Australia’s women’s rugby union team will be paid for Test matches for the first time under a new collective bargaining agreement.

In another boost for the women’s game, professional sevens players’ base pay has been raised to a similar level to their male XV-a-side colleagues.

The deal may allay some concerns about the treatment of female players by Rugby Australia (RA), who admitted late last year it would not pay players in next year’s national women’s XV competition.

RA has struck the CBA with players’ representatives and Super Rugby clubs, lasting till the expiration of its broadcast deal at the end of 2020.

Clubs can now increase their Super Rugby squads to a maximum of 40, allowing more players affected by the axing of the Western Force to find homes.

Clubs’ salary cap has been increased from $5 million to $5.5 million.

The CBA comes after a difficult year for players, many of whom faced months of uncertainty as the governing body made the decision to axe the Western Force from the SANZAAR competition.

Amid low crowd numbers, Australian teams also struggled on the park, with none of them able to beat a New Zealand-based franchise.

“Securing this agreement … provides the certainty and stability to put recent challenges behind us,” Rugby Union Players’ Association president Dean Mumm said on Wednesday.