Netball Australia

Netball Australia is the main governing body for netball in Australia. It is affiliated to World Netball. It is responsible for organising and administering the Australia national netball team, Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian National Netball Championships. It previously organised and administered the Australian Netball League, the ANZ Championship, the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league and the Esso/Mobil Superleague.

Netball Australia

Sport	Netball
Jurisdiction	Australia
Abbreviation	NA
Founded	1927
Affiliation	World Netball
Location	191 Johnston Street Fitzroy Melbourne, Victoria^[1]
CEO	Kelly Ryan^[2]^[3]
Official website
netball.com.au

Netball Australia was originally founded in 1927 as the All Australia Women's Basket Ball Association. In 1970, after "women's basket ball" became known as netball, the organisation changed its name to the All Australia Netball Association. It adopted its current name in 1993.

History

Netball Australia was founded on 26/27 August 1927 as the All Australia Women's Basket Ball Association during an interstate women's basketball carnival. Its founding members included the Sydney City Girls' Amateur Sports Association (New South Wales), the Australian Ladies Basket Ball Association (Queensland), the South Australian Women's Basket Ball Association (South Australia), the Melbourne Girls Basket Ball Association (Victoria) and the Basket Ball Association of Perth (Western Australia). Tasmania began competing in national tournaments in 1933. The Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory joined in 1975 and 1977 respectively. In 1970, after "women's basket ball" became known as netball, the organisation changed its name to the All Australia Netball Association. It adopted its current name in 1993.^[4][5][6]

Amid a funding crisis where Netball Australia lost A$7 million over two COVID-impacted years,^[7] in 2022 the organisation announced that it had secured Hancock Prospecting as high performance program partner from 2022 to 2025, with an investment of A$15 million over four years. Netball Australia announced that Hancock would invest directly in the Diamonds’ athletes and coaches, and provide funding support for training camps and competitions.^[8] The Diamonds team was photographed in uniform bearing the Hancock Prospecting logo. It was later revealed that some players did not support Hancock Prospecting as a sponsor due to historical comments made by the company's founder, Lang Hancock on indigenous issues and the company's record on environmental issues.^[9][10][11] The controversy led to the resignation of Netball Australia Chair, Marina Go, citing personal reasons;^[7][10] and the Diamonds refused to wear the sports uniform with Hancock Prospecting logo.^[11] Within a month of announcing the sponsorship deal, Hancock Prospecting withdrew their offer, saying it did not wish to add to netball's “disunity problems”.^[12] Hancock offered Netball Australia short-term funding until such time as a more permanent arrangement could be secured.^[13][14]

Competitions

Current

Years	Competition
2017–	Suncorp Super Netball
1928–	Australian National Netball Championships

Former

Years	Competition
2008–2019	Australian Netball League^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]
2008–2016	ANZ Championship^[19]^[20]^[21]
1997–2007	Commonwealth Bank Trophy^[22]^[23]^[24]^[25]^[26]^[27]
1985–1996	Esso/Mobil Superleague^[28]^[29]^[30]

Australian Netball Awards

Netball Australia hosts the annual the Australian Netball Awards. Current and recent awards include:

• Liz Ellis Diamond^[31]
• Australian International Player of the Year
• Australian Netball Hall of Fame^[32]
• Joyce Brown Coach of the Year
• Suncorp Super Netball Team of the Year
• Suncorp Super Netball Player of the Year Award
• Suncorp Super Netball Young Star Award

Former awards include:

• Australian ANZ Championship Coach of the Year
• Australian ANZ Championship Player of the Year

Sources:^[33]

Member organisations

• Netball Australian Capital Territory
• Netball New South Wales
• Netball Northern Territory
• Netball Queensland
• Netball South Australia
• Netball Tasmania
• Netball Victoria
• Netball Western Australia

Source:^[1][34]

Board

Presidents

 

29 August 2010; Before the first test match of the 2010 Constellation Cup series; (from left to right) Raelene Castle, CEO of Netball New Zealand, Rt Hon Sir Anand Satyanand, the Governor-General of New Zealand, Quentin Bryce AC, the Governor-General of Australia, Noeleen Dix, President of Netball Australia and Kate Palmer, CEO of Netball Australia.

Years	President
c. 1950s	Eunice Gill^[35]
1955	Anne Clark^[36]^[37]
1960	Anne Clark^[36]^[37]
1966	Anne Clark^[36]^[37]
1972	Anne Clark^[36]^[37]
1978	Anne Clark^[36]^[37]
1978–1988	Deirdre Hyland AM^[38]
1988–1995	Margaret Pewtress OAM^[39]^[40]
1995 - 2004	Sue Taylor^[41]
2004–2006	Marilyn Melhuish OAM^[42]^[43]^[44]
2006–2016	Noeleen Dix^[20]^[21]^[44]^[45]^[46]^[47]
2016–2019	Robert Shaw^[21]^[48]^[49]^[50]^[51]

Notable people

Chief Executive Officers

Years	CEO
2004–2006	Lindsay Cane^[42]^[43]^[44]
2006–2016	Kate Palmer^[20]^[21]^[44]^[45]^[46]^[47]^[52]
2016–2020	Marne Fechner^[1]^[21]^[48]^[49]^[50]^[53]^[54]^[55]
2021–	Kelly Ryan^[2]^[3]

Notable directors

Season	Directors
1980–1983	Joyce Brown^[56]
2011–2013	Wilma Shakespear^[18]^[45]^[57]
2013–2017	Kathryn Harby-Williams^[21]^[46]^[47]^[48]^[57]

References

1. "Netball Australia – Annual Report 2020" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
2. "New CEO for Netball Australia". netball.com.au. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
3. "Kelly Ryan commences as CEO". netball.com.au. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
4. "Netball Australia (1927 - )". The Australian Women's Register. www.womenaustralia.info. 1 January 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2021.
5. "About (Netball Australia)". netball.com.au. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
6. "The History of Netball Australia". netball.com.au. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
7. "Netball Australia chair goes amid mining sponsorship standoff with players". SBS. NITV. 17 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
8. "Hancock Prospecting invests in the Origin Australian Diamonds" (Press release). Netball Australia. 29 September 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
9. Carter, Brittany (18 October 2022). "How do former Indigenous Diamonds feel about the Hancock Prospecting partnership?". ABC News. Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
10. Hytner, Mike (18 October 2022). "Netball Australia stands by Hancock Prospecting sponsorship despite player backlash". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
11. Woods, Mellisa (18 October 2022). "Netball Australia commits to mining sponsor, but Diamonds won't wear logo". Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Network. AAP. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
12. Muroi, Millie (22 October 2022). "Hancock Prospecting pulls $15m netball sponsorship". Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Network. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
13. Knaus, Christopher (22 October 2022). "Hancock Prospecting withdraws from $15m funding deal with Netball Australia after players revolt". Guardian Australia. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
14. "Hancock Prospecting announces it is pulling funding from Netball Australia". ABC News. Australia: Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
15. "2008 Annual Report - Netball Australia" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
16. "2009 Annual Report - Netball Australia" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
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18. "2011 Annual Report – Netball Australia" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
19. . www.netball.asn.au. 11 March 2007. Archived from the original on 1 September 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2008.
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30. . netballscoop.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
31. "Liz Ellis Diamond – Award recipients". diamonds.netball.com.au. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
32. "Australian Netball Hall of Fame". netball.com.au. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
33. "Australian Netball Awards". netball.com.au. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
34. "Member Organisations". netball.com.au. 31 March 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
35. "Eunice Gill". sahof.org.au. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
36. "Clark, Annie Evelyn (Anne) (1903–1983)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
37. "Clark, Anne Evelyn (1903 - 1983)". The Australian Women's Register. www.womenaustralia.info. 2 January 2007. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
38. . netball.asn.au. Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 3 September 2013.
39. "Pewtress, Margaret Isabel (Marg) (1932–1995)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
40. "Pewtress, Margaret Isabel (Marg) (1932–1995)". Sydney Morning Herald. 8 August 1995. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
41. (PDF). ausport.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 August 2008. Retrieved 13 December 2021.
42. "Netball Australia - Annual Report 04" (PDF). Netball Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
43. "Netball Australia - Annual Report 05" (PDF). Netball Australia. Retrieved 13 September 2020.
44. "Netball Australia - Annual Report 06" (PDF). Netball Australia. Retrieved 9 September 2020.
45. "Netball Australia Annual Report 2012" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
46. "Netball Australia – Directors Report 2014" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
47. "Netball Australia – Directors Report 2015" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
48. "Netball Australia – 2017 Annual Report" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
49. "Netball Australia – Annual Report 2018" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 24 September 2020.
50. "Netball Australia – Annual Report 2019" (PDF). netball.com.au. Retrieved 9 September 2021.
51. "Changes Made to Netball Australia Board". netball.com.au. 15 April 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
52. . netball.com.au. 28 November 2016. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
53. . netball.com.au. 6 April 2017. Archived from the original on 12 June 2017. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
54. "Netball Australia CEO to depart at the end of 2020". netball.com.au. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
55. "Marne Fechner resigns as Netball Australia CEO to take charge of cycling's new national body". www.news.com.au. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2021.
56. "Joyce Brown – Sport Australia Hall of Fame". sahof.org.au. Retrieved 16 September 2020.
57. "Former captain elected to Netball Australia board". womensportreport.com. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2020.

External links

• Official site