It has been announced that sports organisations will be expected to establish and comply with child protection policies or face exclusion from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in South Korea. This is a significant move as it advocates a national approach to child protection, a measure which has had the support of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission) and many sporting federations.

The Sydney Morning Herald has reported that the President of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), John Coates, made a commitment last month to the Royal Commission stating that 'it is not negotiable, we will reject anyone whose sport has not implemented a child protection policy'. While Olympic officials are already required to undergo child safety checks, the new policy will now encompass the entire sport.

AOC by-law amended

Australian athletes will now be barred from Australia’s Olympic team if their sporting federation does not comply with the new rules implemented to combat child abuse, meaning all federations must adopt a Member Protection Policy before athletes can be nominated for selection. To demonstrate the importance and urgency of this reform, the AOC has amended its Team Selection By-Law, so that it now states:

"Only those National Federations that have adopted and implemented a Member Protection Policy with which they conform and comply may nominate athletes for selection to, or membership or continued membership of, any (Olympic) Team”.

A Member Protection Policy is defined as a policy of "a National Sporting Organisation which is designed to ensure that their sport is safe, fair and inclusive for everyone involved and recognises their legal obligations to prevent and address discrimination and harassment and to protect children from abuse."

As a result, child protection policies are now placed on the same level of importance as Anti-Doping Codes.

Mr Coates states that if "every sport in Australia has to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code, why shouldn’t the same importance be placed on child abuse?” In 2014, the AOC amended its Anti-Doping Policy insisting that all National Federations accept new “coercive powers” which may force athletes and coaches to answer questions about illegal drugs even if it may incriminate them. If such measures are not complied with, athletes would not be selected for the Olympic Team.

According to Mr Coates, anti-doping reforms have “had 100% take-up from our member sports on coercive powers and I am confident we will get the same result with these child protection measures”.

Child safety in sports

These reforms come as a response to the Royal Commission’s investigation into how institutions, including churches, schools and sports clubs have handled incidents of child sexual abuse. When giving evidence to the Royal Commission last month, Mr Coates said that the AOC has never recorded any child abuse issue on any of its teams.

Instead, evidence given to the Royal Commission, has revealed that the problem occurs at the local level. The Royal Commission heard testimonies from:

• a woman who was allegedly infected with HIV by her soccer coach when she was eight years old;
• a girl who was sexually abused by her tennis coach when she was 14 years old; and
• several boys who were sexually assaulted by a cricket coach, the boys were aged 11 and 12 at the time.

While the matter concerning the 14-year-old girl was investigated by Tennis NSW, Tennis Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport, the organisations resolved not to take any further action.

These failures suggest that there are many systemic barriers to action in sport. One current problem faced is the difficulty of disseminating child protection information to clubs and associations who depend on volunteers.

Many sports depend on the Play by the Rules website run by the Australian Sports Commission which offers training courses on child abuse however it is unclear how accessible this site is to all participants in the sporting community.

The AOC’s decision to enforce Member Protection Policies will urge sporting federations to ensure that information is received and understood by all those that come into contact with young players. Mr Coates also stated that the AOC will implement a child protection training program, stating that staff and leaders will be trained to “identify if there’s any grooming or inappropriate conduct”. For the Rio Olympic Games there are 10-12 children representing Australia and they should be encouraged to speak up, “feel comfortable and come forward and report an incident.”

Impact on schools

SBS has reported that a coalition of major sports including the football codes, cricket, tennis and netball (COMPPS) is willing to join a push to coerce governments to introduce a national approach on child protection.

The AOC reform is evidence of that organisation's support for national measures being adopted.

Given the prominence of sport in all aspects of Australian life, the push for change by sporting organisations demonstrates that child protection reform is a national issue and one which cannot be ignored.