Thu, August 27, 2026
Abuse victims receive over $3 million from Australian Institute of Sport
The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has collectively paid over $3 million to over 225 athletes who experienced abuse at Australia’s elite sports training centre which is run by the government to develop elite athletes, with individual athletes receiving between $5,000 and $50,000 each. Former athletes who attended the institute claim they were physically, psychologically and sexually abused during their time there, silenced by a “climate of fear.”
Some of the victims are part of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), which manages the AIS, Restorative Programme which started in 2022 and is responsible for the restoration payments and counselling, but this will not receive further funding beyond this December which will mark the end of the 4-year programme.
The ASC issued the following apology on 7 May 2021:
“The Australian Sports Commission Board offers our apology and ongoing support to former Australian Institute of Sport athletes treated inappropriately in the past…
We know incidents and practices occurred that are not acceptable. For this, we are truly sorry…
We admire the courage of people who have come forward to share their stories. We assure you, we are listening and you have been heard. We have begun reaching out personally to athletes to offer our support…
The AIS ran athlete scholarship programs for various sports from 1981 to 2012. Thousands of athletes have been part of the AIS story and we know most will remember their time fondly. Unfortunately, that is not everyone’s experience…
Today, we acknowledge our past so we can continue to lead Australian sport into the future.”
Former AIS gymnast, Jenny Richardson, told ABC she was instructed to train fully clothed in a sauna. She also said she was pinched, slapped and called “a pig.” Former gymnasts who attended the live-in scholarship program claimed to have been unfed, triggering body dysmorphia and anorexia, bullied and forced to train whilst injured.
Richardson stated: “I fell out of love for gymnastics. Gymnastics was my whole life before I went up there, but I felt like a failure.”
Another former athlete told ABC: “as an athlete in the 80s and 90s, I think the Australian public need to be aware it wasn't just vulnerable young girls that were abused, it was men and women, girls, boys, any sport, all suffered different forms of abuse.” She also stated that she felt suicidal at the time.
The former athlete described the emptiness athletes felt even after leaving the institute: “You are no longer an athlete. A doctor doesn't care about you, physios aren't fussing over you, masseuses aren't dying to help you…
You are thrown out like a piece of rubbish, and that was the experience of everybody in the 80s and 90s. You were dispensable.”
Now that the $3 million has been paid, ASC Chief Executive and former Australian Olympic freestyle swimming champion, Kieren Perkins, told AAP: “I don't think that any amount of money restores people from the trauma that they have experienced…
Hearing that the organisation absolutely is sorry for what occurred and acknowledges it was unacceptable — and it wasn't their [the athletes'] fault, because they were children at the time — it's extremely powerful and worthwhile…
They often feel guilty that they didn't do enough to bring forward their stories…that maybe because they didn't act back in the day, this is perpetuated on to other people.
It's an understandable feeling, but it's absolutely not right.”
Prior to this, however, there was tension when the ASC decided to release a documentary, ‘Forging Champions,’ on the institute in February this year, which the abuse victims argued could retraumatise them, especially since the documentary reportedly overlooked the darker nature of the institute’s past. The athletes also reportedly did not get to watch the documentary in advance before it was released and just received an email to say that it would be aired.
Perkins defended the ASC, claiming: “the early communication to former athletes was trauma informed to ensure they hear about the project from us first and have awareness and the opportunity to engage if they wish…
We do not shy away from the fact that some athletes were treated inappropriately in the past.”
However, the promotional video for the documentary suggested otherwise, according to Alison Quigley, the founder of advocacy group, Athletes Rights Australia. She voiced that the Restorative Program had a principle of ‘do no further harm.’
However, since the promotional video showcased the best of the institute, she stated: “How does this upcoming promotional video address ‘do no further harm?’ Some commentors still upheld the argument after it was aired that the documentary focused too heavily on the AIS’s sporting achievements rather than its problematic past.
