Transgender athlete Hannah Mouncey backs Cricket Australia's new gender-diverse policy

Cricket Australia has developed a new policy that ensures transgender and gender-diverse people can play cricket at both elite and community levels in Australia.

The national governing body has also launched new guidelines for community cricket to support players competing in line with their gender identity, whether or not this aligns with the sex they are born with.

Mouncey, who was part of the consultation process, said the policy strikes the right balance between the protection of the athlete and fairness of the competition.

"It's quite easily the best in the world at the elite level and I don't think we'll see a better policy come out anywhere," Mouncey said.

"It's brought together all the best bits of other policies and created one that's specific to cricket.

"There has to be an elite pathway [for transgender and gender-diverse people], that's something which shouldn't be denied to someone just because they're different.

"I've always supported testosterone limits and time periods because it's appropriate for the sport but it also protects the athlete. If anyone decides to cause issues because of their participation then we can show they've the criteria."

MORE CANBERRA SPORT

Transgender or gender-diverse players seeking to compete in the female-elite category must demonstrate a concentration of testosterone in serum less than 10 nanomoles per litre continuously for 12 months or more.

Cricket Australia chief executive Kevin Roberts says as strength, stamina and physique are all relevant factors in sport, transgender and gender diverse players will be supported to participate in top flight cricket, subject to certain criteria.

"Discrimination of any sort has no place in the game," Roberts said.

"Our dedication to a fair and inclusive sport across international and domestic competitions sees the policy strike a balance between the opportunity to participate and ensuring fair competition."

He says the policy will align closely with the International Cricket Council's Eligibility on the Basis of Gender Recognition, while a referral process to an expert panel had been established to ensure fair and meaningful competition.

Roberts adds guidelines for grassroots level cricket will assist clubs, players, administrators, coaches and other volunteers deliver a "safe, welcoming and inclusive environment, free of harassment and discrimination for gender diverse players."

Cricket ACT will meet with community clubs over the coming weeks to "work out a plan of attack" in terms of how they can bring the criteria and policy to life.

"The policy allows fair competition at both community and elite levels which is very important," Cricket ACT boss James Allsopp said.

"There's been a lot of engagement with stakeholders over a long period of time to make sure that we strike the right balance between the opportunity to participate and fair competition.

"We're not sure how [the policy] will help yet but we're really confident from the research being conducted that there's people out there who have felt that across all sports, there may not have been an opportunity for them to play.

"Cricket wants to lead the way in encouraging people from all backgrounds, and certainly in this case transgender-identified people, to be playing our game.

"We'll continue to work with clubs to make sure they follow the right processes to include and accommodate gender-diverse people and ensure they're playing at the right level in the competition."