In 2015, I set out to answer a question that had been gnawing away at me for decades, just why is Australian sport so unfair for women and girls?

After two decades immersed in sport as a journalist and presenter, I had finally reached my tipping point. I was fed up with men telling me no one wants to watch women’s sport. I was fed up with seeing women athletes undervalued and underpaid, fed up seeing them constantly denied access to the best facilities, and fed up with watching them scrap for media coverage.

Nude calendars shouldn’t be the only way of getting attention. Teenage girls dropped out of sport. They had no one to aspire to be like, no clear pathways, and they had to fight for the solitary cubicle at the end of the stretch of urinals.

Progress had been glacial and I had grim expectations of any meaningful change, but as I started writing my book, Breaking the Mould – Taking a Hammer to Sexism in Sport, things started to happen.

In 2015, the Matildas made it to the quarter-finals of the World Cup and they achieved something that no Australian senior football team has ever managed – a win in the knockout stage of the tournament.

That same year the Diamonds won the Netball World Cup and got a five-year commercial television deal, Michelle Payne became the first woman to win the Melbourne Cup in its 155-year history (and told the doubters to get stuffed), the Women’s Big Bash League started and the AFL launched AFL Women’s.

Finally, women were crashing through the grass ceiling. The old mantra of “we’re just grateful to be playing the sport we love” was replaced by something far more compelling – a genuine fight for equality. No longer prepared to accept the crumbs, women in sport found their voice and demanded a better go. To borrow from Billie Jean King, they disrupted “business as usual”.

In the second half of 2015, the Matildas pushed their demands for a new collective bargaining agreement and boycotted the US tour where they were scheduled to play against the reigning world champions in front of sell-out crowds. Their demands included basic minimum standards set out in the CBA, equal pay and equality of opportunity, and a career pathway to make football the sport of choice for girls.

The team known as the Female Socceroos before 1995 had forged its own identity and was leading the fight for respect. Their actions sent a loud and unequivocal message that women belong in football. The moral argument that girls deserve the same opportunities and pathways in sport started to gain traction. The conversation started to change – and for once women were actually in the conversation. In 2015 this felt big.

Over the past few weeks, it’s been impossible not to reflect on the rise of women in sport. It’s also important not to forget where we’ve come from. There have been strong gains – women and girls have more choices, elite women athletes are more visible and broadcasters are showing more women’s sport.

But compared to men, women are still underrepresented in organised sport – as participants, coaches, officials, administrators, and board members. There are still barriers – structural and attitudinal – that stop women and girls from thriving in sport. This is why this Matildas’ World Cup campaign is so important.

Let’s not underplay what’s just happened. The Matildas have captivated the nation in a way never seen before. Eleven million viewers tuned in to Channel 7 to watch the Australia v England semi-final. Deakin University research estimated 17.16 million people tuned into the match cumulatively across Channel 7, Optus Sport, venues and live sites.

That’s approximately 64% of the Australian population. The most viewed event in Australian history. Let that sink in.

The Matildas’ history-making success has become a springboard to bigger conversations. The narrative has quickly shifted to investing in girls and women’s sport – and holding sporting bodies and governments to account.

Already, the federal government has announced an extra $200m for women’s sport, and a review of the anti-siphoning list to consider women’s sports. Just as 2015 felt like a turning point, 2023 feels like a line in the sand. Collectively, we have to say, we’re not going back.

Women want a fair share of the sporting pie – more women in decision-making roles, more female-friendly facilities, improved lighting, better playing surfaces and funding for grass roots.

Culture-shifting events like this one and the Women’s T20 World Cup in 2020 (86,174 fans at the MCG) don’t happen by accident. The will to see things through has to be there. Respect. Invest. Promote. Goodwill alone isn’t enough. It’s time to stop chipping away at progress with a toothpick – let’s bring out the hammer. Seize this moment with full hearts and finish the job.