The Matildas have changed the nation, now let's change for them

They are, like so many Australians living around the globe, a product of the current international system and Australia's place in it - a system in which the world's best talent is poached by those countries, their leagues and corporate backers who value, and will stump up for, unique skills and expertise. This means the Matildas largely have to live abroad, where they couple up and start families, scattered across more than 15 cities.

This brain - and talent - drain is a global phenomenon. India loses much of its top technology talent to Silicon Valley. Large European countries gain talent from smaller neighbours by paying high wages, and London gobbles up much of our talent (while we in turn take from New Zealand).

Australia has a competitive advantage across so many sports, and yet in women's sports, we have not been fully in the game.

We attract global talent into many of our male sports codes, from rugby league to the AFL. Despite our small population, there is serious money, backed by big business. Yet this investment has rarely been directed to female leagues. Some of our sporting professionals who choose to stay in Australia need a second job to pay for the privilege of representing their country.

Others have to become fly-in, fly-out workers. Some of our best women basketball players (our national team, the Opals, are ranked No.3 behind the much better resourced US and China) play in multiple countries and leagues each year, constantly relocating themselves and their families to stitch together a salary that some of their male counterparts earn in just a few weeks in the NBA.

Such circumstances are absurd and deeply unfair. But we have created this situation by undervaluing our homegrown female sporting talent. We have not been loud enough in holding businesses to account when they put their brands readily behind men's leagues, while ignoring women's leagues. Despite some gains over the past decade, the potential of women's sports in Australia remains unrealised. That's because we let ourselves be hoodwinked by the myth that "there's just no audience in Australia for women's sport".

The Matildas have now crushed that myth. It didn't stack up and we saw first hand because we were all watching.

This fossilised belief has meant we let ourselves be hindered by a lack of imagination. So it's now time to pick ourselves up and play catch up. What would things look like if we - not unlike similarly sized European countries - built up our women's soccer league so that it could compete for some of the world's top players? We could attract some of our talent back home and poach players from the Swedes, Brazil - even the bloody Brits.

And it's not just women's soccer. We need a different, and higher expectation for public and private funding for all women's sport. We must demand more for women's leagues, which are too often struggling to make ends meet. As Sam Kerr pointed out this week, this should include greater investment at the grassroots level.

Growing up, many of us weren't allowed to play soccer (or AFL or rugby or cricket) because there were only boys' teams. Most girls today have greater access to a wider variety of sports. But we need to keep building to ensure there is more inclusive access, reaching culturally and linguistically diverse groups, refugees, Aboriginal and Torres Strait islanders and girls living in rural areas.

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We will also have to show up as spectators when it counts, attending games and asking pubs and restaurants to show them when they're on. If they are not being televised, we need to use social media to ask why? Every child under 16 in Australia can get a free membership to the women's A-league - go out and get those memberships.

We should also expect more of our politicians. Did anyone else notice they got an awful lot out of the World Cup? They were in the stadiums cheering, networking and politicking. International diplomacy was in overdrive. Take a scan of their social media and you'll find weeks of content brought to you by the Matildas.

TV executives and advertisers, who reportedly paid low sums to air World Cup games and be associated with the Matildas, now owe the public. The Matildas semi-final was the most-watched TV event in Australian history. These companies got a steal, meanwhile some pay much larger sums for the rights to men's AFL and rugby. This is wrong and it can't happen again.

Anthony Albanese's recent announcement of $200 million for improved sporting facilities and equipment for women and girls is a positive start. But now it's time for Australia to think bigger.

We should call on our politicians, business community and TV networks to partner in a $1 billion public-private fund designed to support select women's sporting leagues in Australia. The aim of this fund would be to help build globally competitive leagues, thereby investing in one of the key gaps for female athletes - a career pathway. A portion of this fund should be directed to inclusive grassroots sports development for young girls. For companies that still aren't ready to participate in the fund this year, let's give them a little more time to see the light by building in options to join the fund after it's created. We, the audience, are ready.

This injection of funds could reshape the women's sporting landscape. It would be a strategic step up - a smart public-private investment in our future that would pay off for all involved. It would also put Australia in a much stronger position to attract global sporting talent and bring home some of our best, including a few more Matildas.

As this incredible World Cup wraps up, remember how much the Matilda's performance, personality, humility and professionalism has already changed the nation. As the news cycle moves on and most Matildas return back overseas, let's now change for them and for all the women who played for Australia before them and build a different future.