Complaints relating to women’s program to be handled by SIA

Hockey Australia, Sport Integrity Australia and the National Sports Tribunal have reached an agreement to manage any complaints arising from the independent inquiry into HA’s Women’s High-Performance Program.

This will ensure an independent, end to end complaint management process.

The agreement has been established to complement the current inquiry and add an additional layer of independence for any specific complaints relating to the program since December 2016.

Sport Integrity Australia will receive, assess and manage complaints related to the Australian Women’s hockey program, while the National Sports Tribunal will deal with any disputes that arise through that complaints process, through mediation, conciliation, or arbitration.

Individuals will be able to lodge formal complaints to Sport Integrity Australia through a dedicated reporting line and email address.  

Sport Integrity Australia will assess complaints under Hockey Australia’s Member Protection Policy and, applying the Hockey Australia Complaints and Disputes Policy, will identify the most appropriate mechanism for resolution.

This may include further investigation by Sport Integrity Australia and/or independent dispute resolution facilitated by the National Sports Tribunal.

All other integrity matters, including member protection issues outside this scope, will continue to be managed through Hockey Australia’s existing complaint handling processes.

Further details about the process are being finalised and will be made available in the coming weeks with the formal process to commence in January 2021.