The inaugural head of Victoria's new Office for Women in Sport and Recreation, Bridie O'Donnell, says the AFL made the wrong decision in deeming transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey ineligible for the AFLW draft.
The AFL decided last Tuesday - less than 24 hours before Wednesday's AFLW draft - that Mouncey could not be selected, taking into account "the stage of maturity of the AFLW competition, its current player cohort and Ms Mouncey's individual circumstances".
Fairfax Media understands that the AFL was concerned that putting Mouncey in the AFLW environment would unfairly "accelerate her development and increase her physical size".
However, O'Donnell, a former road cyclist who represented Australia at three world championships, told Fairfax Media the AFL "made what they would consider to be a safe choice and I don't agree with it. But I am not surprised".
"Mouncey also hasn't caused injuries to players in the ACT competition, and I think that the inconsistency for me is that the AFL are happy for her to continue playing the sport there."
Fairfax Media understands the AFL is working to develop a policy for future cases of transgender players wanting to play in the AFLW.
O'Donnell welcomed that development and said she had once ridden in a semi-professional Australian cycling team with a transgender female, who she said did not have an advantage from being born male.
She also said she hoped AFLW players' pay could continue to increase because the current level wasn't enough.
"We need to stop with the comparisons between male and female players ... so this will only improve," she said.
"We need to treat these women as professional athletes committing themselves to be the best they can be in a sport that is the highest-profile sport in our country, definitely Victoria.
"We know the AFL earns a lot of money and we know the clubs are financially secure, so I would like to see parity."
