Our Reconciliation Journey
As part of our Reconciliation journey, we commissioned a Reconciliation artwork for Sport Integrity Australia by artist Chern’ee Sutton.
The artwork hangs on the ground floor of the Sport Integrity Australia Canberra office and acts as a daily reminder, not only of the importance of Reconciliation, but of the depth and breadth of the work we do within our agency.
A message from the artist
Sport Integrity Australia’s Journey
My name is Chern’ee Sutton and I am a contemporary Indigenous artist from the Kalkadoon people, this painting is my interpretation of Sport Integrity Australia and their reconciliation journey.
In my painting the large community symbol in the centre represents Sport Integrity Australia. Within this community symbol is Australia, which represents how Sport Integrity Australia is a single nationally coordinated organisation to address all sport integrity issues. Their main office is located in Canberra, which is represented by the small community symbol within Australia.
The large yellow circle that surrounds Sport Integrity Australia’s community symbol represents the sun, as well as Sport Integrity Australia’s focus; ‘Our focus is policy development, intelligence, investigations, education, outreach, and capability building. The agency will continue to function as Australia’s national anti-doping organisation.’ The white dots that emanate from the sun represent the dynamism and energy created from all sports across the nation and the far-reaching effects this has.
The three community symbols in yellow and white around the painting represent the many communities and regions where the athletes travel from and call home. From the coasts and rivers in the bottom left, to the rainforest and the bush in the top left, to the mountains and the outback in the bottom right. The footprints that travel from each community symbol to the centre community symbol represents the athletes coming together to enjoy sport, as well as their journeys.
The three white symbols surrounded by U’s represent the three pillars which are part of Sport Integrity Australia’s culture blueprint; Inclusion, Trust and Respect. These pillars are connected to Sport Integrity Australia’s community symbol through travelling lines.
The eight aqua and white stars around the painting represent some of the many things that Sport Integrity Australia does. This includes the National Integrity Framework, anti-doping, Therapeutic Use Exemptions, education, intelligence, match-fixing, safeguarding and sports wagering.
The rainbow serpent and the two handprints containing the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history that has been a part of our land for at least the last 65,000 years, with the eagle feathers acknowledging the traditional custodians of Canberra, the Ngunnawal people. Lastly, the kangaroo and emu footprints represent the Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group and how they are helping Sport Integrity Australia move forward.
By Chern’ee Sutton