Australian striker Sam Kerr said that the Australian top-tier women's league needs more investment if it wants to bring back the top players of the Australian national team, noting that several national team stars might consider returning to the country if a more attractive professional environment is available.

Kerr, 32, who moved to the United States last June to join Gotham FC in the US women's league after six and a half years with Chelsea in England, emphasized that the Australian women's league has made remarkable progress in recent years but still needs further development. She explained that the competition previously benefited from the presence of Australian national team players as well as the return of professional players from abroad.

Kerr told ABC on Friday: 'We need to find a way to bring the best players back to the league.'

She added: 'If salaries were higher and the league was at a world-class elite level, many Australian players would return home. However, to develop our level and serve the national team, we have to go professional abroad.' Salaries remain one of the most prominent challenges facing the Australian women's league, as wages are lower than those in several top women's competitions in Australia and abroad.

Last year, players in the Australian top-tier women's league received a minimum salary of AUD 26,500 (USD 18,486), far lower than the minimum wage in the US women's league, which was USD 48,500 in 2025.

A new collective agreement has raised the minimum annual income for players in the US league to USD 50,500 from 2026, while Trinity Rodman, the highest-paid player in the league's history, earns over two million dollars annually.

Kerr said: 'The Australian women's league was previously in a golden period when national team players as well as professionals from the US league and players from England came to play here.'

Currently, a group of top Australian players are playing professionally in Europe, including Caitlin Foord, Steph Catley, Katrina Gorry, Kyra Cooney-Cross, and Mary Fowler.

Kerr believes that the Australian women's league matches the US league in some aspects, but needs more support and investment to continue developing.

She said: 'Perhaps the Australian women's league is similar to the US league in terms of the stage it is going through. Off the field, it may be at a similar level in some respects, but I think it still needs more investment and more time.'

The Australian and US leagues were among the top women's football competitions in the world, but most Australian stars now prefer to play professionally in Europe.