Moya Dodd AO is a trailblazer for women in sport and the legal profession. She has been a Matilda, a football administrator, and is now a partner at Gilbert + Tobin.
In 2018, Moya was ranked seventh in Forbes list of Most Powerful Women in International Sports. In 2023, she was appointed as an officer of the Order of Australia for her distinguished service to football as a player and administrator at national and international level.
In this month’s podcast, The Callover talks to Moya about her being a role model to women in sport and the law.
You’ve been an elite footballer, football administrator and a lawyer. When and how did you discover your passion for football?
“I always loved sport, and I grew up in Adelaide, where actually only migrants played football. Everyone else was playing Aussie rules or cricket and so on. So I was never introduced to it as a young child, but I did find it – or it found me – when my parents finally got a TV when I was 10 and I saw Match of the Day, and I was just quite captivated by this. I was just captured by the passing and the movement and the patterns of play. I would go out and kick my ball against the wall on the front lawn and try and imagine I was surrounded by team-mates or had proper goals or something.
“And a few years later, I actually found a team, because I saw some results of the women’s soccer league in the newspaper, and one of the teams was near my house. So I hopped on my bike and rode off and started playing.
“But there’s just something captivating about the sport, I find. I don’t know what it is exactly. Many have speculated on why football’s such a popular game around the world.
“Some would say it’s the perfect balance between an individual sport where one brilliant individual can set fire to a game and win it almost single handedly, and …a co-ordinated team where people just seem to know what others are thinking and be able to execute it simultaneously.
“And it’s got those bits of magic, I think, and it’s captivated the world. And it captivated me when I was a 10-year-old.”
How did you juggle being such a high-performing athlete with your legal career?
“Well, look, at the time the national team programs were not as developed, so we didn’t play anything like the number of matches that the Matildas do. There might be four matches or maybe half a dozen matches a year, but you wouldn’t be playing 15 or 20 matches a year, like they might now.
“You did whatever you could in your sport to be the best that you could be outside the other commitments that you had … Because to be very, very good at something, to be world class at something, you probably have to be a bit obsessive. So I think you’ll find that most people who are high performing in an area … they’re probably at a bit of risk of imbalance. It’s part of what I admire about the people who are great at what they do, but they also manage to keep, their head about them and stay level.”
Eventually you did hang up your boots and directed your passion for the game to the administration of it. Was that always your intention?
“No, I’ve never really planned much … it’s all been a bit serendipitous and accidental, to be honest.
“Career planning means, I think, following what you value and what you feel passionate about and if you do that, you find yourself in the company of people who have similar interests and are similarly passionate. And then you will find that opportunities just happen because those conversations happen.”
How did your first opportunity then arise at FIFA?
“Well, the first opportunity was to join the board at Football Australia back in 2007 when Frank Lowy was the chair. And that was not something I had sought or even had on my radar. It was one of those things where the phone rang and you get into a conversation and by the end of the week, you find yourself in Frank Lowy’s office talking to him about Australian football and our ambitions in Asia, because we just joined the Asian Football Confederation.
“My mum was Chinese, so I’m half Chinese and I think that was maybe a benefit.
“I joined the board of AFC and then FIFA.”
You mentioned that you were one of the first women to serve on FIFA’s board in its 108-year history … How was your appointment and the appointment of the other women received by other members of the board, and maybe the community more broadly?
“It varied. I think some of those board members thought that we were purely decorative, and they didn’t really expect us to make any contribution. I remember we got given a bunch of flowers each at the first board meeting, which I couldn’t bring back to Australia, obviously. So that was interesting. Others regarded us as kind of a necessity.
“They weren’t against us being there. They didn’t particularly expect too much of us. I think they grew more supportive because they thought ‘oh, actually, there’s something in this, there is a benefit’.
“I think it became increasingly clear that FIFA was an organisation that needed cultural change and that having women in the room was one way, one of a number of ways, in which they could and should achieve that.”
And if you weren’t busy enough, doing all of that, you’re also a partner at Gilbert and Tobin in the competition consumer and market regulation team. What made you decide to go back to private practice?
“I like Gilbert + Tobin. I like working there. I like the culture. I think it’s quite a special culture which is very collaborative and where people really try to uplift each other and help each other perform. It’s hard to actually crystallise in words exactly what it is. But we know when I go there, I feel that people are happy and productive and wanting to succeed, but also wanting you to succeed.
“I think if you’re in a workplace like that, you’re pretty lucky because I’ve been in others that aren’t like that.
“I’ve gone in and out of the law over the years. But I do like the way lawyers think, the way they reason, and the way they work. And when they’re doing so collaboratively and supportively, then it’s a great career choice.”
What parallels can you draw between your life in the law and also your life in sport?
“I think actually, sport prepares you for a lot of professional roles, prepares you for a lot of life roles, actually. But, if we want to focus on lawyers … law can be very competitive and contested. There’s litigation where people are, trying to outdo each other on the points that are made and the arguments that are won and lost.
“So that’s kind of a bit like competition in sport as well. Litigation is a field where you give your best to the client within the rules that are set.
“And in the law, you can’t lie to the court to win a case. You just can’t do those things. It’s playing at a contest within a set of rules that are important to set the boundaries of that contest. I think there’s similarities there.
“But I think teamwork is one of the most important things you learn as a professional. You also learn … when you’re dealing with clients, as an external lawyer, you’re serving the client. So you need to understand that it’s their interests and their wishes that you need to serve.
“You might give them great advice. They might take it or they might not take it.
“You need to learn as a legal professional that … it’s not about you. It’s actually about the broader interests of the client. And that’s the same in a sports team.
“There’s ups and downs and zig zags and unexpected things, and you’ve just got to take a deep breath and keep going. And if you learn that playing sport, it’s going to help you a lot in your professional life, whatever you do.”
More generally, what do you see as the biggest improvements in gender equality since your first football match and your admission as a lawyer?
“Well, it’s nice some days not to have to think about it and worry about it. It’s what you don’t notice that probably represents the biggest improvements. But when you ask a question like that, it actually makes me stand back and appreciate all the work that was done by feminists in the ‘70s and the ‘60s, well before my time and earlier, of course, I mean, as a South Australian by origin, I’m pleased to say that South Australia was the first place in the world to give women both the right to vote and the right to stand for Parliament.
“That’s pretty extraordinary, actually. I think, you know, we don’t think about these things. We take them for granted. But we shouldn’t. In fact, democracy is hard won and we should consciously defend it, I think.
“So I’d say the biggest improvement is that we don’t have to think about it every day, but we still need to focus on keeping the gains that have been made, especially in an environment where for some reason, diversity, equality and inclusion for some people has become an insult.
“And we need to be clear-eyed about the progress we still need to make.”
Well, speaking of that progress, this year’s International Women’s Day theme is Accelerate Action for Gender Equality. That’s something you’ve obviously been passionate about throughout your whole career. But what does it mean to you in 2025 and what, I guess, in what areas would you like to see accelerated action?
“I think the current environment, is one where culture wars are starting to overshadow real conversations.
“It’s a difficult time for people who have fought for progress over many years, seen a lot of progress and being responsible for helping it come about. I can think of many people who are quite perplexed right now about the disregard that is had for that.
“You know, everything’s a bit political. It’s about power. It’s going to be about politics. And you can’t really avoid it if you want to stand up for progress and for positive change, for people who have historically been underserved by the systems that we live in.
“So, I think now’s a time to kind of hang on to your senses, to remind ourselves of all the good reasons why we have tried to move towards to advance these issues over the years and to remember that if we lose ground in any equality fight, we lose ground in all fights.
“And if you can make somebody else feel good about themselves, you’re going to help them play better. It comes back to your team. You know, you’re on a stronger team. We’re in a stronger country if people can feel that they are respected and their contribution is valued, and they can be part of the rich mix that makes Australia what it is today.”
What is one piece of advice you would give to your younger self as she commenced her career?
“I think I would have played football more. You know, you think when you graduate, you think ‘oh gosh, I’ve finished this degree. And my parents have helped me, and I need to go out and start getting on with it’. And, you know, there was obviously no security in a football playing career, but did I need to be in such a hurry to try and do everything all at once? Maybe not.
“Maybe I could have spent more time playing football, trying out overseas, doing other things. I didn’t have a gap year because I couldn’t afford one. But I could have probably taken more risks then that I didn’t realise I could, because I felt I needed to get on with things and get on with life.”
Moya Dodd AO was keynote speaker at the Queensland Law Society International Women’s Day Breakfast on 5 March. Listen to her views on The Callover.
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