It’s impossible to give exact amounts of salaries for female athletes, different sports have different pay arrangements. Some athletes may have personal sponsorships or endorsements on top of these figures.
Women in sport tend to be paid more at the international level than the club level, which is different to how men in sport are paid.
So, this means all wages are approximate.
If you have any updated payment details for women in sport in Australia, please leave a comment below.
Minimum wages of Australian women in sport: international
- Cricket (Southern Stars) – $75,000
- Football (Matildas) – $40,000
- Netball (Diamonds) – No minimum**
- Rugby League (Jillaroos) – $2,000*
- Rugby Union 7s (Pearls) – $44,500
- Rugby Union 15s (Wallaroos) – $1,000*
*Match payment
**Approximately $30,000 for representative players if they play every game in a year
[Related: Former Diamonds coach Lisa Alexander calls for central contracts]
Minimum wages of Australian women in sport: domestic
- Aussie rules (AFLW) – $16,623
- Basketball (WNBL):
- $13,500 (2021-22 season)
- $15,000 (2022-23 season)
- Cricket (WBBL) – $26,000
- Football (W-League) – $16,344
- Netball (Super Netball) – $43,000
- Rugby 15s (Super W) – Unpaid
- Rugby League – (NRLW) – $8,500
Maximum wages of Australian women in sport: domestic
- Super Netball: $91,500
Super Netball are the only sport with a published maximum wage.
Potential average wages of Australian women in sport
- Basketball (WNBL) – $33,660
- Cricket (Southern Stars) – $94,000
- Cricket (WNCL/WBBL) – $46,000
- Cricket (WNCL) – $40,829*
- Cricket (WBBL) – $24,179*
- Netball (Super Netball) – $75,167
* The payments do not include match fees.
How much does Ash Barty earn?
Barty won her first career Slam at the 2019 French Open, triggering lucrative bonuses from sponsors Fila and Head. She also endorses Rado, Jaguar, Vegemite, Banana Boat and Esmi.
Ash Barty’s income for last financial year:
- Total Earnings: USD$13.1 million (AUD$17.8 million)
- Prize Money: USD$10.1 million (AUD$13.7 million)
- Endorsements: USD$3 million (AUD$4.1 million)
She’s currently the 3rd highest paid female athlete in the world.
How much does Sam Kerr earn?
Sam Kerr will be the first Australian female footballer to earn over $1 million. The bulk of that will come from her contract with Chelsea worth an estimated $2 million over 2.5 years. Sam also has a $1 million endorsement with Nike.
How much does Ellyse Perry earn?
Ellyse Perry’s salary is about $300,000 a year with her combined WBBL and national team contracts, which includes marketing duties. Her net worth had been valued at over $10 million with her sponsorships and endorsements.
How much does Tayla Harris earn?
In 2021, AFLW star Tayla Harris received a base salary of $25,000 for playing and around $80,000 for other work she does at Carlton.
How much does Sam Stosur earn?
Her earnings in 2019 were $1.67 million, taking her 20-year career takings close to $28 million.
How much does Stephanie Gilmore earn?
Surfer Steph Gilmore earned $2.1 million in 2019. While some of this is prize money, the bulk comes from endorsements.
Australia’s highest paid netball player
A marquee player at Super Netball is paid around $150,000 to $180,000 a season. So I guesstimate, our highest paid netball player would receive comfortably over $200,000 a year.
Australia’s highest paid cricket player
Several sources say Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning earn about $300,000 a year across international and domestic commitments.
Parental policy for Australian women in sport
- Aussie rules – The AFLW’s maternity and pregnancy policy allows for travel support for an infant and carer up to 12 months, or longer if a child is still breastfeeding, with the current contract to be paid in full during pregnancy.
- Basketball – Parental and pregnancy care policy (WNBL). Full provision of a qualified carer or player elected support personnel for all away trips.
- Cricket – 12 months paid with additional maternity and pregnancy provisions.
- Netball (Diamonds) – 12 months’ paid maternity leave for players in contract
- Netball (Super Netball) – 100% income protection on all earnings for up to two years. Support for an infant carer to attend matches, if a player has a child under 12 months old or a child who is being breastfed.
Private health insurance and income protection
- Netball (Super Netball):
- An insurance allowance of $2,667
- 100% income protection on all earnings for up to two years in the event of injury
Wellbeing support
Cricket Australia and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) allocate $320,000 for wellbeing support and $250,000 to allow players to bring their partners and dependents with them while they are away from home.
Sources
- Female cricketers get pay rise as Cricket Australia strives for ‘genuine parity’ (2021)
- PFA and APL announce ground-breaking CBA to drive Professional Leagues (2021) – Football
- League lands landmark pay deal (2021) – Netball
- AFLW 2021: Tayla Harris Carlton contract, news, recruitment, list (2021)
- W-League, A-League to foster ‘one club, one sport’ mentality (2020)
- Highest-Paid Female Athletes 2020 (2020)
- Top netballers agree to updated deal (2020)
- A second bite of the cherry: reviewing the 2019-2022 wage deal for the Australian Football League Women (2019)
- Sam Kerr’s Chelsea pay-day proves there’s still a long way to go for equal pay (2019)
- Sam Stosur to play on but youth is the future for Australia (2019)
- How does the Matildas’ pay deal stack up against the rest? (2019)
- WNBL and ABA secure minimum player payments increase (2019)
- Minimum wage for WNBL players now in place under new deal (2017)
- Building Momentum: The evolution of women’s wages In Australian Professional Team Sports (2017)
- Cricket celebrates ground-breaking year for women and girls (2017)
- Top cricketers become the highest paid athletes in Australian women’s sport under new pay deal (2017)
[…] Super Netball players have the highest minimum wages of any domestic women’s competition in the nation, despite sitting well behind the average salaries of men’s sports codes. Super […]