Football Australia pay deal sees Matildas get parity with Socceroos

Football Australia has announced a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with its elite players that will see pay increases for many Matildas and their getting equal treatment to the Socceroos.

Following both teams’ strong performances in FIFA World Cup tournaments in the past 12 months, the new pay deal will mean the country’s top women’s footballers are set to receive a pay increase of up to $80,000 per year, on top of their club salaries and tournament prize money.

Following months of negotiations, the new CBA struck between Football Australian and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), the Matildas will switch away from central contracts to a model where 70% of player payments for both the Socceroos and the Matildas are from match fees - divided equally between the men’s and women’s teams - and 30% from a share of the commercial income generated by the teams.

Describing the new model as a “partnership”, Football Australia Chief Executive James Johnson advised in a statement “the new CBA represents a sophisticated economic model that rewards our players in tandem with the growth and commercial success of our national teams.

“It’s a model that ensures as we scale new heights commercially and our players will share in the fruits of these triumphs - a true testament to our shared goals and values.

“This agreement is more than a contract; it's a commitment to progress and a promise that as our revenue base flourishes, so will the opportunities and rewards for our players, making them key contributors in our game's prosperity.

“Our aim is clear: to continue growing the game of Australian football hand in hand with those who bring it to life on the pitch.”

It also includes a pregnancy policy, providing accommodation for carers accompanying players who are mothers, being offered for children up to the age of four rather than two.

The CBA will cover the Asian Cups in 2023 and 2027, the Paris Olympics in 2024, the AFC Women’s Asian Cup in 2026, the FIFA Men’s World Cup in 2026 and the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2027.

The previous deal between national team players and the governing body was struck in 2019, and was significant in that it provided parity in pay and conditions between men and women players, including both receiving business class flights and equivalent match preparation.

That arrangement had lapsed this year as Football Australia prioritised the rollout of the successful World Cup.

PFA Co-Chair, Kate Gill, said this deal was an evolution of the arrangement struck in 2019, noting “the cornerstone for that was obviously gender equality, which is still a core principle of this deal in itself.

“This was around moving towards a partnership that was making sure that the players were rewarded for their success on the pitch, but also incentivised to grow the revenues as well for the business.”

Head of Women’s football at Football Australia, Sarah Walsh, said fringe players in Matildas squads - which are typically 23 in size - are especially going to benefit, advising “the 23rd player will now more likely than not be paid a lot more than they were and they were on in the other tiered contracts. It’s important to raise the standards of everybody in that 23.”

Football Australia ‘surprised’ by FIFA’s 2034 World Cup bid process
While announcing the new CBA, Johnson conceded FIFA’s abbreviated process that left Saudi Arabia as the only bidder to host the 2034 men’s World Cup had caught Football Australia by surprise, but that he hoped to beat the Gulf nation to the rights to the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup “on merit”.

FIFA surprised observers last month when it allocated the 2034 showpiece to Asia and demanded countries seeking to host the tournament submit expressions of interest less than one month after it opened bidding.

Saudi Arabia appeared to have been informed of FIFA’s plan prior to the announcement, after the country’s football federation declared its intention to bid within minutes.

However, Football Australia had no such warning, with Johnson noting that FIFA’s process “did catch us a little bit by surprise”.

Image: Matildas’ star Alanna Kennedy in action against France during the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup (credit: photo by Elsa - FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images).