The number of female shooters continues to increase, as the Sporting Shooters' Association of Australia reaches its highest ever number of women members.
Female membership is up more than 10 per cent from the previous year thanks to initiatives at the state and national level.
The Association is celebrating this move towards equality as International Women's Day approaches.
SSAA's national coaching and membership development manager and Australian Women's Shooter editor, Gemma Dunn, said the increase in members was owed to several factors.
"We're approaching membership development in a couple of different ways," Gemma said.
- Twelve-month trial of new 'try shooting' days in metropolitan and regional Victoria.
- Development of SSAA coaching accreditation to improve experience for new shooters.
- Female-oriented shooting events such as Ladies Day and Women of Shooting.
"We're working with clubs to help them develop plans to increase membership and get a lot more ladies in the door," Gemma said.
"We find a lot of women respond positively to a sense of community."
Gemma said the membership boost is evidence SSAA's initiatives have been successful so far.
But it's not just women the Association is targeting.
"We're not just looking for women to try shooting but juniors as well, and really anyone who is interested in the sport," Gemma said.
"We're trying to find a better way to appeal to all types of potential members, including women, men and juniors.
"This isn't to separate women from the men but to encourage more women to participate.
"Women are an untapped resource; they only make up 10 per cent of the membership so we're just trying to find a way to be more inclusive for all people."
SSAA National President, Geoff Jones, said the Association is proud to be leading the way for women in what has historically been seen as a 'male dominated sport'.
"The success of the many SSAA programs and initiatives for women throughout Australia is evidenced by the significant growth in female membership and active participation in all aspects of our great sport and the leadership roles that women are now sharing," Geoff said.
"SSAA not only talks about equality, we make it happen."
