Netball Australia agrees new payment and conditions accord with players

The year-long dispute between Netball Australia and its elite athletes appears to be over with governing body and the Australian Netball Players’ Association (ANPA) reported to have agreed a new Collective Player Agreement that will run through to 2026.

With many elite players not having paid since 1st October when their contracts expired, terms of the new agreement are understood to have been agreed late on Friday.

Key to the agreement is for an income-sharing arrangement for sponsorship money exceeding projections that will see Super Netball players now enjoy regular pay rises and a share of the revenue generated by the competition.

With the arrangement being on terms dictated by the players, both parties acknowledged that Netball Australia's substantial debt must be repaid first.

Another critical point, absent from the previous offer by Netball Australia and the Super Netball clubs, was a consensus on a new commercial model. This model includes concessions from Netball Australia regarding issues such as the use of player intellectual property (IP), a demand met by the players.

Previously agreed-upon terms include an 11% increase in base salaries over three years, a 3% annual increment in private health insurance contributions, and retroactive pay from 1st October when all players became uncontracted and unpaid.

Additionally, there will be an immediate 10% boost in the honorarium for training partners in 2024, followed by a three percent increase each subsequent year.

Each Super Netball club now has the option to nominate an 11th player from its broader squad, eligible for selection under a six-month minimum salary contract of $22,000, subject to age, matches played, Australian representation, and potential exemptions.

The maximum total base salary payment, currently at $655,000 and set to reach $690,995 next year, will rise to $742,212 by 2026.

Minimum payments will increase from the current $590,000 to $611,300 and eventually $655,836. Part A, concerning marketing-related deals, will double immediately to a cap of $40,000 per player and $160,000 per team.

Other notable initiatives include the establishment of a Professional Netball Committee with formal ANPA representation, aiming to collaboratively explore new opportunities for athlete progress and league amplification.

During the negotiation ANPA tabled a list of grievances to Netball Australia and highlighted issues of “growing frustration”.

One of those frustrations was about how the players have been blamed for Netball Australia’s loss of sponsorship by Hancock Prospecting last year.

New revelation over loss of Netball Australia’s Hancock Prospecting sponsorship
However, new details have emerged on Netball Australia’s loss of sponsorship by Hancock Prospecting in 2022.

While it has generally been reported that the mining company’s $15 million sponsorship deal ended because the players refused to wear a Hancock Prospecting logo on their tops, AAP and 7News have revealed that a senior Netball Australia official told the players to not wear the Hancock Prospecting logo on their uniforms during last year’s series against the England Roses.

The ANPA has now taken aim at Netball Australia (NA) for “reneging on an agreement between NA and ANPA Chairs for the Diamonds to wear the Hancock Prospecting logo versus NZ and not versus England and a commitment by both parties to work with Hancock to ensure the sport did not lose a partner in the game”.

Other grievances include:

• Pretending to consult about the location of the 2022 Grand Final and associated commercial arrangements when in truth a deal had already been done

• Threatening players and their representatives with legal action

• Pushing the players into unemployment and placing players under financial duress during an Australian cost of living crisis

• Making announcement of the National Team contingent on players signing the Collective Player Agreement

Image: Super Netball at Melbourne's John Cain Arena. Credit: Shutterstock.