New laws to establish the first national agency to bring sports integrity capabilities, knowledge and expertise together, Sport Integrity Australia, have been introduced into the Parliament.
Minister for Sport, Senator Bridget McKenzie said the Bill was a step towards delivering reforms in response to the Wood Review of Australia’s sports integrity arrangements.
“The creation of Sport Integrity Australia is an important part of our ongoing work to safeguard the integrity of Australian sport,” Senator McKenzie said.
She said the Agency would initially bring together the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the National Integrity of Sport Unit, and the sports integrity functions of Sport Australia.
She said this would establish a single point of responsibility for the range of sports integrity functions currently performed by the separate Agencies.
“Upon establishment, Sport Integrity Australia will focus on policy and program delivery, education and outreach, and anti-doping regulation, monitoring and intelligence,” Senator McKenzie said.
“This will be followed by the development of the enhanced capabilities outlined under stage two of the Government response to the Wood Review, including improved national collaboration on sports wagering integrity issues and a whistle-blower framework for sport.”
She said the Sports Betting Integrity Unit (SBIU) within the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) would initially continue its work to protect Australian sport from criminal influence, match-fixing and related corruption.
“In due course, the general functions of the SBIU will transition into Sport Integrity Australia, with residual specialist sports criminal intelligence capability being retained within the ACIC to complement the work of Sport Integrity Australia,” the Minister said.
Sport Integrity Australia is expected to begin operations in mid-2020.
