Thank you to all of you for your continued contribution to the development of the six disciplines within Skate Australia inclusive of Artistic Skating, Inline Hockey, Rink Hockey, Roller Derby, Skateboarding and Speed Skating.
It is important to regularly reflect on the way in which we carry out our roles and given the environment that all sport is currently operating in, now is a particularly important time to reflect on the responsibilities we all have. We must ensure everyone in the Skate Australia community is working towards a safe, fair, and inclusive environment for all stakeholders. Stakeholders include Board members, administration staff, coaches, officials, support personnel, volunteers, parents, athletes, and any person that works in a paid or voluntary role within our Skate Community.
Skate Australia have taken an important and positive step forward on 1 May 2022 this year by adopting and implementing Sport Integrity Australia’s National Integrity Framework. The National Integrity Framework is a suite of policies that help our sport manage any threats to sports integrity including competition manipulation, doping, and behaviours that impact people’s positive experiences of sport, such as bullying, discrimination, abuse, and any prohibited behaviours against children and minors in our sport.
Skate Australia and our State Associations take integrity issues seriously. All our members have an obligation to protect and maintain the integrity of our sport, as well as the health and wellbeing of our athletes and all stakeholders from the International Level right through to our grassroots community sport.
Skate Australia has opted into the Sport Integrity Australia independent complaints handling process for integrity-related issues run by Sport Integrity Australia. This means concerns or complaints about alleged breaches of our National Integrity Framework can be reported directly to Sport Integrity Australia through the following methods:
· Filling in a formal complaint or reporting a concern through the form on the Sport Integrity Australia website
· Phoning 13 000 272 32
· Completing the ‘report an issue’ form in the Sport Integrity App. This can be anonymous if you choose.
As a responsible member of Australian sport - this is a positive step to improving Skate’s response to integrity issues across our sport. We ask everyone to read and absorb all the policies on the Sport Integrity page of Skate Australia’s website and watch the embedded videos to understand the importance of this space. There will be ongoing Sport Integrity Australia training on these policies in due course.
To provide a professional environment for all stakeholders in which everyone feels valued and respected, we ask that you consider and reflect on the following:
· Importance of regular positive communication and respectful behaviour towards others
o The importance of regular and positive communication and inclusiveness towards others cannot be overstated. This should start whenever you welcome a new athlete, family, coach, administrator, or any person willing to dedicate their time to the Skate community into your environment. Skate Australia is committed to ensuring that everyone is treated with dignity and respect and poor standards of behaviour will not be accepted.
· Promotion of child welfare and protection is paramount
o All children have a right to a safe and secure environment in any Skate community that they enter – all members of the Skate community should understand what an inclusive and child-safe environment encompasses and endorse and adhere to the standards expected.
· Holistic development of athletes
o Athletes of all ages require holistic support. That might be a nutritionist or a medical practitioner, that might be just mum or dad providing advice and support. In all cases, whether engaged or recommended by you or not, be open to the importance of holistic development. Similarly, to the above, be positive about it. You may not agree with an approach taken by a family, and of course advise them of that in a positive way but be respectful of decisions they may make and deliver your views respectfully and be prepared to take into account their views.
· Perception of favouritism
o A common thing heard regularly is that some athletes or individual stakeholders are favoured more than others. As an example, from time to time, various athletes will be at different progress rates and of course it will be easier to be positive with those that are currently achieving plenty of progress. Always be mindful of being fair to all members of your skate communities and reducing any perception of favouritism.
· Reporting of issues and concerns
o We wanted to impress upon you the importance of reporting any issues and concerns to the appropriate people.
o If you become aware of serious allegations of abuse or other unacceptable behaviour that occurs within the Skate Australia community ensure you report that to the appropriate person and for matters that are included under the Sport Integrity Australia banner, please report them via the process mentioned above.
o It is important to be aware that if you breach a National Integrity Framework Policy, you could be sanctioned.
o “If you see something, say something.”
For any sport integrity enquiries or education opportunities, please contact our National Integrity and Complaints Manager, Jodie Purves via integrity@skateaustralia.org.au
Thanking you,
Caitlin Honey,
Interim Chief Executive Officer