Update on Sport Integrity Australia review process

The Western Australian Institute of Sport board will assume responsibility for oversight of the forthcoming Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) independent review into historic allegations of mistreatment of gymnasts at its former high performance Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) program.

WAIS requested that SIA conduct a thorough and independent review into the allegations after they were raised with them by a small group of former athletes in September last year.

The allegations against WAIS were not of a sexual nature and date back some 30 years.

The allegations were among those which were the subject of a recent Australian Human Rights Commission Report into the sport of gymnastics across Australia and led to a formal apology from WAIS this week following the release of the report’s findings.

The WAIS high performance gymnastics program trained more than 500 gymnasts over a 28-year period however the difficult decision was made to close the program in 2016 due to a lack of financial viability.

WAIS no longer operates a gymnastics program in Western Australia.

WAIS board chair, Neil McLean, said the move was designed to ensure the SIA review was conducted with absolute independence and to avoid any potential inference of a conflict of interest.

WAIS CEO, Steve Lawrence, will remain in his position as CEO with the full support of the board but will not be directly involved in framing the terms of reference of the review or its activities.

Mr Lawrence commenced his role as CEO of the organisation in 2001 and was previously a sports physiologist with WAIS before being promoted to the CEO role.

“We have full confidence in Steve and in his ability to lead WAIS as he has done over the last 20 years.

“However, in the best interests of the review and the parties involved, it has been decided that he will not be involved in the investigative process from now on,” Mr McLean said.

Mr Lawrence has said that he will continue to cooperate fully with the SIA and the review as the process played out. 

Mr McLean is a Clinical Psychologist and Senior Lecturer at UWA and was a Sports Psychologist at the 1992-2012 Olympic Games.