Athlete Rights Australia acknowledges the traditional owners of country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to elders past, present and future.

Major international win for survivors, their families, and ARA

Thank you to journalist David Mark and all the crew who have been on this journey for four years - September 2021 onwards. We have lobbied SIA, GA, briefed politicians for Senates Estimates, gone on the 7.30 report and lodged with the GEF in 2022. It’s a journey that’s been far too long. It should never have come to this.

Now, at last, we have a decision that informs the entire gymnastics community on what safeguarding investigations should be like.

Not all our social links are active, so please contribute on my LinkedIn page here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alison-quigley-95871577

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-03/gymnastics-australia-found-to-breach-human-right-report/105726400

👉 For safeguarding to work in Australia and globally, we must have robust investigation processes.

👉 This means, at a minimum, that investigators adhere to wrap-around trauma-informed processes. This means considering key evidence, interviewing key witnesses, garnering sufficient information to demonstrate both arguments were considered, ensuring counter statements are fact-checked with both parties, and that reports are sufficiently transparent to show good workmanship.

👉 Unfortunately, and problematically, current and historical cases that Athlete Rights Australia have to hand demonstrate hashtag#SportIntegrityAustralia hasn't yet found a consistent, reliable approach that reflects all the processes above.

👉 Sports bodies adopting SIA outcomes may be trusting the process has been robust when it's not.

👉 From a legal perspective, this means the national sports body assumes the risk. The risk is not mitigated and the harmful practices continue.

👉 Sports bodies must therefore be receptive to issues with SIA processes, such as those flagged in this case, who said - for four years - the job was not done properly.

👉 When sports bodies fail to respect this re-examination process, they risk being sued, as does the investigating body. The push-back is counterproductive, as it leads to damage to reputation, as this case shows.

👉 Beyond all this is our ethic of care. These derelict processes, described in the article, create more harm to children and families, with a compounding effect. I am talking about PTSD, self-harm, self-hate, eating disorders, and suicide. These are all very serious public health issues.

👉 This secondary form of harm is recognised in the literature as systems abuse.

👉 Lawyers who work with victims and survivors of gendered and family violence will know this term well.

👉 This article evidences how it occurs in sport.

👉 Solutions require a whole of systems approach with survivors placed at the centre, invited to co-design protections

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David Mark hits the Mark with this article, linked here. Mark's story represents marvellous news - an apology from Volleyball Australia after decades of silence in the face of abuse suffered by multiple athletes. Jacob Holmes and Laura Sigal have done a magnificent job of holding their ground while Volleyball Australia resist cultural change. Thanks also go to the ASC's Kieran Perkins for weighing in.

Ultimately my deepest regards go to these brave athletes who spoke out about their abuse despite all the challenges that disclosure brings on. Without their bravery, we have no intervention and the cycle continues unabated with more children and athletes harmed. Thank you to these athletes, past and present, for enduring through the re-traumatisation that adverse institutional responses bring on, and for holding firm in making sure the events were raised to public attention.

Aspects of this story that still need to be addressed:

👉 When does the public receive the full report?
👉 Was Volleyball Australia receiving public funding while it was busy resisting cultural change?
👉 Where does specific accountability for the coaches fit in all of this?
👉 When past and present athletes contribute to reviews, who takes responsibility for implementing outcomes?
👉 Who will regulate this space if the outcomes are not implemented?

Recently, I contributed to a review of the Australian Sports Commission Act which goes some way towards answering this last question. Stay tuned! Contact Follow

News just in…

ARA co-founder Alison Quigley is thrilled to hear the news that the indomitable Gym Alliance Aus team over in West Australia, headed up by Julia Murcia and her colleagues, has secured a redress scheme for athletes who were harmed in gymnastics. Although the scheme is limited to $15,000 per applicant and does not compensate for the harms, the acknowledgment is critical. ARA thanks the West Australian government and specifically Sports Minister David Templeman for facilitating this shift.

The scheme is a timely reminder that children in sport have a right to safety, held sacred under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child at Article 3.

To read the article please click on the link here for the ABC article https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-29/former-wais-gymnasts-acknowledgement-payments/103906764?utm_source=abc_news_app&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_campaign=abc_news_app&utm_content=other

Or here for the Ministerial statement https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/Cook-Labor-Government/Former-WAIS-gymnasts-to-be-offered-acknowledgement-payments-20240529

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Major international win for survivors, their families, and ARA