The 3 changes Australian sport must make after Volleyball Australia’s shocking abuse report

The Paris Olympics has commenced with much excitement as fans soak in athletic achievements, medal counts and inspiring stories of success and triumph.

While we celebrate these accomplishments, we must also consider the price paid for these medals.

Not the cost in terms of money – the human cost. The physical and psychological toll of what athletes must endure in sport environments.

A prime example is the “environment of fear” some volleyball athletes endured at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), which was recently revealed by a Sports Integrity Australia review into volleyball in Australia.

Aussie sports under the microscope

Since the Tokyo Olympics, there have been three major reviews in Olympic sports in this country: Swimming Australia, Gymnastics Australia and last week Volleyball Australia.

All reviews uncovered systemic cultures of abusive practices. The organisations involved subsequently issued apologies for historical wrongs and made recommendations for future.

Last week, as all eyes were on the Olympic athletes arriving in Paris, Volleyball Australia quietly posted an apology to past athletes for an investigation that commenced prior to the last Olympics in Tokyo.

The apology came two years after Sports Integrity Australia finalised an independent review of women athletes who suffered harm during the time they were members of the Australian women’s indoor volleyball team between 1997 to 2005 while at the AIS.

Similar to previous reports in other sports, an executive summary recognised the systemic verbal and physical abuse of athletes, noting athletes endured coercive control, excessive punishments, body shaming, excessive physical training as a form of punishment and forced isolation from family or friends.

A recent ABC article provides a more detailed account from one of the former athletes, stating:

We were belittled and called “weak”, “pathetic” and “useless” by coaches and accused of “making excuses” when we were in fact injured […] it was an environment where no athlete could thrive and some were broken and driven out of the program.

The youngest athlete was a 14-year-old girl.

On the surface, the sport’s response of an apology and promise to do better ticks all the boxes.

Dig a little deeper though and it becomes clear there is often a lack of transparency in reporting to the public, athletes and their families (Swimming Australia and Volleyball Australia did not release full reports publicly). To their credit, Gymnastics Australia did release a full report.

But there is little accountability, monitoring or enforcement by government funders to ensure sports meet their review requirements. There are no financial sanctions, as funding for sport continues to be largely performance based.

Apologies that took too long (two years in the case of Volleyball Australia) and scant detail about other forms of redress provided to athletes.

Sport in Australia continues to act as a “special space”, whereby the rules followed in broader society often do not apply.

Systemic abuse in sport

These reports are not the first to uncover abuse in Australian sport.

As early as 2010, the Australian Sports Commission released a report that indicated high rates of players witnessing and experiencing abuse across Australian sports.

Recent research has also highlighted high rates of abuse in Australian community sport as well as a normalised culture of abuse in sport underpinned by a belief that abuse can be “functional” for motivating athletes and making them perform better.

The serious long-term negative consequences of abuse for athletes are well documented. Athletes who experience abuse suffer psychologically and physically; their performance drops and they can become injured, depressed, marginalised and traumatised.

Despite high rates of abuse in sport and continued calls for changes, athletes often go unheard, dismissed or ignored.

Athlete survivors who participate in reviews desire change to the sport so others will not have to suffer as they have done.

This cycle of abuse, review, apology, and limited acknowledgement has become a rinse, wash and repeat cycle that must not continue.

How to break the cycle

Put simply, the current system is not working. Athletes are people first and athletes second.

As Australian Olympians (Natalie and Victoria) and sports scholars, we believe respect for athletes’ safety and human rights is a must.

So, what’s needed?

1. Transparency

If we are to learn, change and hold institutions to account, full investigation reports must be made available to the public. The truth should not be hidden or sanitised, and the athletes’ voices should be heard.

To that end, gag orders on athletes and their families must cease; non-disclosure agreements are a common mechanism to silence athletes and families, with evidence of this tactic being employed by Volleyball Australia and Gymnastics Australia.

In her role of Sex Discrimination Commissioner, Kate Jenkins, now the Australian Sports Commission chair, told corporate Australia gag orders leave perpetrators in place, escalate abuse of powers and prevent victims from accessing proper support.

Without transparency we are unable to look under the hood and call for accountability.

2. Accountability

Sport bodies need to be held accountable for the recommendations stemming from these investigations.

Currently, there is no way of knowing whether review recommendations have been adhered to by sports, and, realistically, there is no clarity on who can hold them accountable within the current structure.

Sports bodies should have a clear duty to provide safe sporting environments for athletes.

3. Redress

When abuse occurs, sporting bodies have the responsibility of providing redress, or compensation for wrong or loss.

In simple terms, sports need to restore athletes to the situation they would have been in before their abuse (rarely possible in terms of health consequences), or to compensate them in some way if not.

Redress is both a process and an outcome. It is not a one-size-fits-all approach.

The needs of individual athletes must be considered and every effort must be made to support survivors in being “seen, believed and valued.”

Transparency is an essential element of redress.

Putting ‘win well’ into practice

The current systems of investigation and reporting lack transparency, accountability and holistic redress. Without these three elements, sports run the risk of re-traumatising athletes and continuing to violate their human rights.

As Australian sports continue to champion a “win well” strategy in this Olympics and in the lead-up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics, our country must work out just how to put this into practice.