Australia’s sports leaders reinforce a commitment to protecting the integrity of Australian sport
Australian sporting leaders have come together in Melbourne reinforcing a shared commitment to protect the integrity of Australian sport in the leadup to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and Paralympics and beyond.
The 2025 CEO Sport Integrity Forum hosted by Sport Integrity Australia with representatives of more than 75 sports in attendance, assessed current and emerging threats with the importance of ensuring the safeguarding of athletes was at the forefront.
In addressing the Forum, Minister for Sport, The Hon Anika Wells MP, emphasised the importance of creating safe sporting cultures and child safeguarding practices highlighting the role played by Sport Integrity Australia.
Reafirming the importance of protecting children and young people in sport, SIA has released a new resource booklet A guide for managing high-risk activities [PDF 5.4MB]. The resource aims to equip sporting organisations with strategies to prevent harm and abuse occurring.
SIA’s acting CEO, Dr Sarah Benson, said collaboration and sharing of information among sporting organisations was vital in protecting the integrity of sport.
"We need to innovate and collaborate to be ready for future integrity threats, to catch those deliberately cheating and to protect those not," said Dr Benson.
“The forum was designed for leaders of Australian sport and key partners to connect to ensure we are on the same page, leading from the same platform.
"It provided an opportunity for SIA to listen to sports and understand how to strengthen integrity measures and our ways of working together."
"We do not want to be looking back on 2025 in 10-20-30 years from now and say more could have been done."
“Our role at SIA is to provide sporting organisations with support, training and resources to assist in educating those involved in sport – from CEOs to integrity managers, to coaches and players, volunteers and spectators – and ensure buy-in and a commitment to protecting sport together."
SIA Advisory Council Chair, Sarah Kenny opened the forum with a call for the sporting sector to work as one to protect sport from existing and future integrity threats.
“We can only achieve our integrity goals by working together. We are all on the same team and have the same purpose on integrity issues,” said Ms Kenny.
“We want Australia to continue to be seen as a strong and passionate sporting country, that stands for safe and fair sport for all.”
The importance of the need to protect athletes from abuse was reinforced by guest speaker former Australian tennis star and sports commentator Jelena Dokic who spoke about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father, her coach while playing at the elite level before emerging as a strong advocate for stronger safeguarding measures to protect young athletes.
Jelena’s openness on her life experiences documented in “Unbreakable” on which SIA was an impact partner shone a light on the role everybody in sport has in speaking out on abuse and ensuring sporting organisations act accordingly.
In this context SIA is committed to providing the tools and resources needed to ensure sports create safe sporting environments for children and young people.
In closing the forum SIA’s acting CEO, Dr Sarah Benson reflected on the day highlighting that while there is more to be done, there was a cohesive vision from those charged with protecting sport that it could only be achieved through working together.
"We have a shared vision: to create safe sporting environments for all. While SIA may sit at the centre of this goal, it cannot be achieved without connection across our system, a shared purpose and an acknowledgement that there is work to be done by all - both for now and the future," Dr Benson said.
“The forum highlighted that collaboration is key, education is the power of learning from each other and foremost that understanding that in every integrity case there is someone on the other end.”
"We all play an important role in making Australia the safest and fairest country in the world and notably in the lead up to 2032.”
“Australia will be playing host to more than 16 major sporting events over the next 8 years and the world will be watching on.”
