Gymnastics Australia engaged the Australian Human Rights Commission (the Commission) in August 2020 to conduct an independent review of culture and practice at all levels of the sport of gymnastics in Australia. The Independent Review into Gymnastics in Australia (the Review) was requested by Gymnastics Australia following the release of the documentary `Athlete A`. The documentary sparked a global sharing of experiences of abuse in the sport, via social media, with several former athletes and parents of former athletes coming forward in Australia. By engaging with members and former members across the gymnastics community in Australia, and undertaking a high-level evaluation of policy and procedures, the Review led to a comprehensive understanding of the culture of the sport, including systemic risk factors for child abuse and neglect, misconduct, bullying, abuse, sexual harassment and assault towards athletes. Some of these risk factors also exist in many other sports, including significant power disparities between athletes and coaches and administrators. However, the Commission found that unique facets of gymnastics, including the extremely high proportion of young female athletes, contribute to a high-risk environment for abuse and for the maintenance and reinforcement of negative societal stereotypes and ideals around gender. Placing the voices of children and young people and their families at the centre, this report outlines the Commission`s key findings and presents 12 recommendations for whole of sport change. The implementation of the Commission`s recommendations requires engagement and action across all levels of the sport. Such action will be a step towards achieving transformative cultural change and ensuring that the human rights of gymnasts across Australia are upheld. As a sport where the participants are predominantly young girls and women, there is an opportunity for gymnastics to play a societal role in driving gender equality and challenging stereotypes of how young women and girls should behave and appear. Gymnasts have always been strong, powerful and capable. It is time for gymnastics as a global sport to recognise and celebrate this fact. The Commission also identified a `win-at-all-costs` culture that prevailed across the sport and found that this created unacceptable risks for the safety and wellbeing of often very young gymnasts. Gymnastics at all levels of the sport—national, state and club—has a responsibility to put the wellbeing and safety of all athletes, particularly those who are children and young adults, at the forefront of everything it does. Effective cultural change for every athlete in every gym across the country will only be realised when strong leadership at all levels of the sport commit to a collaborative and holistic approach to addressing the challenges outlined in this report. Each section of the report focuses on a distinct aspect of the sport`s culture and includes analysis of the main identified challenges. Summary of findings and recommendations The Commission has made five overarching key findings and 12 recommendations. These are summarised below. Finding: Current coaching practices create a risk of abuse and harm to athletes. Additionally, hiring practices for coaching staff lack accountability and there are inconsistent policies and systems to regulate their behaviour. 1: Transform education to skills development for coaches 2: Strengthen coach engagement and accountability 3: Develop a national social media policy 4: Broaden the sport`s understanding of child abuse and neglect 5: Encourage and promote athlete empowerment and participation 6: Provide a formal acknowledgement and apology to all members of the gymnastics community in Australia who have experienced any form of abuse in the sport 7: Develop a skills-based training and support program for all athletes to prevent and address eating disorders and disordered eating 8: Develop and refine resources relating to body image, weight management practices and eating disorders, to improve consistency and support effective implementation 9: All matters regarding child abuse and neglect, misconduct, bullying, sexual harassment, and assault be investigated externally of the sport 10: Establish interim and ongoing oversight over relevant complaints at all levels of the sport 11: Establish a toll-free triage, referral and reporting telephone service operated by SIA 12: Align current governance with Sport Australia`s Sport Governance Principles more consistently and effectively The Commission has distilled Sport Australia`s Sport Governance Principles into four areas related to successful governance within the current federated model: effective partnerships and collaboration; robust engagement and participation; consistency and accessibility; and accountability and transparency. The Commission recommends that Gymnastics Australia and all state and territory associations work collaboratively to: - revise board engagement with child safety matters, including oversight of child-safety audits (to be undertaken at all levels of the sport—national, state and club) - develop shared goals and outcomes for matters relating to child safety at all levels of the sport - prioritise athlete voices and needs at the board level - adopt and implement SIA`s child safe recruitment and screening resources - deliver consistent and ongoing online and face-to-face MPIO training across all levels of the sport - establish a formal mechanism to facilitate ongoing collaboration between personnel responsible for child safety and child protection at all levels of the sport - address obstacles to escalating relevant complaints from clubs to state and territory associations and Gymnastics Australia, where appropriate, including determinations regarding employment.
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