Announcement date
8 January 2024
Link to announcement
https://www.sportintegrity.gov.au/news/ministerial-statements/2024-01/australian-government-bolsters-safeguards-sport
Problem being addressed
Sport Integrity Australia's remit has expanded beyond its role as Australia's National Anti-Doping Organisation and now encompasses the safeguarding of the integrity of Australian sports. Over 50% of the Sport Integrity Australia's funding is tied to terminating measures ceasing on 30 June 2024, therefore it will not be financially viable for the agency to absorb the cost of addressing matters of safety.
Proposal
The proposal seeks to put forth a range of options with increasing levels of capability. Each option seeks to improve safety among at risk groups, provide evidence-based policies, programs and services and ensure all participants of sport are informed, educated, and supported. The Sport Integrity Act 2020 only allows the agency to charge for functions relating to Anti-doping, therefore cost recovery was not considered to be a viable option.
The Safety in Sport program entails:
- Increasing the capacity of Sports Integrity Australia to respond to reports associated with bullying, harassment, racism and discrimination.
- Expanded education campaign to cover bullying, harassment, racism and discrimination.
- Development and implementation of a First Nations skills program, Women in Leadership program and Sport Culture and Diversity Strategy.
The Impact Analysis considers three levels of funding for the Safety in Sport program:
- Option One: will allow the agency to adequately address current safety in sport issues.
- Option Two: will provide sufficient level of staffing resources and expertise to proactively address current and future safety in sport issues and implement robust frameworks that prevent integrity issues including new and emerging threats.
- Option Three: will provide optimal level of staffing resources and expertise to proactively address current and future safety in sport issues.
Sport Integrity Australia determined through analysis and consultation that Option Three would best support the Government’s objectives, will have the greatest impact across the entire sport ecosystem through to grassroots sport and at-risk demographics, and future proof sport from growing and emerging integrity threats by investing in strategies informed by research and stakeholder engagement.
Key initiatives included in Option Three are:
- New integrity managers embedded within state/territory sports and representation agencies of Community Sport Australia.
- Establishment of a new Sport Integrity Research Institute.
- New strategic intelligence capability to strengthen our understanding of key issues impacting the sports integrity threat environment.
- A sports cultural hub and media studio that recognises and promotes First Nations peoples, those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and people with a disability.
- New social media analytics capability.
Assessed Impact Analysis outcome
Adequate
Assessment comments
To be assessed as good practice as per the Australian Government Guide to Policy Impact Analysis, the analysis needed to be informed by genuine consultation on the cost-recovery measures. The IA could have also been improved by examining all stakeholder views and quantifying the flow-on and distributional impacts amongst the affected cohorts, particularly CALD communities, women and children.
Regulatory burden
Sport Integrity Australia estimates that the annual regulatory costs of the preferred option are $14.0 million.