INTEGRITY - PROTECTING ATHLETICS TOGETHER
Sport should be a safe and fair place for all participants. At Athletics Australia and Athleitcs NSW 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.
STAYING SAFE - If you are in immediate danger or at risk of harm, call your local law enforcement
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 characteristic matters 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, harassment, bullying, gambling, race fixing or Code of Conduct complaints, can be reported confidentially to the Athletics Australia Integrity Manager, Simon Thompson 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 inappropriate content online - Can be reported to the eSafety Commissioner 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.
- 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:
Athletics New South Wales have adopted the National Integrity Framework (click here to view) with the following policies in place.
- Member Protection
- Safeguarding Children & Young Person Policy
- Improper Use of Drugs and Medicine Policy
- Competition Manipulation and Sports Gambling Policy
- Complaints, Disputes & Discipline Policy
- 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.
We understand that not everyone likes to read policies, here are the relevant videos to the policies mentioned above:
- 2023 NIF Member Protection
- 2023 NIF Safeguarding Children & Young Person Policy
- 2023 NIF Drugs and Medicine Policy
- 2023 NIF Competition Manipulation and Sports Gambling Policy
- 2023 NIF Complaint Handling
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 ANSW Member Protection Policy (March 2017).
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.