Australian Diamonds secure dominant win over Tonga at Commonwealth Games despite ongoing pay dispute with Netball Australia
Glasgow: The Diamonds brushed aside their wage dispute with Netball Australia to secure a clinical and ruthless 61-goal win against Tonga in their opening match of the Commonwealth Games.
The Diamonds’ win on Saturday was the first step in defending their 2022 gold medal from Birmingham, but they will once again have a season overshadowed by a wage battle with Netball Australia.
The current Super Netball collective player agreement expires on September 30, meaning all 88 players, including the Diamonds squad, will be out of contract. The dispute between Netball Australia and the players’ union centers on the distribution of netball revenue and players’ frustration over pregnancy and parenting policies.
It’s a similar situation to the messy and protracted wage talks that dominated headlines during the Diamonds’ World Cup campaign in 2023, with players fighting for a revenue-sharing partnership and greater financial transparency.
The long and bitter debate resulted in the resignation of CEO Kelly Ryan.
Diamonds and Melbourne Vixens star Kiera Austin said the team remained focused on the competition after beating Tonga.
He pointed out that the Commonwealth Games are one of the two major events for netball and therefore an opportunity that does not come along often.
But he acknowledged that player delegates had done “a lot of work” to achieve this. [deal] Completed”.
Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich dismissed suggestions that the pay dispute would distract her players from the Games, saying the team was “fully focused on the job at hand”.
However, the Australian Netball Players’ Association previously confirmed the players had rejected the “latest offer” from Netball Australia at a recent full board meeting and players’ meeting.
“As a result, the players were not prepared to take a real pay cut,” a union spokesman said. “Especially if there is no real improvement in conditions.
“The ongoing CPA negotiations are causing a lot of stress for the players. They are champion athletes, but they are also working mothers, working students, and people working second and third jobs.
“What makes the situation worse is that Netball Australia does not allow written, non-binding contract offers to be exchanged as an interim measure.”
They questioned why there were “highest earners in netball”. [are] managers” and why “most players [are] He is being asked to accept a real pay cut.”
“Players see full stadiums and ask: ‘Where is the money going?’ ‘While athletes in other major sports in Australia receive around 30 per cent of their income, netball players only receive half of that?’
“These are fair questions and it is our duty to ask them.”
Players need certainty when it comes to futures trading, the spokesperson said, adding that they “need to know whether they can pay the bills.”
Netball Australia was contacted for comment but was unable to respond before publication due to the time difference between Glasgow and Australia.
The union’s 2026 wellbeing survey reported that 77 per cent of netball players see financial security and fair pay as their top challenges; this rate was 69 percent in 2025.
The spokesperson said maternity and parenting policies were also a significant issue for players and Netball Australia’s pregnancy and parenting policy “has not been significantly updated in almost a decade”.
“As Australia’s No. 1 team participation sport for women and girls, netball policies need to embody best practice, but we don’t,” they said.
“We have fallen behind other sports in terms of paid parental leave and return-to-play support. We have a lot of work to do and we need to step up.”
In May this year Netball Australia told this imprint that its maternity leave policy was designed to support the sport’s elite athletes.
“The maternity policy is currently being actively reviewed and updated by Netball Australia, the Australian Netball Players Association and Suncorp Super Netball clubs,” a spokesperson said.
“Whilst there is no set date for the review to be concluded, we are working closely with ANPA and clubs to ensure the policy supports our athletes in Suncorp Super Netball and the Australian Diamond programme.”
Despite the pay dispute in 2023, the Diamonds took home the World Cup title by beating England in the final.
And by November 2025, the sport appeared to have completely turned things around financially. Netball Australia achieved its third consecutive operating profit, reducing debt from $4.2 million to $1.2 million, while Super Netball fans averaged more than 6,000 fans per match in the 2025 season.
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Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports journalist and Formula 1 writer for The Age.Connect via email.
