Jason
Ball

Speaker Profile

Jason Ball is the 2017 Young Australian of the Year for Victoria, best known as the pioneering LGBTI advocate who in 2012 became the first male Aussie Rules footballer at any level of the game to publicly come out as gay in the national media. Jason used this platform to launch a campaign to challenge homophobia in sport and drive cultural change within the AFL.

Since taking that stand, Jason has became a national figurehead on combating homophobia in sport and highlighting the damaging impact of discrimination on the mental health and well-being of the LGBTI community.

His story was the inspiration behind the AFL’s world-first ‘Pride Game’ played between St Kilda and Sydney in the 2016 Premiership Season. In his role as an ambassador for beyondblue and the Safe Schools Coalition he has shared his story with thousands of people in schools, workplaces and sporting clubs across the country