Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to support the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Amendment Bill 2009, which seeks to amend the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Act 2006, the ASADA Act, to reflect new structural and governance arrangements for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority. This bill implements recommendations of an independent review of ASADA, commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing in 2008. The review found that the current structure was impacting on the ability of ASADA to operate at its optimum capacity. The review also found that ASADA’s governance structure did not clearly define the roles and responsibilities of the ASADA chair, who was also the head of the agency and of the ASADA members.

A number of recommendations and proposed legislative changes were made by the review to ensure ASADA operates solely as an agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997. This will include an advisory group with a separate chief executive responsible for reporting directly to the minister. In line with the recommendations of the review, this bill will create a new ASADA chief executive officer position and a new advisory group to provide advice to the new ASADA CEO on sports doping, will establish a new Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel and alter the way the National Anti-Doping Scheme can be amended by the new CEO.

The creation of a new CEO position and a new advisory group is being proposed to clearly define the roles and responsibilities within ASADA. The CEO position will be responsible for directing ASADA in carrying out functions prescribed under the ASADA Act, including financial responsibilities normally expected of a CEO under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 and the Public Service Act.

The new advisory group created under this legislation will be just that: one with advisory functions. Members of the group will be appointed by the Minister for Sport and will have specialist skills in areas including education and training, sports medicine, sports law, ethics and investigations. It should be noted that members of the new advisory group will not be eligible for appointment to the CEO position.

The new Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel being created by this bill will replace the current Anti-Doping Rule Violation Committee. The new panel will have responsibility for making decisions in relation to anti-doping rule violations and provide recommendations on further action to the ASADA CEO and staff. The panel will consist of members with specialist skills, such as sports law, medicine and pharmacology. In a move to avoid any perception of conflict, the ASADA CEO, staff and members of the new advisory group will be ineligible to sit on the new board.

The third major part of this legislation is an alteration in the way the National Anti-Doping scheme can be amended by the new CEO. The National Anti-Doping scheme ensures Australia remains compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. When changes are made to the World Anti-Doping Code, the scheme is amended to reflect these changes. Under the current arrangements, ASADA can only change the scheme as a whole by way of a written instrument. Under the new arrangements, the CEO will still make changes via a written instrument, but the bill will include additional matters on which the CEO can make changes. These allow for changing sections of the scheme as opposed to changing the scheme as a whole.

The coalition supports the intent of the bill. We need to ensure that Australia’s anti-doping efforts are operating to their maximum capacity. The former coalition government improved Australia’s anti-doping efforts by establishing ASADA in 2006 and giving it strong powers to investigate and present cases as well as exchanging information with other enforcement agencies. ASADA was given the power to investigate suspected anti-doping rule violations, make recommendations on its findings and present cases against alleged offenders at sporting tribunals. In 2007-08, the former coalition government provided an additional $2.24 million to ASADA for enhanced investigation of alleged doping violations and the subsequent preparation and submission of briefs in relation to individual cases, bringing the total funding to $12.9 million. ASADA now conducts approximately 4,200 government funded tests each year.

The former government also took a tough stance on illicit drugs in sport, which began in 1997 with the $1.6 billion National Illicit Drug Strategy, known as the ‘Tough on Drugs’ campaign. We launched the Stamp Out Doping hotline in March 2006 so that people could report information about possible doping in sport. We also established the Register of Findings in March 2006, which makes public the names of athletes who have committed a violation. The initiation of the Athletes Whereabouts Information Register was also implemented in March 2006 to further facilitate ASADA’s no-advance-notice testing program so that athletes could be located at any time and be tested.

The policies of the former coalition government ensured that ASADA developed a strong international reputation as a world leader in best practice anti-doping regulations. The use of drugs in sport is a widespread problem in Australia and worldwide. The Australian Prescriber in an issue of their publication said:

As sport becomes more competitive some people are tempted to cheat to improve their chances of winning. People who cheat by abusing medicines may be banned from sport if they are caught. They are also risking their health. Some athletes have died because they abused medicines.

Unfortunately, we hear about and see in the media well-known sports stars who are caught up in drug issues, be they performance-enhancing drugs or social drugs. I was really concerned to read an article by Sean Parnell in the Australian dated 13 March, 2008, which stated that a survey conducted by Curtin University showed that ‘up to 30 per cent of Australia’s top athletes believe they could get away with using performance-enhancing drugs if they wanted to’. The article also referred to ‘the rationale for ASADA’s tough stance on drugs, including its work with Customs, targeted testing and long-term storage of samples’. What I did note in the article, however, was the quote that ‘higher level athletes endorsed tougher penalties for doping, with 72 per cent of Olympic and world championship advocating a life ban for a second offence’.

We all know that sport is part of our Australian identity and culture. Australians love sport. Just look at the numbers who regularly attend and participate in AFL, netball—like my colleague Mr Irons—soccer, Rugby League and Rugby Union, cricket, the Olympics and golf. The list is extensive and the numbers of us who watch and participate on a regular basis is also extensive. But I believe Australians also support the notion of a fair go, the level playing field.

We are all aware of the health benefits of sport: families simply sharing the day together with their children, the social interaction, a way of building friendships and, hopefully, improving skills and physical fitness along the way. It is also a wonderful way for children to just have fun together. Sport can also assist in reducing antisocial behaviour. We know of these benefits. The value of sport in regional communities, though, cannot be underestimated. It is often the glue that brings communities together and holds them together. Sporting clubs also provide a sense of belonging for young people with problem backgrounds or those who are facing major challenges in their lives. They often find very genuine and caring mentors around sporting clubs.

We need to also give as much confidence as possible to the parents of children that their children are safe pursuing the sport of their choice both when they are young and in their community club or their sporting environment and throughout their time in their chosen sport or sports. We also know the value that sport and regular physical activity have and how highly valued they are by both parents and children, but we need to encourage safe, healthy options and, for career athletes, an illicit-drug-free environment. Drugs, as we know, put lives at risk and threaten something that is often overlooked by those who engage: it threatens the quality of life both during and after the sport itself. I note that the World Anti-Doping Code includes such substances as anabolic steroids, various growth hormones, diuretics and masking agents, stimulants, narcotics and other drugs.

Athletes will face tougher penalties, with all of the nation’s 91 sporting organisations signing up to the World Anti-Doping Agency code effective from 1 January. This international code, which is a prerequisite for Olympic participation, will double the ban from sport to four years for athletes caught intentionally doping. Importantly for coaching and sporting support and assistance personnel, anyone involved in administering prohibited substances or athletes who fail a second doping test can now receive a lifetime ban. Athletes will also be tested for illicit drugs as well as performance-enhancing drugs on match day and will have to nominate a time period for random drug testing each day. I note that John Fahey, the President of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has said that ‘Australia sets a strong example in the battle against drugs in sport’. He also said:

The information provided to ASADA by Customs and the Australian Federal Police allows a far greater likelihood of catching cheats than simply testing …

I note the health and wellbeing of AFL players is a priority in the code’s illicit drug policy and on their website. Mr Irons would agree with that. AFL Players Association President Joel Bowden said:

“AFL players are, no doubt, among the most highly-tested athletes in the world,”

…            …            …

“Not only do we have testing for performance-enhancing drugs with matchday in-competition testing, we also have out-of-competition testing with the illicit drug policy.

“It is, no doubt, the most strenuous testing policy in Australia and to have such a [large] group of players volunteer for this shows that not only are they concerned about the image of the game—

that wonderful game of AFL—

but also about the health and welfare of their fellow players.”

“Illicit drugs are an issue in society and they can be a problem if you don’t get on top of a bad decision or a poor choice in your life and make some improvements to that behaviour.”

Bowden said the strategy, which was formulated in consultation with respected medical practitioners and health professionals, had been effective in helping to improve player behaviour and education since its implementation.

“I support the AFL’s illicit drugs policy because fundamentally it’s based on the best medical advice,” he said.

“We’ve had the illicit drug policy in now for a number of years and we’ve seen that it’s changing the behaviour of our players and we’re having less numbers of positives including the fact that we’re having more tests.

“So the medical experts have agreed that this is the best policy and we’re sticking by it.

“The key benefit of the policy is [to] the health and welfare of our players.

A priority, Mr Irons.

That is paramount in any decision that we’ve made in coming to [the introduction] of an illicit drugs policy.“We volunteered for the policy a number of years ago and we feel that there are wide-reaching benefits across our group. We acknowledge that illicit drugs are an issue in society, we know this and we want to combat it by saying no to illicit drugs.“We’ve put the policy in place to make a firm stand that AFL players say no to illicit drugs.”

And I encourage them in that. With my personal significant interest in the AFL I encourage all players, coaches, trainers and personnel at every level of not only AFL but every sport to consider the health and welfare of players of all ages as their No. 1 priority as part of their duty of care. Often, our elite sports men and women have a limited time and opportunity at the peak level. There is much life after sport. There are many years of living beyond this highly competitive stage of your career or life. The longer term health and wellbeing of players should also be priorities for all involved, including the athletes themselves, who should take personal responsibility for the choices they make.

Educating young athletes about the risks of drug use needs to become an integral part of each sporting code’s standard procedure. Several agencies at various levels of government are engaged directly in this issue, but at a local level in my electorate of Forrest there are a number of groups actively encouraging the public to say no to drugs. In a very simple way a local group of residents continually promote a ‘say no to drugs, say yes to life’ message through a series of informative booklets. The booklets are aimed at young people and teenagers. This group has a shared focus with the National Drug Strategy to minimise drug use through education targeted at the ages young people are statistically likely to be exposed to drugs. I am extremely supportive of the work and efforts in this field of this and other groups in my electorate. Given the continuing very serious issue of illicit drugs in sport and in society, the coalition endorses the restructure and governance arrangements for ASADA, and therefore supports this legislation.

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Amendment Bill 2009. I would like to acknowledge the contribution from the member for Forrest, but I correct her and say that I played AFL and not netball.

Nola Marino (Forrest, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But you are good at both!

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yes, thank you. I also recognise contributions from the member for Makin, who has competed in sport at high levels, and also the member for Cowan, who was a state representative. I saw them make their presentations here yesterday. I have had some experience of professional sport in this country, having played at a semiprofessional level for the east Perth football club in the Western Australian Football League. From my experience I can say the majority of sportspeople do not take performance-enhancing drugs. Like many matters we discuss in this place we have to cater for the minority that deliberately break the rules. All of us have seen the damage done to sports by athletes caught taking performance-enhancing drugs. On these occasions sport is often brought into disrepute and this makes it worse for everyone who is involved in the sport.

The actions of individuals often blight a country’s reputation on the international stage as well. The allegations against double Olympic gold medal winner Maurice Greene compounded a series of allegations against US sprinters. Marion Jones, who we all remember winning five gold medals in Sydney, is now serving a prison sentence for perjury after admitting to taking drugs. Tim Montgomery set a world record of 9.78 seconds in 2002 but was banned in 2005 after he was implicated in the Bay Area Laboratory Co-operative, or BALCO, affair. Further back Ben Johnson was stripped of his gold medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul after winning the 100 metres in a world record time of 9.79 seconds.

Jones and Montgomery were involved in the BALCO scandal, where athletes were accused of taking a concoction of performance-enhancing drugs, allegedly designed by the Bay Area Laboratory Co-Operative, to avoid being revealed in urine and blood testing. Five drugs in particular are alleged to have been used, including EPO, which is a human growth hormone, modafinil, testosterone cream and tetrahydrogestrinone, or THG.

Members will probably be most aware of EPO, which improves the ability of red blood cells to carry and transport oxygen. THG is a designer anabolic steroid, making the user bigger and stronger. This was the main drug distributed by BALCO and it ultimately proved to be the drug had brought down the organisation. BALCO sold the substances undetected between 1988 and 2002, until a US federal investigation began. At this time Don Catlin, the founder and then director of UCLA Olympic Analytical Laboratory, developed a testing process for the drug THG. He then proceeded to test 550 existing samples, of which 20 prove to be positive for THG.

The BALCO scandal tells us two things. First, it demonstrates how the actions of a few athletes can tarnish the reputation of not only a sport but also an entire country. Members will also remember the case of Raylene Boyle, who was robbed of two gold medals, and Renatta Strecher, which tainted the reputation of the East Germans. After the wall came down, we all know about the endemic problems in their sport; it was all about achieving gold medals and not about looking after their athletes. Second, it demonstrates the need to keep a close eye on the organisations that provide assistance to our elite athletes. If a BALCO had been allowed to develop in Australia and provide assistance to Australian athletes the good name of Australian sport would have been tarnished. These both point to the importance of Commonwealth involvement in this matter, the need for strong anti-doping laws and an effective anti-doping organisation in Australia. I certainly support the intent of this bill, which attempts to provide for the latter.

The bill is based on the recommendations of the independent review of ASADA, which was commissioned by the Department of Health and Ageing last year. ASADA has come under some criticism in the past, in particular for its handling of Ian Thorpe, who was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing. I would not want to cast any aspersions on this case, but I accept that there are ways in which the structure of ASADA can be improved.

I want to briefly make reference to the three main effects that this legislation will have. Firstly, the legislation will create a new ASADA chief executive officer to replace the chair and head of the agency and a new advisory group that will clarify the roles and responsibilities within ASADA. The Minister for Sport is to hand-pick this advisory group, which usually raises alarm bells when this government is concerned. This is of course the same government that gave us Professor Stuart Macintyre, a former Communist Party member, whose work includes a history of Marxism in Britain, and that promoted him as an independent voice on education, capable of designing a national curriculum. So we will be keeping an eye on the minister’s appointment for this ASADA position.

The second part of this legislation is to establish a new antidoping rule violation panel, which will have responsibility for antidoping rule violations and provide recommendations on further actions to the ASADA CEO and staff.

The third component that this legislation will alter is the way the National Anti-Doping Scheme can be amended by the new CEO. This is generally a technical amendment, whereby the new CEO will be able to make changes to the National Anti-doping Scheme, as opposed to the former system where changes had to be made by written instrument.

The changes are fairly uncontroversial and, as I said before, the coalition supports the intent of this legislation. We want to ensure we are getting the most out of our antidoping efforts. We are the party that implemented ASADA in 2006, and I note that it has developed an international reputation as a world leader in best practice antidoping regulations. We are committed to the National Anti-doping Scheme, which ensures that Australia remains compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.

The practice of taking performance enhancing drugs goes back a long way. The Parliamentary Library have even traced the practice back to the use of hallucinogenics by the ancient Greeks. However, it was the death of an athlete at the 1960 Olympic Games which prompted a process of establishing guidelines relating to what constituted illegal performance-enhancing drugs. This eventually led to the establishment of the World Anti-doping Agency in February 1999. The Australian government was a signatory to the WADA Code and the International Convention against Doping in Sport and as such was required to implement code-compliant anti-doping policies. At this time the Australian Sports Drug Agency was only responsible for drug education. All investigations into the use of performance enhancing drugs were undertaken by the relevant sporting bodies in conjunction with the Australian Sports Commission. A much criticised investigation by Cycling Australia and the ASC in 2004 prompted the Commonwealth to create ASADA—the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

Today the World Anti-Doping Code 2009 states:

Anti-doping programs seek to preserve what is intrinsically valuable about sport. The intrinsic value is often referred to as the spirit of sport; it is the essence of Olympism; it is how we play true. The spirit of sport is the celebration of human spirit, body and mind and is characterised by the following values: ethics, fair play and honesty; health; excellence in performance; character and education; fun and joy; teamwork; dedication and commitment; respect for rules and laws; respect for self and other participants; courage; and community and solidarity. Doping is fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport and undermines all of those beliefs.

I agree with each of these points. My priority as a member of parliament and the director of junior development for Perth Football Club is to pass this message on to youngsters. This is partly about having a zero tolerance approach on the topic of performance enhancing drugs in Australia. Catching the cheats does send a strong message to the kids and ASADA now conducts approximately 4,200 government-funded tests a year, so many of our younger sportsmen and women will have been tested. However we must also look towards promoting the values of sport that I have just mentioned. Sport is about ethics, health, fun and joy and particularly community and solidarity and participation. Let us encourage excellence, but excellence should come after and as a product of the other qualities, so that doping does not even feature as an option in the minds of our future sportsmen and women.

I fear this government has lost its way when it comes to sport. I was looking through the minister’s media releases the other day and I could find only a tiny proportion devoted to junior sport. I see that the parliamentary secretary, the member for Blaxland, is here to deliver the minister’s response. He and I participated in a momentous sporting event when we knocked off the media last year in a cricket game. There were certainly no performance enhancing drugs on that day. There are media releases on the website on support for a world conference on women in sport and proud announcements concerning the appointment of executives. I am sure these are all worthy projects, but the minister is ignoring junior sport. She is sleepwalking through this parliamentary term without getting to grips with or showing a thorough understanding of sport in this country. The government is more concerned about amending immigration laws to allow Russian ice skaters to win gold medals for Australia than it is with grassroots sport in suburbs in my electorate like Belmont, Queens Park and Linwood, who are desperately crying out for infrastructure support for their sporting clubs. I will continue to promote grassroots sport in my electorate and I will continue to urge the government to take a similar approach at a national level. I commend the bill to the House.

Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to sum up debate on the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Amendment Bill 2009. The Rudd government is committed to ensuring that sport continues to be played in a domain which is safe and equitable for all Australian athletes and their support personnel and to ensuring that performance-enhancing drugs are detected, dealt with and deterred at every opportunity. These reforms will enable the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to continue to deliver its prescribed functions efficiently and effectively and to be well placed to handle the ever-changing challenges within the fight against drugs into the future. These reforms will provide greater clarity and transparency to the structural and governance arrangements of ASADA and provide an effective framework for the delivery of the Australian government’s antidoping priorities to ensure Australia remains a world leader in the fight against drugs in sport.

This bill brings into alignment ASADA’s governance arrangements with those of a traditional model for a Financial Management and Accountability Act, or FMA, agency. ASADA will remain an FMA agency but will cease to be a corporate entity with a separate legal identity from the Commonwealth. In addition, these changes will further deliver on recommendations of the independent review of ASADA which sees ASADA being headed up by a CEO who will be responsible for operational and strategic matters. In line with the recommendations of the independent review, an advisory group will be established to assist the CEO in the development, implementation and delivery of core business matters. The establishment of this advisory group will give the CEO access to individuals with specialist skills and knowledge to assist him or her on matters such as education, testing and investigation. The targeting of members’ skills and knowledge ensures that the advice and support that the advisory group provides are not only of the highest quality but are appropriate.

Under the bill, the newly established Anti-Doping Rules Violation Panel will be responsible for making decisions on antidoping rule violations, recommendations about follow-up actions and sanctions. They will also be responsible for maintaining the register of findings. The Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel will consist of members with specialist knowledge and experience in sports law, ethics, medicine and pharmacology. Australian athletes and support personnel can be confident that the decisions regarding an antidoping rule violation will be at arm’s length not only from the government but also from ASADA, which is responsible for testing, investigation of possible rule violations and prosecution of such violations.

The bill also gives effect to a number of other changes to ensure that the ASADA Act maintains consistency with the revision of the World Anti-Doping Code which came into effect on 1 January 2009. With those comments, I commend the bill to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Ordered that the bill be reported to the House without amendment.