Tell us about a concern or issue

Doping is the use of a banned drug to improve an athlete’s performance, or any other behaviour that could prevent anti-doping efforts.

As Australia’s national anti-doping organisation, Sport Integrity Australia is responsible for implementing a program to keep Australian sport clean, in line with the World Anti-Doping Code and our legislation.

You can help protect the integrity of Australian sport by reporting doping activities, including but not limited to:

• the use, or attempted use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) by athletes or sporting teams
• any attempts to evade, or tamper with the anti-doping testing process
• the possession or supply of PIEDs to athletes or sporting teams
• the facilitation of doping, or related activities by athletes or support personnel
• any attempt to cover up doping, including threatening people from speaking up.

Report a doping matter

Child safeguarding is ensuring all children and young people feel safe while participating in sport.

Children and young people should be:

• Supported and protected from harm
• Treated with respect
• Have their privacy respected
• Have input into decisions that affect them
• Treated fairly and equally

There are a range of behaviours involving children that are unacceptable in sport – these can include things like verbal and physical abuse, inappropriate communications or lack of supervision.

Submit information relating to a child safeguarding matter

Discrimination in sport is any type of unfair treatment based on a Protected Characteristic which results in a negative outcome and can include both direct and indirect discrimination.

‘Direct discrimination’ occurs where, because a person has a Protected Characteristic, they are treated less favourably than a person without that characteristic would be treated in the same or similar circumstances.

‘Indirect discrimination’ occurs where a practice, rule, requirement or condition that applies to everyone disadvantages people with a Protected Characteristic and the practice, rule, requirement or condition is not reasonable in the circumstances.

A Protected Characteristic includes:

• Age 
• Disability 
• Race or ethnicity 
• Sex or gender identity 
• Sexual orientation 
• Religion 

Submit information relating to a discrimination matter

Sport Integrity Australia cannot manage allegations of misconduct that relates to:

• Bullying, Abuse or Harassment of adults
• Competition manipulation and sport gambling
• Team/representative selection disputes
• Organisational governance issues
• Competition rule disputes
• A complaint that has been managed by sport or a decision made by sport
• Sports that have not implemented the National Integrity Framework

If these matters are reported to us, Sport Integrity Australia cannot investigate or manage the matter through a complaints process.

However, we can provide guidance about how to resolve those concerns through other means – for example, through the sport itself, the Australian Human Rights Commission, or law enforcement to investigate criminal matters.

• If you want to see action taken about one of these issues, you should report it to your National Sporting Organisation

If you have a concern about abusive or inappropriate material online, you can also report it to the eSafety Commissioner for action. They may be able to take down inappropriate material quickly on your behalf.

eSafety can investigate cyberbullying of children, adult cyber abuse, image-based abuse (sharing, or threatening to share, intimate images without the consent of the person shown) and illegal and restricted content.

Please note that Sport Integrity Australia cannot intervene in legal proceedings or investigations that are already in progress, nor can we provide legal advice on specific matters.

You can help protect the integrity of Australian sport by reporting doping activities, including but not limited to:

• the use, or attempted use of performance and image enhancing drugs (PIEDs) by athletes or sporting teams 
• any attempts to evade, or tamper with the anti-doping testing process 
• the possession by, or supply of PIEDs to athletes or sporting teams 
• the facilitation of doping, or related activities by athletes or support personnel 
• any attempt to cover up doping, including threatening people from speaking up. 

All information is important and the more detail you provide about the incident the better. Sport Integrity Australia strongly encourages you to include as much relevant information as you can, as this will help determine the most appropriate course of action. 

All information is assessed and may be used to inform our anti-doping testing programs and could lead to the investigation and sanctioning of those committing anti-doping rule violations. 

We encourage you to provide your details with your information as this strengthens Sport Integrity Australia’s ability to action the information. 

While you may remain anonymous, consider providing an option for Sport Integrity Australia to contact you in the event we need to obtain further information. This could be a phone number, or you could provide a newly created email address which contains no identifiable details. 

If you need assistance in understanding how to complete the form, please call 1300 027 232 and select the appropriate option.

Where a sport is operating under the National Integrity Framework, reports about alleged misconduct under the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy or Discrimination based on a Protected Characteristic including race, disability, sex, religion or age can be submitted to Sport Integrity Australia.

These matters are handled under the National Integrity Framework and may result in a formal complaints process.

You can submit information anonymously if you choose, but this can make it more difficult for Sport Integrity Australia to take action.

Check if your sport is operating under the National Integrity Framework

If your sport is NOT signed up to the National Integrity Framework, Sport Integrity Australia cannot progress your matter through a complaints process. You will need to report your concern directly to the sport.

• Check the sports signed up to the National Integrity framework
• Review resources on our website to consider other resolution pathways that may be available to you.

Still unsure how to best address your concerns?

Submit a report or contact Sport Integrity Australia on 1300 027 232 and we will provide advice to you on appropriate options.

Make an integrity complaint or report

Submissions received by Sport Integrity Australia can be handled as either a Formal Compliant or Report. A Formal Compliant is a formal written submission of an allegation, made by a complainant or by a parent or carer on their behalf. A Complainant is a person or an organisation who or which is directly affected by the alleged prohibited conduct.

A Formal Compliant cannot be submitted anonymously.

The Sport Integrity Australia complaint process

A Report is a submission of allegations that an individual has engaged in conduct which may be considered prohibited conduct. A Report can be submitted anonymously but this may limit what action can be taken. In some circumstances, Reports may be managed through a Complaints Process.

You can submit information regarding allegations of discrimination or breaches of the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy to Sport Integrity Australia using the online form.

Assistance is available by calling 1300 027 232 and selecting the appropriate option.

Please note - anything in the forms highlighted in red is a mandatory field and must be completed before the form can be submitted.

Note: if your submission includes information about potential imminent harm, an ongoing risk of harm or information about criminality, we may provide your details or information relating to a relevant law enforcement body, sporting organisation, or other relevant parties.

Evaluation

When a Complaint is received, it will be evaluated to determine if it is in-scope and will be managed through the Complaints Process. To be in-scope, a Complaint needs to meet the following criteria:

• The Complaint is submitted by the person directly affected by the alleged conduct (or their authorised representative), or the parent/guardian if the affected party is a Vulnerable Person.
• The alleged conduct meets the definition of Prohibited Conduct under the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy, or the definition of Discrimination under the Member Protection Policy.
• The alleged Prohibited Conduct occurred after the sport’s commencement of the National Integrity Framework.
• The person or organisation accused of wrongdoing was bound by the sport’s policies at the time the alleged conduct occurred.

Case categorisation

If the Complaint is in-scope, Sport Integrity Australia will determine which category the Complaint falls into based on the Case Categorisation Model.

If the Complaint is assessed as ‘Category 1’ it may be managed through a range of measures such as education, and the matter will be closed. If the Complaint is assessed as Category 2 or 3, the Complaint may be investigated and will lead to a finding about what may have happened.

At any time during the Complaints Process, the Complaint may also be referred to another organisation, such as the police or a child protection agency.

Investigation

An investigation is the process of determining what has happened based on the balance of probabilities. As part of an investigation, people involved with the Complaint, including witnesses, may be contacted to provide information about the allegations that have been made. In more complex matters, the people involved in the Complaint may be invited to participate in formal recorded interviews.

It is important that enough information is obtained to make an informed decision, so depending on the complexity of the Complaint, this can take time. Parties to the Complaint will be kept updated at appropriate points during the process.

Findings

If a person’s Complaint is investigated, there are three possible findings that can be made.

• Substantiated: If there is sufficient evidence to suggest the alleged conduct is more likely to have occurred than not, the allegation/s in the Complaint will be found to be substantiated.
• Unsubstantiated: If, based on the evidence, it is more likely than not that the Respondent did NOT breach a policy, the allegations will be found to be unsubstantiated, and the matter will be closed with no further action.
• Unable to be Substantiated: If there are two equally plausible versions of events, or not enough evidence to make a finding either way, the matter will be unable to be substantiated.

When a matter is managed by Sport Integrity Australia, they will notify the parties to the Complaint of the findings and refer the matter to their sport to manage the resolution process.

Resolution

If a Complaint is found to be substantiated, the sport is responsible for issuing a Breach Notice to the Respondent and may also determine an appropriate sanction. A sanction can include a range of measures ranging from a reprimand to a suspension or expulsion from the sport, depending on the category of the breach.

The Respondent can either accept the Breach Notice and proposed sanction, at which point the matter will be finalised, or they can choose to dispute the findings against them and/or the proposed sanction at a hearing tribunal.

The sport will enforce any sanctions that result from the Complaints Process.

Importance of reporting integrity matters