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

Governance

Skate Australia 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'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 world, contested by teams from New Zealand and Australia. It is held bienially in Adelaide in South Australia. TGSS was created and continues to be both hosted ...

'' – 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 Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

based teams including South Side Derby Dolls (S2D2), Sydney Roller Derby League, Western Sydney Rollers (WSR), South West Sydney Rockets Roller Derby League, Hawkesbury/Hills Area Roller Derby,

Inner West Roller Derby League Inner West Roller Derby League (IWRDL) is a roller derby league based in the Inner West The Inner West of Sydney is an area directly west of the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. The suburbs that make up the Inn ...

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 Harbour, locally nicknamed Coffs, is a coastal city on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia, north of Sydney, and south of Brisbane. It is one of the largest urban centres on the North Coast, with a population of 78,759 a ...

(Coffs Coast Derby Dolls),

Illawarra The Illawarra is a coastal Regions of New South Wales, region in the southeast of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is situated immediately south of Sydney and north of the South Coast, New South Wales, South Coast region. It encompas ...

(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, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

(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 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

Victoria

There are several

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

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 ( ) () is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia. At the 2021 census, Ballarat had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria. Within mo ...

(

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 team. ...

Bendigo Bendigo ( ) is an Australian city in north-central Victoria. The city is located in the Bendigo Valley near the geographical centre of the state and approximately north-west of Melbourne, the state capital. As of 2022, Bendigo has a popula ...

(Dragon City Derby Dolls),

Geelong Geelong ( ) (Wathawurrung language, Wathawurrung: ''Djilang''/''Djalang'') is a port city in Victoria, Australia, located at the eastern end of Corio Bay (the smaller western portion of Port Phillip Bay) and the left bank of Barwon River (Victo ...

( Geelong Roller Derby League), and Sale (Sale City Rollers).

Queensland

There are at least three

Brisbane, Queensland Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

-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),

Bundaberg Bundaberg () is the major regional city in the Wide Bay-Burnett region of the state of Queensland, Australia. It is the List of cities in Australia by population, ninth largest city in the state. The Bundaberg central business district is situa ...

br>(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 Airport ...

br>(Mackay City Roller Maidens)

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

br>(Towns Villains Roller Derby)

Cairns Cairns (; ) is a city in the Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. In the , Cairns had a population of 153,181 people. The city was founded in 1876 and named after William Cairns, Sir W ...

(Reef City Rollergirls),

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

(Gladstone Roller Derby), Gold Coast (Gold Coast Roller Derby),

Rockhampton Rockhampton is a city in the Rockhampton Region of Central Queensland, Australia. In the , the population of Rockhampton was 79,293. A common nickname for Rockhampton is "Rocky", and the demonym of Rockhampton is Rockhamptonite. The Scottish- ...

(Rocky Roller Derby),

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

(Toowoomba City Rollers), and Hervey Bay Rollerz

Western Australia

There are various leagues in

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

. Western Australia Roller Derby (WARD), North West Roller Derby (NWRD), the Bunbury Roller Derby, Margaret River Roller Derby, Perth Roller Derby,

Dread Pirate Rollers Dread may refer to: Feelings * Angst (in existentialist thought), a deep-seated spiritual condition of insecurity and despair in the free human being * Anxiety * Horror and terror People Reggae musicians * Doctor Dread (born 1954), Americ ...

(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 States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

. Adelaide Roller Derby (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 Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, with two leagues based in

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

, 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 (WFTDA ...

. 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 (ACT), known as the Federal Capital Territory until 1938, is an internal States and territories of Australia, territory of Australia. Canberra, the capital city of Australia, is situated within the territory, an ...

: The Canberra Roller Derby League 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 university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

. 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 (abbreviated as NT; known formally as the Northern Territory of Australia and informally as the Territory) is an states and territories of Australia, Australian internal territory in the central and central-northern regi ...

. Darwin Rollergirls, based in Darwin were the first league established in the NT. There is a league based in

Alice Springs Alice Springs () is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement after Darwin, Northern Territory, Darwin and Palmerston, Northern Territory, Palmerston. The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William ...

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

Articles containing video clips