Bumper $3 million pay rise for Aussie women

Rugby Australia will up its support of the women's game Down Under to the tune of $3 million in 2024.

Fundamental to the step up is the addition of more tier one Wallaroos contracts and higher player payments.

The additional funding comes as the governing body looks long-term towards the 2029 Rugby World Cup, which will take place in Australia.

Watch all the action from the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season, kicking off on February 23, with every match ad-free, live and and on demand on Stan Sport

The uptick in funding marks a 61 per cent increase in support over the 2023 package, which itself was a 60 per cent rise over 2022.

For the first time, some Wallaroos players are being offered multi-year contracts across tier one and tier two. 

Across the top three funding tiers, the total number of contracted players will increase from 35 to 45.

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The number of contracted players in the top tier has increased from 15 to 23 as well. Rugby Australia hasn't ruled out growing that figure.

One of the biggest increases for Wallaroos players is the maximum salary threshold, which increases from $56,000 to $72,458 per annum – not including additional payments from Super Rugby Pacific teams.

Rugby Australia will continue to fund its $4000 minimum payment for Super Rugby Pacific players, in addition to any club payments for the season.

"We have identified Rugby Australia's sevens program as the benchmark for us to emulate, as one of the most elite full-time and fully professional women's sports programs in the country – which has achieved remarkable success for more than a decade," said Rugby Australia CEO Phil Waugh.

"We saw a significant increase in participation among women and girls last year, and much of that was in sevens.

"This followed an unprecedented 2022 when our women's sevens team won all three major trophies on offer, proving that success can genuinely drive interest and participation – and this is the opportunity with women's XVs.

"We will continue to grow the women's game in a sustainable and responsible way – we still have a lot of work to do, but the increase in our commitment over the last two years shows our determination to continue pushing forward."

Rugby Australia national women's high-performance manager Jaime Fernandez hailed the year-on-year increase in the Wallaroos quest to become a powerhouse.

"In 2023 we saw an additional $2 million of funding, we appointed the first full-time head coach of the Wallaroos, and the first dedicated women's high-performance manager. In 2024, we will see further increased player payments, multi-year contracts, and an increase in the number of the highest tier of contracts," said Fernandez.

"Significantly, we are seeing Super Rugby clubs making similar commitments to the women's game, with increases in investment, and hiring of more dedicated staff within their women's programs.

"This investment and the structure that we are building has been developed to build a critical mass and retention of key players – steps that will support an increase in training hours and time spent together as a team, which we believe will lead to greater success at international level.

"Naturally, we are focused on the next Rugby World Cup in England in 2025, however, this is part of a strategy to build a sustainable model that will deliver a highly competitive performance at our home World Cup in 2029.

"We have loaded our player agreements towards the tier one and tier two categories, with most contracts at the highest tier tabled for two years to build stability for 2025."