Akec Makur Chuot on making history as the first African woman in the AFLW

2026-05-06

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Former AFLW player and gender equality advocate Akec Makur Chuot has lived an extraordinary life.Born in South Sudan, she spent her early years in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to Australia at age 11. She went on to become the first African woman drafted into the inaugural season of the AFLW, the national professional league for women’s Aussie rules football, helping to shape the game from the very beginning.In this episode, Julia Gillard and Akec discuss her journey to Australia, how football became a bridge to b...

Former AFLW player and gender equality advocate Akec Makur Chuot has lived an extraordinary life.

Born in South Sudan, she spent her early years in a refugee camp in Kenya before moving to Australia at age 11. She went on to become the first African woman drafted into the inaugural season of the AFLW, the national professional league for women’s Aussie rules football, helping to shape the game from the very beginning.

In this episode, Julia Gillard and Akec discuss her journey to Australia, how football became a bridge to belonging, and the responsibility of being a trailblazer in women’s sport.

They also explore her advocacy work beyond the field, including raising awareness of child marriage, supporting girls’ education, and using her platform to speak about the experiences of refugee communities.

Show notes

In this episode, we discuss Akec’s work with the 1,000 Girls World Vision campaign and her role as a Gender Equality Ambassador for Plan International. You can find out more about this work using the links below: