House of Representatives

Second Reading Speech

Mr CHESTER (Gippsland - Minister for Veterans and Defence Personnel and Deputy Leader of the House)

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Sport is an important part of Australian culture. It has shaped the Australian national identity through events such as the AFL grand final, the Ashes, the State of Origin, the Sydney to Hobart, and the Australian Open. Australians have come to expect the sports they watch and participate in are fair and honest. And while Australia has always taken a strong stance against cheating and misconduct in sport, there is more that should be done to prepare for future sports integrity threats and challenges.

It is essential the millions of Australians who participate in sport at every level, from grassroots to the elite, have full confidence their sports are better protected from external threats such as doping, drug use, match fixing and criminal exploitation of athletes and events. Australians should be confident they can enjoy sports environments free of abuse, discrimination and harassment.

The nature of sports corruption is evolving at an unprecedented rate due to the immense commercialisation of sport and sporting organisations, and accelerating technological advancement.

Sports integrity matters are now beyond the control of any single stakeholder. They are complex, globalised and connected, forming a complicated threat matrix exposing vulnerabilities that require a robust and nationally coordinated response across sports, governments, regulators, the wagering industry, law enforcement and other stakeholders.

In August 2017, the government commissioned the Review of Australia's Sports Integrity Arrangements, as part of the government's ongoing development of the national sports plan - Sport 2030. The review panel, chaired by the Hon. James Wood AO QC, delivered the Report of the review of Australia's sports integrity arrangements, known as theWood review, in early 2018.

The Wood review warns that 'without the presence of a comprehensive, effective and nationally coordinated response capability, the hard-earned reputation of sport in this country risks being tarnished' and that, beyond the immediate impact of corrupt conduct of the kind identified, a public loss of confidence in the sporting contest has direct consequences for the health, economic, social and cultural benefits that sport generates and undermines significant investment in sport.

The Wood review also identifies a critical leadership role for the Commonwealth government by supporting the integrity efforts of sporting organisations in the evolving threat environment, particularly those sports with fewer resources.

To achieve this outcome, the centrepiece of the Wood review recommendations is the formation of a new agency - a single coordinating body to address sports integrity matters at a national level and ensure Australia is positioned to effectively respond to escalating integrity risks.

This is why we introduced legislation into the previous parliament to establish a new body called Sport Integrity Australia. Although that bill lapsed due to the recent federal election, the government remains committed to the establishment of Sport Integrity Australia and convinced in the benefits it will provide to Australian sport.

Currently in Australia, sports integrity functions are shared between the National Integrity of Sport Unit within the Department of Health, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and Sport Australia. As a result, stakeholders are often required to interact with multiple agencies on matters across the sports integrity spectrum, creating undue regulatory burden.

Initially, Sport Integrity Australia will be established to unite the nationally focused sport integrity functions of the National Integrity of Sport Unit, ASADA and Sport Australia, establishing a single point of coordination for all sport integrity matters and a single point of reference for all stakeholders, working in close cooperation with the Sports Betting Integrity Unit (a joint initiative of the National Integrity of Sport Unit and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission) and states and territories, and across the sports sector.

Sport Integrity Australia will seek to prevent and address threats to sports integrity. The agency will coordinate a national approach to these matters with a view to achieving:

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fair and honest sporting performances and outcomes;

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promoting positive conduct by athletes, administrators, officials, and other stakeholders on and off the sporting arena;

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achieving a safe, fair and inclusive sporting environment at all levels; and

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enhancing the reputation and standing of sporting contests and of sport overall.

Sport Integrity Australia's focus will be on policy and program delivery, education and outreach, and antidoping regulation including monitoring and intelligence. The agency will stand ready to assist sporting organisations to ensure that the skills and capabilities in the sporting sector exist to identify and prevent threats to the integrity of sport. Through its role as a single point of contact for all sports integrity matters, Sport Integrity Australia will be ideally positioned to receive, handle and share information as appropriate to prevent and address threats to the integrity of sport.

The government remains committed to developing and implementing additional and enhanced capabilities recommended by the Wood review, including: enhanced anti-match-fixing intelligence capabilities; a new regulatory scheme referred to in the Wood review as the Australian Sports Wagering Scheme; and a protected disclosure (whistleblower) framework for sport. This will be implemented in stage 2 as outlined in the government response to the Wood review.

However, the early establishment of Sport Integrity Australia will improve the coordination of Australia's sports integrity response and reduce the regulatory burden on sport, athletes and others who are currently required to interact with multiple agencies across the spectrum of sports integrity issues.

This government is intent on protecting the integrity of the sports that make up this great sporting nation, the sports Australians enjoy and have come to expect as being safe, fair and inclusive - sports that deserve to be enjoyed by all, for generations to come.

Debate adjourned.