Australian Female Cricketers Are Allegedly Denied Paid Maternal Leave

Leaked documents from the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) reveal that female players are required to sign a contract promising that they’re not pregnant.

An ACA submission that was leaked to The Australian shows a stark disparity between the treatment of male athletes and female athletes. ACA says women cricketers are being treated unfairly by peak body Cricket Australia.

“Our female members find it outdated at best and rather condescending that they can only sign one-year contracts, making life planning very difficult, while men can sign multi-year contracts,” the submission reads.

Women are required to declare, to the best of their knowledge, that they aren’t pregnant when they sign their contract to play for Australia; a practice ACA calls, “contrary to acceptable employer behaviour in any other Australian workplace.”

According to the submission, female athletes are expressly excluded from Cricket Australia’s parental leave policy. However, women who are employed at its head office have the benefit of between four to 12 weeks of paid parental leave.

Meg Lanning and Alex Blackwell, two Aussie cricketers, have signed the submission.

Male cricketers Steve Smith and vice-captain David Warner have both co-signed a statement saying it’s about negotiating a better deal for women cricketers: “More investment in grassroots, giving the players greater say in the game and preserving the revenue-sharing model.”

Pay is understood to differ from player to player and can increase with match fees, although, the minimum rage for women remains at $40,000 per annum (including super). The minimum wage for men stands at $270,000 (excluding super).

Cricket Australia promised a commitment of $4.23m last year to double the incomes of their women athletes, but the vast pay gap is still prevalent.

Photo: Twitter (@ACA_Players)