Club Respect

Club Respect is a national harm prevention initiative of the Dugdale Trust for Women & Girls of which the Victorian Women’s Trust is the trustee. Club Respect heralds a movement of local sports clubs that build and maintain a culture of respect.

The first stop for any club is the Club Respect website – a free and accessible platform for everyone in sports clubs and community groups. The website holds all of our knowledge and features our Panel of Expertise, a portal for anyone to ask a question of our 12 sports club specialists.

For clubs wanting to draw a ‘line in the sand’ of their club culture and maintain an environment of respect, we now offer our signature Club Respect workshops. You can join the cohort of sports clubs, associations, leagues and local councils who are making significant cultural changes at their clubs that are creating safe, kind and fair environments. For more information, visit the Workshops page on our website:

Workshops >

Workshop facilitation and pilot program: 

Club Respect’s workshop content dates back to the early 2010’s with the Be the Hero! Program. Facilitated by Paul Zappa (co-founder, Club Respect), the program was aimed primarily at boys and young men at high schools, utilising group activities, discussion and interactive web resources to promote respectful relationships.

Melbourne Storm joined in the program delivery, introducing their own young players to participate, who then progressed to presenting to the students themselves. The connection with the Storm led to a similar program being delivered to clubs affiliated with NRL Victoria from 2015-17. The success of these programs led to the launch of Club Respect in 2018.

Since the launch, a pilot program was delivered to rugby league clubs in Melbourne. With funding from the Victorian Government and facilitated by Respect Australia and Mahana Culture, the pilot program helped clubs establish a framework of respect. Working closely with Pasifika (Pacific) communities, the pilot program provided education around role modelling respect and equality to help prevent family violence.

Club Respect is now delivering a workshop that takes the best elements from these past programs. It is available across the country to all codes, all clubs and at any level.

Workshop feedback: 

• ‘What a wonderful experience for our club, as seasons come and go we hope to continue to build respect for all into our culture’
• ‘The use of story and examples of other clubs journeys was inspiring for us’
• ‘The course offered enough practical and informative detail to allow our club to improve our skills without being overwhelmed. We now know where we need to focus for future improvements.’
• ‘Our wonderful club is now on a mission to become a club based on respect and willing and able to engage with the diverse communities which surround us.’
• ‘We are super proud to be a Club moving towards a culture of respect, thankyou for allowing us to be part of this project.’
• ‘Thorough, welcoming, inclusive training. Gently presented, solid evidence base!’

Expression of Interest:

Submit your Expression of Interest to Tarik Bayrakli (Manager, Club Respect): [email protected]