The funding package for Sport Integrity Australia will allow the body to implement strategies and initiatives to combat discrimination, bullying, and abuse in sport. Photo: SIA.
The Federal Government has announced it will allocate $36.3 million over four years to 2027-28 to better tackle abuse, bullying, sexual misconduct and discrimination in sport.
The funding package for Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) will allow the body to implement strategies and initiatives, including:
- the development of the Empowering Women and Girls in Sport program which will have a primary focus on safety and integrity issues facing women and girls
- a new First Nations skills program to deal with disparities in participation and administration
- the establishment of an Advisory Committee to support Sport Integrity Australia’s Culture and Safety Advisor Patrick Johnson address racism in sport
- the enhancement of the Safe Sport Hotline and triage referral and reporting service
- the provision of wellbeing and psychological services for staff, athletes and support personnel, and
- an enhancement of Sport Integrity Australia’s existing education services to be gender and culturally sensitive.
The government says it will also ratify the Macolin Convention and support the establishment of National Sport Integrity Offences.
The Macolin Convention is the only international convention to combat competition manipulation in sport. Australia played a leading role in drafting the convention and became a signatory in February 2019.
Federal Minister for Sport Anika Wells cited the recent success of the Matildas women’s football team, the men’s and women’s cricket teams, the Diamonds netball team, and Australia’s Olympians and Paralympians as examples of how diversity in sport can be beneficial.
“But alongside seeking success, there has to be support for safeguarding sport for now and the future,” she said.
“I am committed to ensuring the safety of everyone involved in sport in Australia, from playground to podium.
“We must do more to make sport safer and this $36.3 million investment significantly improves Sport Integrity Australia’s capacity to protect all Australians involved in sport.
“This funding initiative builds upon my Safety in Sport Division announcement in October and provides Sport Integrity Australia with the capability to address issues such as abuse, discrimination and mistreatment across all levels of Australian sport,” she added.
“We have made substantial inroads in terms of integrity capability this year with 85 national sporting organisations signing up to Sport Integrity Australia’s National Integrity Framework.”
SIA was established in 2020 to be the cornerstone of the government’s sport integrity strategy and is led by CEO David Sharpe who previously served as Assistant Commissioner of the Australian Federal Police and chief executive of Australia’s anti-doping body ASADA.
Its role is to provide advice and assistance to counter:
- use of prohibited substances and methods in sport
- abuse of children and other persons in a sporting environment
- manipulation of sporting competitions, and
- failure to protect members of sporting organisations and other persons in a sporting environment from bullying, intimidation, discrimination or harassment.
SIA’s focus is policy development, intelligence, investigations, education, outreach and capability building.
In 2023, a new Safety in Sport Division of SIA was launched to deal with complaints regarding abuses of power in sport, including discrimination and vilification.
Original Article published by Andrew McLaughlin on Riotact.
