Addressed to: Australasian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Championship (ABJJC) and all BJJ competition organisers operating in Australia

The Issue

The ABJJC Perth Open, one of Western Australia's prominent Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competitions, currently offers cash prizes exclusively to male competitors in its Advanced Open Weight No-Gi Super Bracket. The prize pool for the men's division is structured as follows: $500 for first place, $200 for second place, and $100 for third place, plus a championship title belt. No equivalent cash prizes are offered to female competitors, despite women's divisions attracting comparable bracket sizes.

This is not an isolated case. Multiple BJJ competitions operating in Perth and across Australia continue to structure their prize pools in a manner that excludes women's divisions from financial reward, while charging identical registration fees to all competitors regardless of gender.

This practice is discriminatory, outdated, and directly contrary to the direction being taken by Australia's peak sporting bodies, the Australian Government, and the international grappling community.

Why This Matters

Female athletes in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu train with the same intensity, make the same sacrifices, pay the same registration fees, and compete with the same level of skill and commitment as their male counterparts. To reward one group financially while offering nothing to the other sends a clear and damaging message: that women's contributions to the sport are valued less.

Prize money is not merely symbolic. For many competitors, particularly those at the advanced and professional level, it contributes to covering the significant costs of training, travel, coaching, and competition entry. Excluding women from prize pools creates an additional financial barrier that discourages participation and limits the growth of the women's side of the sport.

The Australian Context

Australia is actively pursuing gender equity in sport at every level. The facts are clear:

• In September 2024, the Australian Government launched the National Gender Equity in Sport Governance Policy, a first-of-its-kind national framework requiring sporting bodies to meet gender equity targets by 1 July 2027 or risk having government funding withheld.
• Cricket Australia, Tennis Australia, Golf Australia, Football Australia, and Rugby Australia have all committed to the Pathway to Pay Equality pact, with several already offering equal prize money or equal base pay.
• The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has identified that Australian sport carries an overall gender pay gap of 27%, and has called for urgent action to close it.
• Globally, the IBJJF now offers equal prize money for men and women at its Black Belt divisions. The World Surf League achieved equal prize money in 2019. All four tennis Grand Slams offer equal purses.

BJJ competition organisers in Australia cannot continue to operate as though these developments are not happening. The broader sporting community has moved on; grassroots combat sports must follow.

What We Are Asking For

We, the undersigned, call upon the ABJJC and all BJJ competition organisers in Australia to:

• Implement equal prize money for women's and men's divisions in all competitions where cash prizes are offered, effective immediately.
• Apply identical minimum bracket thresholds for prize eligibility across all genders. If eight competitors are required to unlock full prize money in the men's bracket, the same threshold must apply to the women's bracket, with equivalent prize amounts.
• Offer title belts to women's division winners on the same terms as men's divisions.
•  Publish transparent prize structures at the point of registration so that all competitors can see exactly what is available in each division before they register and pay.
• Publicly commit to a gender equity policy for competition operations, aligned with the direction set by the Australian Sports Commission and the National Gender Equity in Sport Governance Policy.

The Case for Change

Women's Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in Australia is growing rapidly. Academies across the country report increasing female enrolment, and community organisations such as WA Women's Jiu-Jitsu are actively building participation, fostering competition readiness, and advocating for better conditions for female competitors.

Competition organisers who fail to offer equal incentives are not only acting unfairly; they are undermining their own growth potential. Equal prize structures attract more competitors, generate more registrations, improve event quality, and build stronger community support. This is not just the right thing to do; it is the commercially sound thing to do.

The BJJ community prides itself on respect, discipline, and the principle that what matters is what happens on the mat. That principle must extend to how we reward our athletes. If the effort is equal, the recognition must be equal.

Add Your Voice

Whether you are a competitor, coach, academy owner, parent, or supporter of the sport, your signature matters. By signing this petition, you are telling competition organisers that gender-based prize discrimination has no place in Australian Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Equal mats. Equal effort. Equal respect. Equal rewards.