Integrity at the heart of Team Australia ft. Petria Thomas OLY

Acknowledgement of Country: As we share a yarn today, we honour the stories that have been told on this land for thousands of years and acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as the Traditional Custodians of the land we're recording on, and we pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Petria Thomas: I'm really proud of, from an integrity perspective, the relationship that Commonwealth Games Australia has developed with Sport Integrity Australia and we'll have integrity officers embedded on our team. It's a real feature of and a reflection of the positive work that Commonwealth Games Australia is doing in this space. 

We're really taking a proactive approach to trying to keep everyone safe, to try and create a great environment for both our athletes and our staff to be able to do their job to the best of their ability. If people are behaving the right way and doing the right thing, it's going to create a better environment, and people are more likely to perform at their best if they feel safe and secure and happy in the environment they're in. 

So there's a method in it, but fundamentally, it's just about being a good, decent person and supporting the people around you. We don't shy away from the fact that we'll be aiming to finish on top of the medal tally. I think Australians expect nothing less than that from an Australian Commonwealth Games team. I'm confident that our athletes will be out there fighting hard for those medals and doing the best they can, and at the end of the day, that's all we can ever ask of them.

Tim Gavel: Hello and welcome to On Side, and our first episode in a very special Commonwealth Games series From Clean to Gold – Glasgow 2026, I'm Tim Gavel. 

And if you're a regular listener to On Side, you'll know this is where we talk about sport being done the right way, fair, safe, and with integrity at its core. 

With Commonwealth Games fever at a high, this podcast series is designed to be a resource for our Australian team to listen to in their down time. But there's also a chance for our wider sporting community to hear directly from people shaping the Games experience. 

Across this special series, we'll be talking about preparation, pressure, well-being and performance, and just as importantly, the integrity systems that help athletes compete with confidence. For this first episode, it's fitting that we start with someone who understands the Commonwealth Games experience from every angle. 

I'm joined by Petria Thomas. Petria has won 9 Commonwealth Games gold medals. Quite an incredible performance. A former swimmer who knows exactly what it feels like to step into the world stage and now Australia's Chef de Mission for the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games. 

Petria has lived the athlete experience and now leads the team responsible for supporting Australian athletes as they prepare to compete, not just for results, but for an experience that's positive, safe and built on trust. Petria, welcome to the series and I guess you're pretty excited, not too long to go now and the preparations are well underway for the Australian team.

Petria Thomas: Yeah, it's coming up really soon now, Tim. It's very exciting, we're really looking forward to July and welcoming our athletes onto the ground over in Glasgow.

Tim Gavel: So you started your Commonwealth Games experience in 1994 as a teenager, and now of course well and truly down the track, I guess the experiences are totally different, aren't they? Being an athlete, and now as the Chef de Mission, which you were in Birmingham in 2022.

Petria Thomas: Yeah, Commonwealth Games holds a special place in my heart, being my first multi-sport experience as a young athlete, and it was really the experience that gave me the belief to know I was good enough to be competing on the world stage when I was able to win the gold medal at that first competition, multi-sport games, I should say. 

So it was, I always love the Commonwealth Games and what it can do for people and it is a very different experience being an athlete to what I'm doing now, but I love what I'm doing and it's a huge honour and a privilege to lead the Australian team as the Chef de Mission.

Tim Gavel: Has it been hard to prepare given that it was on, it was off, it was back on again? Has that been a little hard to prepare for, given that you normally have a four-year period in which to get ready for it?

Petria Thomas: Yeah, it's certainly been a roller coaster ride, this one, obviously. I actually went on a tour in regional Victoria to have a look at the locations where the games were supposed to be held. 

So going from that to having the Games cancelled, and then there was about a year or so where we didn't know if and when the Games would be on, so it's been a difficult journey but the team at Commonwealth Games Australia have remained steadfast in their commitment to delivering the team for the Games, not knowing if there would be a Games at times. 

And to have our Scottish friends step up and host the games has been amazing and they're doing a terrific job in preparing for the Games under difficult circumstances. A very short runway to prepare but they're doing an amazing job and I'm confident that they'll be ready to go on the 23rd of July and we'll certainly be ready as Team Australia.

Tim Gavel: Just one thing – I guess the athlete village, that seems to be a central part of most Commonwealth Games. It's going to be different this time though, isn't it?

Petria Thomas: Yeah, it is a little bit different for this Games. There is no sort of central village – actually, a little bit similar to what we had in Birmingham, so multiple locations where our athletes will be housed. A positive from this Games in Glasgow is that those locations are actually really close together. They're all within walking distance of each other and we've been fortunate enough to secure a, what we're calling 'Aus HQ'. It's an exclusive use hotel that's right smack in the middle of those three locations where the athletes will be housed. 

So, yeah, a bit different and it does create a few challenges to try and build that sort of sense of team and sense of belonging, and being part of something bigger, but we've got some plans in place to address that and I think the athletes that do join us in Glasgow will have a great experience.

Tim Gavel: One of the great things about Birmingham was the integration of Para-athletes into the program, and I guess that part of it is that it is the friendly Games and it's also the integrated games as well.

Petria Thomas: Yeah, the integration in the Commonwealth Games is amazing. It's one of the real features of the Games and I think Commonwealth Sport should be really proud of that initiative to introduce the Para-sport events into the Games program, and it's one of the real features that both able-bodied and Para-athletes talk about when they get to go to a Games and experience that integration and that we're all just part of Team Australia. And my philosophy certainly is that we don't have Para-athletes on our team, we just have athletes. 

Yes, we need to look after the accessibility needs that any Para-athlete might have, but all-in-all, they're just part of our team and we're all in it together.

Tim Gavel: The Commonwealth Games ethos, what it does is, I guess, with everybody together, gives you a chance to integrate things like integrity, fair sport, clean sport, integration. There’s so many positive things that you can do as the Commonwealth Games Chef de Mission, can't you?

Petria Thomas: Yeah, it's amazing just being able to influence how we approach putting the team together, I think, is probably the real privilege. And I'm really proud of, from an integrity perspective, the relationship that Commonwealth Games Australia has developed with Sport Integrity Australia, and we'll have integrity officers embedded on our team, which I think will be the second time now. 

We've got more this time as well and it's a real feature and a reflection of the positive work that Commonwealth Games Australia is doing in this space and they've really bought in. And it's great that we've been able to have that really close partnership with SIA to make sure our team is safe and everyone's hopefully behaving in the right way, and there's no major incidents when we're away.

Tim Gavel: So what do integrity officers do? Do they provide advice to you or do they provide advice to the rest of the team? How do they operate and what do they do?

Petria Thomas: Well, I'm hoping for Glasgow they won't have much to do, Tim, to be honest. But they'll be our eyes and ears on the ground, just keeping an eye on how everything's sort of unfolding in those athlete accommodation environments and within our Aus HQ environment as well. 

And they'll be the go-to sort of person for anyone to report anything that just doesn't seem right, and that's sort of the messaging that we'll be pushing out to our team members. If it doesn't seem right or sound right, that's when you should report it to someone and so we can have a look into it.

Tim Gavel: I guess things have changed too with athlete well-being and safeguarding, because I remember in Canada, being there in Victoria, it didn't have the same feel that a Commonwealth Games has now. Is there a change, do you think? Has there been much of a change over the years in things like wellbeing and safeguarding for athletes in these big teams like the Commonwealth Games?

Petria Thomas: Oh, there's been a huge shift, I think, Tim. Just thinking back to when I was an athlete many, many years ago now, but there's things that were said and done back then that are absolutely not appropriate now. 

So, there's been a massive shift, and I think as awareness increases that will continue to improve in terms of what behaviours are acceptable and what are not. 

And that awareness I think is really important and that's one of the things I think that I'm really proud of, as I mentioned, that in our Commonwealth Games teams, we're really taking a proactive approach to keep everyone safe, to try and create a great environment for both of our athletes and our staff to be able to do their job to the best of their ability.

Tim Gavel: Because you are dealing with young athletes and recently older athletes, aren't you, in the Commonwealth Games?

Petria Thomas: Yeah, we have a huge range usually in ages on the Commonwealth Games teams from teenagers, underage athletes, to the people I think they can be in their 60s depending on the sport they do. 

So, yeah, huge age range and it's quite difficult to create an environment that is, I suppose, fits everyone, but that's a challenge when you're in these multi-sport bigger games like the Commonwealth Games, and it's also great when you're able to bring all those people together and create that ,environment where they do have a really, really great experience.

Tim Gavel: Because another thing that you bring to this team, which is quite unique, is the ability to overcome injury and to perform knowing that you have to perform if you're in the team, but injury can play a role and how to deal with it. You did it in 1998, didn't you? 

In Malaysia for the Commonwealth Games. I remember talking to you at the time and you had that shoulder injury, but you came out and defended your 100 metres butterfly title and the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. So, you overcame injury and you were able to, I guess, offload that advice to young athletes who may be going through the same thing.

Petria Thomas: Yeah, I think whether it's injury or other challenges in an athlete's career, everyone has to overcome their own things and I think it's always about, trying to stay positive and trying to remember why you're trying to achieve the goal that you've set yourself as well. I think for me, having to overcome the challenges that I did actually made me a better athlete, made me a stronger athlete, and it really influenced, I suppose, me as a person, not only during my swimming career, but since I finished that. 

You're always going to come up against challenges that you have to navigate around or charge through, and I think being able to share some of those stories with some of the younger athletes who might be experiencing things like that for the first time is a really fortunate position to be in and certainly one that I'm happy to impart knowledge to help someone else.

Tim Gavel: Another factor, of course, is handling success. Given your success, not only in 1994, 1998, but then 2002 in Manchester. You had enormous success at the Commonwealth Games and I guess, young athletes can get carried away with early success. You're able to guide them through, I would imagine, and just make them feel a little bit more settled and calm?

Petria Thomas: Yeah, I mean, each athlete, you get some pretty big personalities in sport, in some events and things. My approach to it was always just to remain humble and just get on with the job that I was there to do, regardless of whatever result I'd had, and I was very focused on what I wanted to achieve and how I was going to get there. 

But, you see people that, very big personalities that like to sort of showboat a little bit and things and I suppose that's what makes sport so great is that you do get such a variety of personalities involved and things. 

But I think, one of the things I did see a lot when I was, during my swimming career was people sort of talking it up, and you have to be pretty bold to do that because you have to deliver. If you talk it up, you need to deliver or else, it doesn't look great at the end of the day.

Tim Gavel: Yes. What's the daily routine? You've got to have a pattern, haven't you? To ensure success and lay the basis for a successful Games? So, what sort of routine have you thought about putting in place? I guess it'd be similar to the one that you had in Birmingham.

Petria Thomas: Yeah, absolutely. It's usually a busy day as a Chef de Mission. You don't really know what the day will hold usually when you start out, but we will have a Chef de Mission meeting each morning at 7 o'clock and that's to hear from the organising company in Commonwealth Sport on anything that they feel we need to know about what's happening during the Games. 

And then from there it's all about communication with the people in our team that need to know some of that information, so I'll connect with the relevant people there and then the rest of the day is, hopefully, about going out and supporting our team members and the athletes that are competing on the day, that's a big part of my job. It could be doing media interviews, it could be addressing something that hasn't gone quite right, as well. It could be VIP sponsor functions. There's a whole range of different things that sort of pop up during the Games time and, we should hopefully have some VIP guests there supporting the team so I'll be making sure that their experience is great as well. It's really a big variety of things, but it is exciting to be able to be in that role. I've never been super, super comfortable dealing with the press, but I've gotten used to it now. I think many, many interviews with you along the way, Tim, but it's just part of the role and I think I've actually got pretty decent at it these days.

Tim Gavel: You won't have to worry about transport, I would imagine, given the venues are pretty close to where the athletes are based. So you won't have to be explaining how bus drivers got lost all the time or anything like that.

Petria Thomas: Haha.

Tim Gavel: But in dealing with the media, because usually there is a media conference every day prior to competition getting underway involving the Chef de Mission, athletes from the day before who won gold medals – if issues arise, are you one that likes to sort of be transparent and put it out there? Is that how you see your role as Chef de Mission?

Petria Thomas: I think it depends really. I mean, yes, I'm all for transparency, but it's got to be done in the right way as well, and if it's something that can be managed privately, then it should be, I think. And obviously, once things get into the sort of public domain, you need to be transparent, I think, absolutely, as much as you can be. So it's always a difficult balance, I think, but fundamentally, transparency is what I would go to. 

But it's very much case-by-case, I think, and if you can manage things behind the scenes, so it protects the athletes, it protects the team, et cetera, then that's the way I would probably approach it as well. 

But yeah, it's interesting, there's lots of things that happen, some make the press, some don't, along the way, but it's just a wait and see thing and I'm hoping that all the messaging that we're giving to our team pre-Games in terms of the way they should be behaving and the values and behaviours that we expect from them, hopefully we won't have too many things go wrong during the Games.

Tim Gavel: Have you got ex-athletes around the current athletes just to make sure that the values that you have put forward are carried through and the athletes are reminded constantly of those messages?

Petria Thomas: Yeah look, I'm very fortunate to be supported by an amazing group of former athletes in my team executives. So, I've got Katrina Webb, who was a former Para-athlete there, we've got Matt Cowdrey, again, a Para-athlete, and Damian Brown also, who was a former weightlifter, and we've got a lot of experience between us. We've also got, in our Connection and Belonging Team we've also got former athletes as well, led by Greg Hire, former 3x3 basketball player at the Comm Games. 

So yeah, we've got a lot of people around who can have just that quiet chat to an athlete if they need someone to talk to or, want to ask for some advice or whatever it might be. I think the key thing that, well the way I've always approached it is I'll never try and force that on someone but I'm more than willing to have that chat if someone needs a bit of support.

Tim Gavel: Just finally, just on the integrity factor here and the messages that you're trying to get through. Is it encouraging the athletes, instilling in the athletes', ethical decision-making, 'think about what you're doing that might impact on others'? What sort of messages would you be putting forward to some of the athletes, to ensure that integrity stance is maintained right the way through the Games?

Petria Thomas: Yeah, it's just about being a decent person, I think. It's just those, the common sort of courtesies around saying please and thank you and showing respect for those around you and being inclusive. 

Obviously within our team we're striving for excellence, but it's about doing it in the right way as well, and they're the key messages that we'll be trying to get through to all of our team members in our sort of pre-Games period and then when they hit the ground in Glasgow. 

We sort of look at it as, well, if people are, you know, behaving the right way and doing the right thing, it's going to create a better environment and people are more likely to perform at their best if they feel safe and secure and happy in the environment they're in. So, there's a method in it, but fundamentally it's just about being a good, decent person and supporting the people around you.

Tim Gavel: And you hope those values continue through their life, don't you? In that they've been in the Commonwealth Games family, you've obviously instilled, imparted a bit of your knowledge into them and you hope that it leads to them being better people as they leave the team and head out into the wider community.

Petria Thomas: Yeah, you'd like to hope so. I mean, everyone takes their own path, but I mean, that's the beauty of being involved in one of these multi-sport games is that you do get to share that experience with other Australians and people from other sports and all sorts of different backgrounds and I think if you can come together and make that environment work it's a good foundation to not only have a great experience at the Games in Glasgow, but then take those lessons and learnings onto the next things that they go and do.

Tim Gavel: And how successful are the Games going to be, do you think, for the Australian team? Most successful ever? [laughing] No, don't do that anymore. [laughing]

Petria Thomas: [laughing] We don't really put numbers on gold medals or anything like that, but I think there's, we don't shy away from the fact that we'll be aiming to finish on top of the medal tally. I think Australians expect nothing less than that from an Australian Commonwealth Games team. I'm confident that our athletes will be out there fighting hard for those medals and doing the best they can, and at the end of the day, that's all we can ever ask of them.

Tim Gavel: Petria, thanks very much for joining us on On Side. And I guess the message is that integrity is at the core of this Commonwealth Games team and all the best as you head across to Glasgow. Thanks very much for joining us.

Petria Thomas: Thanks for having me.

Tim Gavel: Thanks for listening to our From Clean to Gold – Glasgow 2026 podcast series. Stay tuned for Episode 2 where we'll speak to some of our very special athletes about the Commonwealth Games experience and competing safe, clean and fair.