Tue, February 12, 2019

Australian government is establishing a new national sports integrity agency

In responding to the Wood Review of Australia’s Sports Integrity Arrangements, the Australian government is establishing a new single national agency- Sport Integrity Australia - to protect Australian sport from integrity threats. Sport Integrity Australia will bring together the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the National Integrity of Sport Unit and the national sports integrity functions of Sport Australia.

The establishment of Sport Integrity Australia and the reforms announced by the Government today will help protect Australians participating in sport from grassroots to high performance.

“We are reassuring the hundreds of thousands of Australians who are involved in sport at every level – from grassroots to elite – that they can be confident their sport is better protected from doping, drug use, match-fixing and criminal exploitation of athletes and events,” Minister for Sport, Senator the Hon Bridget McKenzie said.

A new National Sports Tribunal will hear anti-doping rule violation and other sports disputes, and resolve them consistently, cost-effectively and transparently. The Tribunal, to be piloted over two years, will have the power to call evidence to establish facts and ensure natural justice.

Sport Resolutions was recognised in the Review of Australia’s Sport Integrity Arrangements published in August’18 as “one of the most successful and well-regarded sports arbitration agencies globally”. Sport Resolutions contributed to the Review providing details of the services Sport Resolutions carries out both within the UK and internationally. The Review stated that the model for Australia’s proposed National Sports Tribunal should be similar to that employed by Sport Resolutions in that it must be transparent, independent, cost effective, efficient and expert.

Click here to view the Australian government’s press release.