Wendy Archer to step down as Chair of Netball Australia

Ongoing board changes at Netball Australia have seen Wendy Archer advise today that she will be stepping down from her role at the sport’s annual general meeting in May.

Her departure follows Deputy Chair John O’Sullivan having recently resigned from his board position and with the sport currently looking for a permanent chief executive.

A board director since 2018, Archer who plans to stay on as a Director until her three-year term ends in May 2025 to work with the new Chair to ensure a smooth transition, was appointed Chair in October 2022.

Advising of her departure, Archer stated “the Netball Australia Board embraces renewal to ensure a fresh injection of ideas to continue to expand our great game.

“Netball Australia is successfully driving a commercial turnaround after the challenges of the pandemic and doing the hard work required on strategic development to continue to grow the game.”

Appealing to players and fans, Archer commented “(I extend) my heartfelt thank you to everyone who makes this game such a success. That includes the players and coaching staff, the Netball Australia executive leadership and staff, the member organisations and Suncorp Super Netball clubs, the Australian Netball Players’ Association, our commercial and broadcast partners, all the volunteers, and everyone who just loves the game.”

Releasing the nomination and Expression of Interest for elected and appointed directors has been released, Netball Australia is welcoming potential candidates and has already been approached in recent months by people wanting to join the Board, and would also proactively seek out candidates.

Netball Australia last month announced two new Board appointments who will bring valuable experience, skills, ideas and passion to the Board.

The appointments were former NSW Attorney General (the first women to serve in the role) and NSW Minister for Sport Gabrielle Upton and experienced netball administrator Kirrily Zimmerman, the former President of the Netball Victoria Board.

The challenges facing Netball Australia were outlined in a hard-hitting feature in issue 160 of Australasian Leisure Management. Click here to view the issue in its digital format.

Image: Wendy Archer. Credit: Netball NSW.