Netball makes groundbreaking commitment to indigenous players following Jemma Mi Mi mess

Netball Australia has responded to criticism of the sport's inaction around indigenous participation with a groundbreaking 'declaration of commitment' to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, coaches, umpires and administrators.

Earlier this month Suncorp Super Netball's Indigenous Round shone a light on the alarming lack of indigenous involvement at the elite level, with Nine's powerful feature on Marcia Ella-Duncan bringing into sharp focus how little progress had been made in the last three-and-a-half decades.

The criticism grew louder when Jemma Mi Mi, the only indigenous player in Super Netball, was left on the bench for the Queensland Firebirds' entire match in Indigenous Round.

The Firebirds acknowledged that they'd \ in a statement that did not explicitly say that coach Roselee Jencke had stuffed up by not giving Mi Mi game time.

The backlash forced Netball Australia to engage its key stakeholders and devise a plan to ensure indigenous engagement and development was put at the forefront of the sport.

That plan was released today, with Netball Australia saying its peak organisations had "pledged to take significant action to break down the barriers" for indigenous people in the sport.

In total 20 national, state and territory-based and club bodies have signed a Declaration of Commitment which requires the entire netball system to understand and then resolve the issue of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander under-representation at elite levels.

In a statement released by Netball Australia to announce the plan it was acknowledged that netball hadn't properly addressed the issues indigenous people face within the sport and said: "We know it is unacceptable to have only one Aboriginal player within the Suncorp Super Netball league."

It added that "strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation rates and talent within our grassroots and state and territory competitions are not translating into our elite pathway."

Part of the commitment is a change in the pathways system from grassroots netball all the way up to the Diamonds to better identify and develop talented indigenous players.

To guide these changes Ella-Duncan and fellow indigenous Diamonds player of the past, Sharon Finnan-White, have been brought on in a "leadership role" alongside prominent indigenous leaders Stacey Campton and Ali Tucker-Munro.

The statement from Netball Australia concludes that: "The need to enact sustainable, systemic change is a large and multi-faceted challenge. But it's one that, from today, will be a focus for the entire netball family."