On the road with Sport Integrity Australia
The 2024 Sport Integrity Australia Roadshows have commenced, with NSW the first state to host presentations from key agency staff.
Held at Sydney Olympic Park, the event was attended by 26 State Sporting Organisations (SSO) across multiple sports.
As the lead NSW Government agency for sport and active recreation, the NSW Office of Sport hosted this first Roadshow with Andrew Putt, the Director for Sector Support, welcoming the SSO cohort.
“We really want to share knowledge, focus on the National Integrity Framework and work together to ensure a quality experience for participants in sport at all levels,” Mr Putt said.
“While we can liaise with each other online, it’s great to have the conversation face-to-face between our state sporting organisations and Sport Integrity Australia to ensure we are all collaborating to protect sport together.”
After each presentation participants were able to ask questions and discuss issues unique to their sports to gain greater understanding of the current approaches to how we handle sport integrity in Australia.
Participants were also given insight into the types of issues Sport Integrity Australia has been dealing with over the past 12 months. Via a series of anonymous case studies, SSOs were encouraged to identify which policies they would fall under, thus initiating broader discussion on how we can all work together to keep sport safe.
Sport NSW CEO Stuart Hodge wrapped up the NSW Roadshow recognising the value of the discussions.
“We all acknowledge the importance of what we’ve discussed here today and the offer of ongoing assistance by Sport Integrity Australia directly with SSOs is very much appreciated,” he said.
“It is great to see there are more roadshows planned and I encourage other state SSOs to get involved in them so that we can work together to keep sport safe everywhere.”
NSW participants were complimentary of the interactive nature of the SSO Roadshow and the opportunity to connect directly with Australia’s national sport integrity agency.
The CEO of Paddle NSW, Peter Tate, highlighted that the ability to engage with speakers at the Roadshow was key for SSOs.
“Each of the presenters actually listened to the audience and acknowledged some of the issues within State Sporting Organisations and I could see that there was engagement by the people at the podium saying ‘yes, this is what’s happening in Sydney and regional NSW’,” he said.
“I’ve got full confidence that the team will take some of those issues back and do something better for the sector.”
The NSW Roadshow included updates on the National Integrity Framework, the Safeguarding in Sport Continuous Improvement Program, the integrity complaints process, the types and amount of complaints we’re receiving, and current education initiatives.
Future roadshows are planned over the coming months.
“Whether you are the CEO or the integrity officer in your sport, turn up to these forums because the Roadshow is an absolute must,” Tate said.
