WAIS Response To The Sport Integrity Australia WAIS Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Program Report Recommendations

On 20 April 2022 Sport Integrity Australia released its Report of the review of allegations of athlete abuse and mistreatment in the Western Australian Institute of Sport Women’s Artistic Gymnastics (WAG) Program which operated between 1988 and 2016.

The Report concluded that it was reasonably likely that some gymnasts suffered abuse and/or harm, and it was reasonably likely that conduct and/or omissions on the part of some WAIS and WAG staff, coaches and management contributed to the ensuing abuse and/or harm, either directly or indirectly. The Report also endorsed the actions taken by those involved in the WAG Program and by WAIS more broadly to better protect children, and supported the steps that WAIS has and is continuing to take in terms of governance, protection and safeguarding of athletes across its programs.

Following review and consideration of the Report, WAIS made a public apology to any participants who experienced abuse or harm as a result of their involvement in the WAIS WAG program and accepted the Report’s recommendations.

WAIS has now considered how it can best adopt the recommendations to enhance the safety and wellbeing of all who participate in WAIS programs. Outlined below are our responses to each of the Report recommendations. The implementation of these recommendations will be overseen by the WAIS Board and Executive and six monthly updates on progress will be made publicly available.

RECOMMENDATION 1: WAIS adopt the National Integrity Framework including the independent complaint handling process.

• The National Integrity Framework (NIF) is a streamlined suite of policies that sets out the broad expectations for the conduct of all participants in sport. These expectations relate to safeguarding children, member protection, competition manipulation and sports wagering, and the misuse of drugs and medicines.

• The NIF also includes the Complaints, Disputes and Discipline Policy. This policy outlines the procedures for managing, reporting, assessing and determining potential breaches of the integrity policies contained in the Framework. Under this policy, Sport Integrity Australia will undertake the independent complaint assessment and review process.

• The NIF provides sport organisations with an independent complaints-handling mechanism, a hearing and appeal process and an avenue for recommending sanctions. The Australian Government allocated funding to ensure that all sports have access to this integrity framework without having added costs associated with ensuring athletes are safe.

• Adopting the NIF is a positive step towards ensuring that proper safeguards are in place to protect gymnasts and athletes at WAIS going forward. By signing up to the NIF, they will have available to them a free and independent integrity framework.

Response: WAIS Supports the Recommendation.

• Following release of the NIF in May 2021, WAIS notified SIA that it was committed to ensuring its Safe and Ethical Practice Policy Framework met the requirements of the NIF. WAIS commenced work on a project in June 2021, to achieve this outcome. To date this project has resulted in the adoption of the WAIS Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy, with drafting of a revised complaints handling policy nearing finalisation.

Action: WAIS will continue to work with SIA and other stakeholders to achieve the required policy alignment for recognition as a SIA NIF compliant organisation.

Action: WAIS will adopt SIA as one of its independent complaints handling options once SIA has confirmed WAIS’s policy alignment with the NIF.

RECOMMENDATION 2: WAIS must ensure that all sport programs involving children are child-focused and age appropriate. 

• Programs should focus on including the child in decision-making processes, ensuring that an athlete understands the program demands and commitment. The child must have the option to leave a program without retribution.
• Programs must provide full transparency and a reasonable involvement of parents/guardians in the training and competition environment of their child.
• Coaches of child athletes must undertake professional development specific to coaching children, including child development, puberty, and child neurodevelopment in the sporting environment.

Response: WAIS Supports the Recommendation.

• Current WAIS scholarship terms and conditions and the scholarship induction process requires the direct involvement of the athlete, and for child athletes, parental involvement is required.

• WAIS induction processes outline the demands of the program and the expectations of the athlete. WAIS Athlete Performance Management Policy requires that athletes are directly involved in developing their goals and performance plan. WAIS Athlete Selection and Deselection Policy provides for athletes (or their guardian) to unilaterally make a decision to withdraw from WAIS. The athlete wellbeing services offered to WAIS scholarship holders transitioning from WAIS are not influenced by whether it is the institute or the athlete who makes the decision to terminate the scholarship.

Action: WAIS will seek an independent review of its current athlete management policies to identify any opportunities to further improve athlete empowerment.

• WAIS encourages parental engagement in its sport programs and there are no restrictions placed on parental access to training environments or staff, other than when space/capacity limitations apply.

Action: WAIS will undertake a review of parental engagement in its sport programs to identify any potential opportunities to further improve supporting policy and practice.

• Coaching qualifications are determined by the National Sport Organisation and all WAIS coaches must have current national coaching certifications as a condition of employment.

Action: WAIS will liaise with its various National and State Sport Organisation partners and the AIS Coach Development Team to develop and/or provide Inservice courses for coaches in the areas of child development and developmental psychology, in the sporting environment.

RECOMMENDATION 3: WAIS should continue to embed athlete wellbeing into policies, procedures, and practices into all sport programs. 

• Sport Integrity Australia acknowledges that WAIS initially introduced a transition policy in 2004. A tailored and continually evolving transition program should continue to be provided for athletes in elite programs, which focuses on ensuring athletes are receiving the education to leave them best placed for a future outside sport.
• Ongoing training and support to be provided to athlete, coaches, and support personnel on detecting eating disorders at the earliest opportunity.
• If the use of skin-fold testing and weighing of young athletes is justified, then it must be carried out with full consent of the athletes (and parent/guardian if involving a child), and under professional guidance of those with the requisite experience in managing eating disorders.

Response: WAIS Supports the Recommendation.

• WAIS is committed to ensuring that athlete wellbeing remains a central tenet of its guiding philosophy. As part of staff onboarding, staff are required to read and confirm their understanding of all policies listed in the WAIS Safe and Ethical Practice Policy Framework. The WAIS Safe and Ethical Practice Policy Framework also requires ongoing education and monitoring of compliance to policy standards for all policies supporting the framework.

• WAIS will continue to develop its transition policy and program to meet the contemporary requirements of athletes transitioning from WAIS programs to the next phase of their lives. WAIS policy also requires all athletes to have a dual career plan (sport and life plan) and allocates resources to implement this policy requirement.

• WAIS recognises that some athletes are at greater risk of disordered eating. The WAIS Disordered Eating Early Identification and Prevention Policy was adopted, by the Board in December 2021, as part of the WAIS Safe and Ethical Practice Policy Framework. This policy was developed with reference to the AIS position statement on this topic released in November 2020 and meets all guidelines outlined in the position statement. This policy supports the WAIS supplements policy and the WAIS staff code of conduct that includes the requirement that all staff work within the boundaries of their professional training and expertise.

• The WAIS Disordered Eating Early Identification and Prevention Policy requires athlete and/or guardian consent for body composition assessment. Staff with professional expertise in the management of eating disorders will oversee all body composition assessment.

Action: All WAIS Performance Enhancement Division staff will be inducted and trained on the Disordered Eating Early Identification and Prevention Policy by 30 June 2022.

RECOMMENDATION 4: WAIS, in collaboration with the impacted Gymnasts, engage in a restorative and reconciliatory process. 

• The scope of the restorative and reconciliatory process should be gymnast-focused and responsive in addressing the impacts of abuse and harm.
• The restorative process should be facilitated by an independent mediator with experience in restorative processes.
• The process should include an apology to those Gymnasts who were subjected to behaviours at the subject of this Review.

Response: WAIS Supports the Recommendation.

Action: WAIS will liaise with impacted gymnasts to develop and engage in an agreed restorative and reconciliatory process.