at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Despite record-breaking crowds, women earned just 25 cents for every dollar paid to men—and only 1 in 5 head coaches in the women’s game are women. Reports of sexual assault and inadequate training conditions were also common. Our impact vision is to drive systemic change by amplifying player voices, challenging governing bodies, and fuelling a movement for professional pay, leadership opportunities, and investment in women’s sport. Given the number and diversity of teams we profile, our partner organisations will vary across regions starting with Australia and potentially expanding to Europe, Africa, the Americas and Asia — spotlighting what’s most urgent in each context. Through screenings, campaigns and education outreach, we aim to inspire audiences to demand equity — on the pitch, in boardrooms, and beyond.

To achieve our impact goals we are exploring partnerships across Australia and globally. A potential collaboration with Women On Side could support a campaign to boost the enrolements and retention of women in coaching and refereeing, with possible funding for scholarships, travel bursaries, and professional development. This may align with Our Watch’s work, by showing how increasing respect for women in sport leadership helps challenge the cultural drivers of gender-based violence. Any such effort would need the support of Football Australia and State associations, who oversee coaching and referee accreditation. Internationally, we may partner with Common Goal to support football-led empowerment programs for girls in Africa and Latin America. We intend to ringfence $5,000 in our final development phase to properly scope the most effective and mission-aligned impact campaign.

As we are still in development, our current access includes supporters within Football Australia, as well as leading academics and journalists covering gender inequality in women’s sport. FIFA has agreed to license official tournament footage, so we know if we can raise the money we can tell this story. Our next steps include building partnerships with player unions such as FIFPRO and finalising access to key international cast members, ensuring authentic voices from within the global football community are represented.

In the final stage of development, we will ringfence $5,000 to scope a tailored impact campaign. This will involve consultation and collaboration with the activist organisations already identified—and potentially others—to determine the most effective calls to action aligned with the film’s themes and timing. Rather than duplicating efforts, our goal is to amplify existing campaigns and extend their reach through the film. These may include supporting initiatives that increase the number of female coaches and referees, enhance leadership pathways for women in sport, and promote greater visibility and respect for women at all levels of the game. The impact strategy will be designed to maximise the film’s resonance with both policy influencers and grassroots audiences, ensuring change is both top-down and community-driven.