IWD 2025: Page and Paula Malau-Aduli on hard work, overcoming challenges, and continuing to March Forward

Page and Paula Malau-Aduli pinch themselves when they think about how far they have already come in their refereeing journey.

“I just keep thinking, is this real?” Page said, her twin sister nodding along beside her. “Thank God for bringing us here, honestly.”

The sisters from Townsville made history in March 2024 when they became the first twins to referee an A-Leagues game together. Page was the fourth official in Canberra United’s 2-1 victory over Brisbane Roar, while Paula was an assistant referee.

This season, Page made her debut as a central official when the Mariners took on Adelaide United in January and Paula has continued to go from strength to strength with the flag.

Their story is one of natural refereeing talent, but also an enormous amount of hard work - both on and off the pitch. It exemplifies the theme of International Women’s Day 2025, to March Forward: For All Women and Girls.

“Our older brother, Fit, started refereeing first,” they explained. “He would come home and tell us about it, and we were like – oh, that sounds cool.

“He said, yeah, but you guys wouldn’t have the personality to be able to do it. We took that as a challenge! We decided to sign up at age 14, and now we’re here.”

“Fit is really supportive of us now,” Paula made sure to add, with a laugh, at the end of the conversation.

The twins started off refereeing junior games in Townsville. As they got older, opportunities arose at different regional tournaments, and that is where their refereeing talent began to be noticed.

The FQ Academy was set up to help deliver training to young referees like the Malau-Adulis. They were part of the first intake in 2020. They soon graduated to the FA Academy and this season are on the A-Leagues Panel for the first time.

“At the FQ Academy, our three coaches were [A-Leagues referees] Lara Lee, Renae Coghill and Alex King,” they recalled.

“Honestly, we had no idea who they were! We didn’t know a lot of the big names in refereeing. We just thought they were so cool, nice and knew so much about refereeing.

“In our second year of the academy, we realised who they were. We thought, wow, we have some huge names coaching us.”

Having that mentorship, particularly from female referees, was immense.

“It was really helpful to hear their stories, how they made it, and their tips,” they said.

“Especially with things like – how do you balance working? How do you balance if you want to have a family and kids, especially if you’re getting to the elite level. How do you time that?

“Being from a regional place like Townsville, we were lucky enough to do senior men’s football pretty young. But, being women, it was hard to earn their respect. That sometimes could be a little annoying – it felt like, what’s the point?

“It was great to have those referee coaches there to help us with that, and to see what they’re doing at the elite level. It was really helpful to hear it straight from them.”

Refereeing can come with some enormous challenges. There are the on-field challenges – the incredible complexity of decision-making on a football field, earning the respect of players and withstanding often unacceptable abuse from people on the pitch and in the stands.

The off-field challenges can be just as difficult to deal with. Living in a regional area means that for the Malau-Adulis to referee in the A-League Women, there are long days and gruelling travel. There is also the small matter of balancing medical degrees with elite refereeing.

This year their degree has taken them from Townsville to Mackay, an even smaller town in North Queensland where transport is more of a challenge.

“It helps that we can’t really sit still,” they laughed.

“Having a mentality to keep going, even when it’s hard, is important. Starting off early, it wasn’t easy, and it was a bit tempting to just think – oh no, it’s too much, I don’t want to do it. It’s the same with study as well.

“Being able to encourage one another when things get tough is helpful, but so is having the panel. All the girls on the panel have been so incredible and accepting of us, even though we’re new. They trust us in the game.

“We are hoping to just keep getting better, and to keep marching forward.”

Still in the early stages of their careers, the twins have an incredibly bright future ahead of them in refereeing and in life.

They both expressed gratitude for the opportunities that they have earned so far. Still, it doesn’t stop them from daring to dream – just a little bit – about what the future may hold.

“Being on the panel feels surreal, and I’d honestly be content if I stopped at the panel,” Paula said.

“But I remember seeing Kate Jacewicz referee on the men’s panel for the first time. We thought – what, you can do that? It’s sick, because as a player, you won’t play in the men’s league, but as a referee you can. It’s exciting.

“I also remember when we first started. Dad always said, ‘oh, I’m waiting for the day I can watch my girls referee at a World Cup.’ That would be the ultimate dream goal. If we ever got there, Mum and Dad could watch us do that.”