FAQs - Reporting an Integrity Issue

The simple answer is no. In order for Sport Integrity Australia to manage the majority of sport integrity issues, we must be provided with authority from the National Sporting Organisation (NSO) or National Sporting Organisation for People with a Disability (NSOD) that represents the sport to do so. This is because when you join a sport, you sign up to their policies and rules. In order for Sport Integrity Australia to be involved, we need the sport’s NSO or NSOD to allow us to investigate under their policies.  

Typically, the way sport organisations provide this authorisation to Sport Integrity Australia is by signing up to the National Integrity Framework. Sport Integrity Australia can then process integrity complaints about alleged Prohibited Conduct that occurred from the date the sport commenced operating under the National Integrity Framework policies. 

Sport Integrity Australia is not authorised to process complaints for sports represented by organisations that have not implemented the National Integrity Framework, or for conduct that occurred before the implementation of the Framework. In these cases, you will need to submit any allegations to the sport. You can still tell Sport Integrity Australia about the allegation (by filling out the Report form) but we cannot undertake a formal complaint handling process. However, when it comes to doping the story is a little different. Sport Integrity Australia has legislation which allows us to investigate all doping matters for sports that have signed up to the National Anti-Doping scheme. This scheme is a requirement under the World Anti-Doping Code (which Australia has to sign up to if we want to participate in major events like the Olympics and Paralympics).

There are two main reasons why you may not be able to submit an integrity complaint to Sport Integrity Australia on this form.

Reason 1

The National Sporting Organisation (NSO) or National Sporting Organisation for People with a Disability (NSOD) that represents the sport has not authorised Sport Integrity Australia to manage complaints on their behalf.

Sport Integrity Australia can receive information about conduct in any sport, however we are only authorised to manage complaints in sports where the organisation that represents them has chosen to adopt the National Integrity Framework.

Sports that don’t use Sport integrity Australia to manage complaints will have their own complaint management system in place, and if you want to pursue disciplinary action against an individual or organisation, you will need to report the allegation to your sport.

If you just want Sport Integrity Australia to know about the conduct, you can fill in the Report form.

Reason 2

The National Sporting Organisation (NSO) or National Sporting Organisation for People with a Disability (NSOD) that represents the sport HAS authorised Sport Integrity Australia to manage complaints, but the allegation you are reporting occurred before this authorisation came into effect.

Sport Integrity Australia can only manage complaints about conduct that occurred after the date the organisation that represents a sport implemented the National Integrity Framework. If you want to pursue disciplinary action against an individual or organisation because of conduct that happened before this time, you will need to report the allegation to the sport.

Sport Integrity Australia can only investigate alleged breaches of the sport’s National Integrity Framework policies, which are the:

• Child Safeguarding Policy
• Competition Manipulation and Sport Wagering Policy
• Improper Use of Drugs and Medicine Policy
• Member Protection Policy, and
• National Integrity Framework.

If you have a concern about conduct outside these policies, for example around selection and eligibility, competition rules or code of conduct, you should contact your sport. 

The Complaints, Disputes and Disciplinary Policy (CDDP) is a policy under the National Integrity Framework, and outlines how Sport Integrity Australia will manage complaints about alleged breaches of the integrity policies listed above.

The process enables individuals or organisations to make a formal complaint about an integrity issue to Sport Integrity Australia, who will make decisions on how to manage that complaint independently from the sport. The complaint could either be resolved through a dispute resolution process or, if it is more serious in nature, result in disciplinary action being taken against someone if found they have more likely than not committed the alleged Prohibited Conduct.

The complaint process does not include a broad review of a sport’s culture or governance arrangements.

Any individual or organisation can provide information to Sport Integrity Australia about integrity issues in sport. However, how that information is handled depends on whether the National Sporting Organisation (NSO) or National Sporting Organisation for People with a Disability (NSOD) that represents the sport has implemented the National Integrity Framework and from what date.

Complaints

Complaints are when someone makes a formal allegation that a person, or an organisation, has committed Prohibited Conduct according to the National Integrity Framework.

A complaint begins a formal process which allows Sport Integrity Australia to take action against someone if found they have more likely than not committed the alleged Prohibited Conduct. Complaints will be managed according to the Complaints, Disputes and Disciplinary Policy.

People who make complaints will be contacted by Sport Integrity Australia and will updated about the progress of the matter, as appropriate. 

To be considered a complaint, the submission must meet all of the following criteria:

• The information provided is a potential breach of one of the integrity policies under the National Integrity Framework.
• The National Sporting Organisation (NSO) or National Sporting Organisation for People with a Disability (NSOD) that represents the sport has implemented the National Integrity Framework.
• The specific allegation/s relate to an integrity issue that occurred after the sport organisation’s commencement date of the National Integrity Framework.
• The specific allegation/s relate to an individual, group, or organisation that is a member or participant of the sport that is represented by an organisation that has implemented the National Integrity Framework.
• The information has not been submitted anonymously.

Reports

Reports will not be managed through the Sport Integrity Australia complaint handling process. As such, if you have information that may breach an integrity policy for a sport where the organisation that represents them has not implemented the National Integrity Framework, or the events occurred before the National Integrity Framework commencement date, you should submit the information directly to the relevant sport organisation. In these instances, Sport integrity Australia has no authority to investigate and cannot provide you with updates.

A report can be submitted where the:

• information provided is not a potential breach of one of the integrity policies under the National Integrity Framework
• specific allegations relate to an integrity issue, but the organisation that represents the sport has not adopted the National Integrity Framework
• specific allegations are potentially a breach of an integrity policy, but they occurred before the sport organisation’s National Integrity Framework commencement date, or
• information is provided anonymously—unlike complaints, reports can be submitted anonymously, however you are encouraged to provide as much information as possible.

Sport Integrity Australia may de-identify the information provided in complaints and reports and use it with other sources of information to understand trends and patterns of integrity issues that are being reported in Australian sport. Sport Integrity Australia will look to use this information to better understand the nature of integrity issues, and to support the development of programs to prevent and better respond to integrity threats in sport.

When you submit a complaint, this is the first step in a formal process to potentially take action against an individual or an organisation. To ensure the process is fair, the person the allegations have been made about (the Respondent) is entitled to know what the complaint is, and who provided the information (the Complainant), so that they have an opportunity to respond.

If you want to share information with Sport Integrity Australia anonymously, you can submit a report but your matter will not be evaluated through the complaint handling process.

All information provided will be kept confidential by Sport Integrity Australia and will not be disclosed to any third parties outside the people directly involved in the matter (i.e. the Respondent and any witnesses), except as provided in Privacy and Confidentiality Notice.

We will not provide comment (to the media, or any other parties) confirming or denying whether a matter is under investigation by Sport Integrity Australia. 

Yes, any person or organisation can provide integrity-related information to Sport Integrity Australia.

However, if the information you provide does not directly relate to you and involved someone else, Sport Integrity Australia may contact the person who the alleged behaviour happened to.

It is then entirely up to that individual if they want to participate in a complaints process.

You may be provided with updates on the progress of the matter, as appropriate.

Although making a complaint might seem daunting, the process allows you to speak up about conduct you believe is a breach of an integrity policy. Making a complaint is your opportunity to have this alleged breach independently assessed, to try to ensure sport is a safe and fair environment now and into the future.

All Complaints will be managed in accordance with the Sport Integrity Australia’s legislation and the National Integrity Framework Complaints, Disputes and Disciplinary Policy for the National Sporting Organisation (NSO) or National Sporting Organisation for People with a Disability (NSOD) that represents the sport.

There are five key steps that happen during the independent complaint process, these are:

Complaint Recieved

The first step is for the person making the Complaint to fill in the web form on the Sport Integrity Australia website. When the Complaint is submitted, you will receive an automatic response email to let you know that your Complaint has been submitted. If you don’t receive this email, check to make the email hasn’t gone to your spam or junk folder.

Initial Evaluation

The next step is making sure that the information you have provided meets the criteria of a Complaint (See question 'What is the difference between a Complaint and Report?'). If it does meet the criteria, the Complaint will proceed to the next stage of the process to determine the most appropriate course of action.

During this step, or others, Sport Integrity Australia may also determine that a Complaint should be referred to another organisation such as police or a regulatory body.

ASSESSMENT PROCESS

At this step, Sport Integrity Australia will seek further information so an informed decision can be made about what may have happened.

This could mean contacting the Complainant for more information, contacting any witnesses, contacting the person or organisation the allegations have been made against (the Respondent) for information, and seeking other evidence. In more serious and complex matters, the Complainant, Respondent and other witnesses may be required to participate in formal recorded interviews.

Due to the complex nature of Assessment, it is often the longest step in the Complaints Process. Sport Integrity Australia will contact the Complainant at the start of the Assessment to let them know the next steps before contacting other people involved and will endeavour to update the Complainant and other relevant parties where possible throughout the Assessment. 

Sport Integrity Australia may also determine that it is more appropriate to resolve a Complaint through Alternative Dispute Resolution. 

COMPLAINT OUTCOME

If a Complaint cannot be, or has not been resolved via mediation or conciliation, Sport Integrity Australia will make a Finding as to whether the alleged conduct was more likely to have occurred than not.

There are three possible outcomes for an allegation. Your Complaint could be found to be:

1. Substantiated (we find it was more likely to have occurred than not).
2. Unsubstantiated (we find it was not more likely to have occurred than not).
3. Unable to be substantiated (relevant avenues for obtaining evidence were exhausted, but the evidence obtained was not sufficient to support a finding either way).

The outcome based on the Finding will then be:

• No Further Action (for unsubstantiated allegations, or allegations that cannot be substantiated).
• Breach Notice (for substantiated allegations).

If Sport Integrity Australia finds the allegations were more likely to have occurred than not, we will issue a Breach Notice to the Respondent. This outlines the sanction and will be sent to the sport to enforce the sanction. The sport will then manage any responses to the Breach Notice.

A sanction could be anything ranging from mandatory education to a ban from sport.

At the end of this process, Sport Integrity Australia will advise the Complainant, the Respondent and the sport of the outcome of a Complaint.

FINALISING COMPLAINT

If a Respondent was provided with a Breach notice, this can lead to two courses of action:

1. The Respondent accepts the Breach Notice and accepts the sanction.
2. The Respondent doesn’t accept the Breach Notice and chooses to challenge the outcome.

If the breach occurred at a national level, the matter will then be heard by the National Sports Tribunal. If the breach occurred at a lower level of the sport, the sport may apply to have the matter heard at the National Sports Tribunal, or decide to conduct an internal tribunal.  At this point, you may be requested to appear as a witness in any hearing.

In these instances, the matter will be finalised through the tribunal process.

If you are the one to submit the complaint, Sport Integrity Australia will be in contact with you throughout the process. We will initially confirm receipt of your complaint and then be in contact with you as appropriate until the complaint is finalised. You will be given an email address and phone number to follow up, if required.

It is difficult to predict how long a complaint process will take as each complaint varies. There are numerous factors to consider, including how complex the issue is, the availability of people to participate in our process and ensuring the process is fair. We know that complaint processes can sometimes be challenging for peoples’ mental wellbeing, so we aim to finalise complaints as quickly as possible.

Sport Integrity Australia cannot progress a complaint where you:

• have made a complaint about the same incident to Sport Integrity Australia previously and it has been finalised in accordance with the Complaints, Disputes and Disciplinary Policy
• have already made a complaint about the same incident to the relevant Sport, and it is currently being considered, or
• have already made a complaint about the same incident to the relevant sport and it has been considered by the sport under a disciplinary process and a formal determination has been made by the Sport or a Sport tribunal.

Yes, however we would need the consent/agreement of the person you are submitting the complaint on behalf of if they are over the age of 18. To assist in this process, please ask them to complete the Authority for Another Person to Act on My Behalf form and attach it to the online form, or send it to the email or PO Box address listed on the form.

You can have a friend, family member or other support person with you throughout the process (for example, they can be present during any interviews). Details of mental health and wellbeing support service providers will also be provided to you. 

Yes. You can withdraw your complaint any time before a Finding is made by Sport Integrity Australia (see the 'Complaint Outcome' step in the ‘What will happen to my Complaint?’ question on this page), by advising us by email.

All information should be provided via the Sport Integrity Australia website. If you have any questions before filling out the form or need assistance in understanding how to fill out the form, you can also call us on 13 000 27232, and select option 3.