INTEGRITY - PROTECTING ATHLETICS TOGETHER

Sport should be a safe and fair place for all participants.  At Athletics Australia we offer a safe place for people to raise concerns about behaviour they have witnessed or experienced in sport as well as find more information if they have an integrity question.

Integrity - What is sport integrity?

Threats to Athletics integrity can include doping, improper use of drugs and medicine, competition manipulation and behaviours that impact people's positive experience of Athletics, such as discrimination or abuse, including against children. 

Integrity in sport means that participants, officials, athletes and supporters can participate in and enjoy sport, confident in the knowledge that they are part of a safe, fair, and inclusive environment.

All our members and participants have an obligation to protect and maintain the integrity of sport, as well as the health and wellbeing of our athletes. We work closely with Sport Integrity Australia (SIA), the federal agency established to prevent and deal with integrity threats in sport. For more information on their responsibilities, including anti-doping, visit the Sport Integrity Australia website.

HOW TO RAISE A CONCERN

Everyone from athletes, parents, support personnel, administrators and supporters play a role in protecting the integrity of our sport. Athletics Australia works with SIA to coordinate and manage complaints and reports. Complaints received will be evaluated and either managed by Athletics Australia, referred to SIA or an appropriate external agency, or passed back to complainant with suggested pathways for them to pursue where the complaint is out of scope.

If you see or hear something that doesn't sound right, say something!

Knowledge of, or concerns regarding integrity-related matters can be reported in several ways:

• Issues to report to SIA - Anything that may constitute prohibited conduct under (a) the Child Safeguarding Policy, (b) discrimination, based on a protected characteristicmatters under the Member Protection Policy, or (c) doping. A complaint can be submitted by the following methods:
  • Filling in a complaint or report form on the Sport Integrity Australia website
  • Emailing contactus@sportintegrity.gov.au
  • Phoning 13 000 27232
  • Completing the ‘report an issue’ form in the Sport Integrity App. This can be anonymous if you choose.
• Issues to report to Athletics Australia - All other matters including abuse, harrassment, bullying, gambling, race fixing or Code of Conduct complaints, can be reported confidentially to the Athletics Australia Integrity Manager, Briar Sefo at integrity@athletics.org.au. 
• High Performance matters relating to harassment (including sexual harassment) or any other form of misconduct in high performance can be raised by contacting our Member Protection Information Officer lynda.gusbeth@athletics.org.au

• Abusive or innapropriate content online - Can be reported to the eSafety Commisioner for action. eSafety can investigate cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse, image abuse (sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent) and illegal content. Report online harm HERE.

• Issues to report to Paralympics Australia (Intentional Misrepresentation) Paralympics Australia is the body that manages national level IM. More information on IM can be found below however you can report via any of Paralympic Australia’s three channels:

  ·         Online Reporting Form (option of anonymity)

  ·         Phone: (02) 9704 0550 or email: integrity@paralympic.org.au

• 1800 Safe Sport line - The 1800 number (1800 161 361) has been created by SIA for members to share their story about issues they have experienced in athletics.

WHAT IS THE NATIONAL INTEGRITY FRAMEWORK?

We take integrity seriously and adopted the National Integrity Framework on 30 June 2022. The National Integrity Framework is a set of rules that all athletes, participants, members, officials and employees need to follow when it comes to their behaviour and conduct in Athletics. The following National Integrity Framework policies are in place:

• Member Protection       
• Safeguarding Children & Young People Policy 
• Improper Use of Drugs and Medicine Policy 
• Competition Manipulation and Sports Gambling Policy
• Complaints, Disputes & Discipline Policy
• Code of Conduct
• Anti-doping - The Athletics Australia anti-doping policy is the Australian National Anti-Doping Policy, effective from 1 January 2021, and found here on the Sport Integrity Australia website. All members, participants, and non-participants in the sport of athletics are bound by these rules.  

Not everyone likes reading policies. Take a look at these videos and resources:

•   2023 NIF Child Safeguarding
•   Do's and Don'ts - Child Safeguarding Practises
•   2023 NIF Member Protection Prohibited Conduct
•   2023 NIF Competition Manipulation & Sports Betting
•   2023 NIF Drugs & Medicines
•   Complaint Handling under the National Integrity Framework
•   Sport Integrity Australia resources

OTHER POLICIES AND INFORMATION

• Whistle blower policy.
• Anti-doping - For high performance athletes or support staff, visit the Athletics Australia anti-doping website page for information on testing, whereabouts, WADA, Therapeutic Use Exemptions, etc.
• Governance - All of our governance policies can be found on our website HERE. 
• Historical complaints - If you wish to submit a complaint about an incident that occurred before 1 July 2022, you may need to refer to an older policy in operation at that time. For example, see the AA Member Protection Policy (2016-2022).
• Intentional Misrepresentation (IM) - IM is a type of integrity breach in Para sport. It happens when an athlete or athlete support personnel intentionally misleads or attempts to mislead any aspect of classification. IM is a serious offence that undermines the integrity of classification and Para-Sport. IM can look like:

Not giving full effort during Classification i.e., intentionally underperforming 

Tampering with medical documentation

Not coming forward with changes to eligible impairment or diagnosis i.e., medical review

Not reporting IM leading to complicity. Having knowledge but not reporting can lead to consequences.

Not cooperating with Classification and more…

How can I report IM? - Paralympics Australia is the body that manages national level IM. You can report via Paralympic Australia (see above)

Should you have a concern of international level IM this should be reported to either the IPC or International Federation.

EDUCATION, RESOURCES AND AWARENESS

When it comes to sport integrity, it is critical that our athletes, coaches, support personnel and volunteers are aware of their rights and responsibilities. There are a range of tools and resources available to help keep participants informed.

• The Sport Integrity Australia website contains a range of RESOURCES available for everyone 
• Download the Sport Integrity Australia App to access the online education. The app is also a free one-stop shop for all sport integrity needs, designed with athletes in mind. The app allows users to check whether their medications are banned in sport, find low risk supplements and check whether they need a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE). 
• Athletics Australia promotes the Play By The Rules website for helpful advice for club committees and volunteers.

ATHLETICS AUSTRALIA EDUCATION PLAN

Sport Integrity Australia eLearning offers a variety of online courses relating to sport integrity, including doping, match fixing, child safeguarding and ethical decision making courses. See the below courses either required or recommended for athletes, coaches, support personnel, administrators and volunteers.

SANCTIONS

The table below lists sanctions imposed by Athletics Australia, the national governing body for the sport of Athletics in Australia and recognised as such by World Athletics, Commonwealth Games Australia, the Australian Olympic Committee, Paralympics Australia, and the Australian Sports Commission. Together with our State and Territory-based Member Associations, Athletics Australia is charged with acting in the best interests of the sport of athletics. 

For information regarding sanctions imposed internationally by the Athletics Integrity Unit, please refer HERE.