Lauren Jackson has said that the Women's National Basketball League is "leading the way" for women's sport. 

The league is cementing itself as the longest-running elite women's sports league in Australia. 

The new season begins in October and it will be the 40th anniversary of the tournament.

Jackson toldThe Australian: "I was born in 1981, the very same year the WNBL was founded. As a young girl I was lucky, I was raised with basketball.

"My mum would take me to her games. From day one, I literally had an amazing female role model to look up to. She captained the Opals and was one of the first women in Australia to be offered a scholarship at an NCAA university in the US, at Louisiana State University."

Jackson also told how the WNBL has achieved great things for equality in recent years.

"The WNBL, with the Australian Basketball Players’ Association has worked hard to establish a minimum wage for our athletes.

"We now have a pregnancy and parental policy in place with four-time Olympian Laura Hodges being the first to benefit when she returns to the WNBL this season after having her first child last year."

"There is so much to celebrate, yet still so much more to achieve — and that’s exciting."

The WNBL season starts on October 11 with a match between Adelaide Lightning and Sydney Uni Flames.