There are over eighty-nine roller derby leagues in Australia. in women's, men's, co-ed and junior categories.

Governance

Skate Australia Skate Australia is the recognised governing body for skate sports and skateboarding in Australia, working in partnership with Sport Australia. The body oversees the management and development of the sports from the national team at the elite le ...

provides a minimal level of insurance for some roller derby leagues in Australia. According to Skate Australia's 2009–2013 strategic plan, the governance of roller derby is different from other sports affiliated with the organisation. Roller derby lacks state committees, with leagues going straight to the Development Officer and Sport Services Administrator. In 2006, there were no roller derby memberships in Skate Australia. By 2008, three percent of all members were from the roller derby community.

World cup team

Interstate Bouting

Between the

Adelaide Roller Derby Adelaide Roller Derby (ADRD) is a roller derby league based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 2007, the league has four competitive home teams; The Mile Die Club, The Salties (formerly The Salty Dolls), The Road Train Rollers and The W ...

's 2007 formation and the start of their first season, the club hosted the first interstate roller derby competition in Australia, ''Skate of Origin'', against the

Victorian Roller Derby League The 'Victorian Roller Derby League'' (VRDL or Victoria) is a flat track roller derby league based in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 2007, VRDL provides opportunities for all ages and at all levels to participate and compete in Roller Derby. VR ...

. 2010 saw Adelaide Roller Derby hosting the ''

Great Southern Slam The Great Southern Slam (TGSS) is the largest competitive roller derby event in the Southern Hemisphere, contested by teams from New Zealand and Australia. It is held bi-annually in Adelaide in South Australia. TGSS was created and continues ...

'' – the largest roller derby competition to be held outside of the United States, with 650 competitors from Australia and New Zealand. Adelaide Roller Derby again hosted The Great Southern Slam in the June long weekend of 2012 and this time boasted over 1000 participants in the main tournament, match play for less experience leagues, and a series of challenge bouts. The main tournament consisted of 18 leagues including two from New Zealand with Victorian Roller Derby League taking out top honours in a repeat performance from 2010 over Sun State Roller Girls.

By state

New South Wales

As of March 2013, there are 31 Roller Derby Leagues in NSW. There are several Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

based teams including South Side Derby Dolls (S2D2),

Sydney Roller Derby League Sydney Roller Derby League (SRDL) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in the New South Wales city of Sydney. Founded in 2007, Sydney is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History Sydney Roller Derby Le ...

, Western Sydney Rollers (WSR), South West Sydney Rockets Roller Derby League, Hawkesbury/Hills Area Roller Derby, Inner West Roller Derby League
Northern Beaches Roller Girls
and a University league
University of Sydney Roller Derby League
Roller derby is played outside the capital with leagues based in Coffs Harbour (Coffs Coast Derby Dolls),

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal region in the Australian state of New South Wales, nestled between the mountains and the sea. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast region. It encompasses the two cities of Wollongo ...

(Wollongong Illawarra Roller Derby), Blue Mountains (Blue Mountains Roller Derby and Blue Mountains Junior Roller Derby), and

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

(Newcastle Roller Derby League). In March 2012, fifteen women, led by Michael Frawley, started working on creating a league in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

Victoria

There are several

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

based roller derby leagues, including Diamond Valley Roller Derby Club, East Vic Roller Derby, Kingston City Rollers, Melbourne Northside Rollers, South Sea Roller Derby,

and WestSide Derby Dollz. Roller derby is also played in regional areas including Ballarat (

Ballarat Roller Derby League Ballarat Roller Derby (BRD) is a roller derby league based in the Victorian city of Ballarat. Founded in 2008, the league has three competitive co-ed home teams, two junior roller derby teams, an all-female away/travel team and a referee tea ...

), Bendigo (Dragon City Derby Dolls), Geelong (

Geelong Roller Derby League Geelong Roller Derby (GRD) is a roller derby league based in the Victoria (Australia), Victorian city of Geelong. Founded in 2008, the GRD has one team that competes and in interleague bouts. They support both men and women in the league, but t ...

), and Sale (Sale City Rollers).

Queensland

There are at least three

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

-based roller derby leagues including the Northern Brisbane Rollers, the

Sun State Roller Girls Sun State Roller Derby is a women's flat track roller derby based in Brisbane, in the Australian state of Queensland. Suns State was established in 2007 and has been a member of the international Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA) si ...

and the Brisbane City Rollers. Roller derby leagues also exist in regional parts of Queensland including in Blackwater (Blackwater Roll-Her Derby), Bundabergbr>(Rum City Derby Dolls)

Mackay Mackay may refer to: *Clan Mackay, the Scottish clan from which the surname "MacKay" derives Mackay may also refer to: Places Australia * Mackay Region, a local government area ** Mackay, Queensland, a city in the above region *** Mackay Airpor ...

br>(Mackay City Roller Maidens)

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

br>(Towns Villains Roller Derby)
Cairns (Reef City Rollergirls), Gladstone (Gladstone Roller Derby),

Gold Coast Gold Coast may refer to: Places Africa * Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana: ** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642) ** Dutch G ...

(Gold Coast Roller Derby), Rockhampton (Rocky Roller Derby),

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( , nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar') is a city in the Toowoomba Region of the Darling Downs, Queensland, Australia. It is west of Queensland's capital city Brisbane by road. The urban population of Toowoomba as of the 2021 ...

(Toowoomba City Rollers), and Hervey Bay Rollerz

Western Australia

There are various leagues in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

Western Australia Roller Derby WA Roller Derby (WARD) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Perth, Western Australia. Founded in 2009, the league is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA). History WA Roller Derby was founded in August ...

(WARD), North West Roller Derby (NWRD), the Bunbury Roller Derby, Margaret River Roller Derby, Perth Roller Derby, Dread Pirate Rollers (DPR), and Perth Mens Derby (PMD), Swan City Derby (SCD), Perth Junior Roller Derby (PJRD), Albany Roller Derby League (ARDC), and Geraldton Roller Derby.

South Australia

There are five roller derby leagues located in

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

(ADRD) and Murder City Roller Derby (MCRD) (formerly known as Murder City Roller Girls) are Women's+ leagues playing under the WTFDA rule set. Light City Derby (LCD) and Rockabellas Roller Derby League (RRDL) are both mixed gender leagues, with the latter also having dedicated junior teams for skaters under 18. Lil' Adelaide Rollers (LAR) is a mixed gender junior league.

Tasmania

Roller derby is played in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

, with two leagues based in Hobart, the

Convict City Roller Derby League Convict City Roller Derby League (CCR) is a women's flat track roller derby league based in Hobart, Tasmania. It was Tasmania's second league at its formation in 2009. Convict City is a member of the Women's Flat Track Derby Association (WFTD ...

. and South Island Sirens. and Two leagues in Launceston; Devil State Derby League and Van Diemen Rollers.

Australian Capital Territory

There are two roller derby leagues in the

Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) until 1938, is a landlocked federal territory of Australia containing the national capital Canberra and some surrounding townships. I ...

: The

Canberra Roller Derby League The Canberra Roller Derby League (CRDL) is a Canberra-based roller derby league. It was created in 2008, with the first bouts occurring in 2009. Canberra currently holds the Division 1 trophy for The Great Southern Slam. Canberra is a member ...

and the Varsity Derby League. The sport was introduced to Canberra in 2008. by Bullseye Betty, Dr Hell, Roulette Rough and Peachy Keen. The league had its first bouting season in 2009, and tickets were quickly bought out. By June 2010, the Canberra Roller Derby League was competing in interstate bouts. In the early years of roller derby in the ACT, the presence of the Canberra Roller Derby League helped change the perception of the sport in the capital from an entertaining sideshow to a mainstream women's participation sport. In 2011, to accommodate the growing interest in the sport, a student organisation expanded roller derby into the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies an ...

. In late 2011, this organisation unaffiliated from the University and became Varsity Derby League. Varsity has a strong focus on inclusiveness and in 2014 established Canberra's first (and currently only) men's roller derby team.

Northern Territory

Roller derby is played in the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

. Darwin Rollergirls, based in Darwin were the first league established in the NT. There is a league based in Alice Springs called the Malice Springs Roller Derby League The first modern roller derby bout between these two leagues in October 2011 was entitled Highway to Roll and drew a sell-out crowd.

References

External links

Flat Track Stats (Australia)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roller Derby In Australia Roller derby Australia Articles containing video clips