Super Netball players and league officials have finally called a truce on a bitter pay dispute that’s hung over the sport for months. Netball Australia, the eight Super Netball clubs, and the Australian Netball Players’ Association (ANPA) have signed off on a new 12-month collective player agreement — often described as a Super Netball pay deal — that bridges the gap to a longer-term contract still being worked out.
This means that the players can now expect improved payment and working conditions, along with increased downtime between the seasons, after weeks of being in limbo without the chance to sign any new contracts. For the teams, it is no less important either. The signing of contracts for the 2027 season can proceed according to schedule rather than be pushed back once again because of the stalemate. It is good news all around, whether for the list managers seeking to build a competitive roster or for the players seeking just a little stability.
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Details of the New 12-Month Super Netball Agreement
So what’s actually in this new collective player agreement? Quite a lot, as it turns out. The player salary cap is going up by 4 percent, and the minimum salary is jumping by 25 percent so it lines up with Australia’s National Minimum Wage. There’s also a 25 percent bump to the salary paid to each club’s 11th listed player, plus a 4 percent increase to the Training Partner honorarium — a nod to the athletes who train with squads but don’t always get game time.
There is also an increase in meal allowance for players, which now reaches $75 per day, and there will be an additional two weeks’ vacation provided annually. This is important following a few years of seasons during which there was not much time for rest. The director of the ANPA and the star player of the Melbourne Mavericks, Tara Hinchliffe stated that all the improvements were important not only for players but also for the sport itself, and this is quite obvious.
The Implications of the Deal for the 2027 Season and Player Contracting
Now that the deal has been secured, teams will be able to proceed with the business of signing up players and putting together their squads for 2027, a process that has been on hold due to the ongoing dispute. This timing comes conveniently close to the start of a new broadcast deal over five years with the Nine Network, which comes into effect in 2027. Netball Australia is expecting that this broadcast deal would bring financial success for the league, and some of these monies should flow back into netball.
Plans to expand Super Netball beyond its current eight clubs had also been shelved because of the uncertainty, and those are now pushed out to at least 2028. Still, for players and clubs alike, simply knowing the season is going ahead on solid footing is a big deal after months of not knowing where they stood.
Why This Is Only a Temporary Truce
It’s worth being clear about what this deal is — and isn’t. This is a 12-month bridging agreement, not the full, long-term collective bargaining agreement the two sides have been fighting over. Bigger questions are still on the table, including a permanent revenue-sharing model, pregnancy and parental leave policies, and whether the league should move to a single, unified CPA going forward.
These discussions are expected to continue through the following months, with Netball Australia making it clear that they do not want such a lengthy stalemate again. With this disruption in the sport having resulted in the postponement of signing contracts, halted expansion plans, and unpaid players for weeks, much depends on getting this new deal right. For now, however, the ceasefire gives the sport some time before its crucial 2027 season.