Sport is a part of the essential fabric of our society. It's part of our heritage, part of our culture and part of what makes our nation great. Around the world, we are known for our sporting achievements, punching far above our weight and achieving success across the board. At both the summer and winter Olympics, World Cups, world championships and international and local competitions, we compete, we're competitive, and a lot of the time we win. Yes, the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026 is about sport, but it's about much more than just sport. It's about fairness. It's about trust. It's about honesty. It's about protecting Australian athletes from exploitation. It's about ensuring that organised crime cannot buy its way into our sporting competitions. And, fundamentally, it's about protecting something that Australians rightly believe belongs to all of us: the integrity, unpredictability and excitement of sport.

For generations, Australians have grown up with sport as part of the fabric of our national life. We play it, we watch it, we coach it, and we volunteer at it. We cook the barbecue on the weekends. We shout in support from the sidelines. We take our children to weekend games, and we cheer them when we win. Sometimes we lose, but we always play our hardest.

Every week in my electorate of Whitlam, people enter the field, pitch, court, pool or track and compete with honesty, integrity and fairness. Sport gives young people a place to belong. It teaches teamwork, discipline, resilience and respect. It gives children the opportunity to make friends, challenge themselves and learn that sometimes you win, and sometimes you lose, but you can always have a team around you. And, when you're playing an individual sport, resilience is the strongest form of fitness.

We see that spirit right across my electorate of Whitlam, where there are organisations in my community that are much more than sporting clubs. They are community institutions. There are the parents washing the jerseys on Sunday night, the coach giving up their Saturday morning, the volunteer running the canteen and the person marking the lines, preparing the ground or putting away the equipment after everyone else has gone home.

The Albanese Labor government believes that when two teams walk out onto a field, a court, a truck or a pitch, the outcome should be determined by what happens in the contest, not by a criminal syndicate, not by a corrupt official, not by a bookmaker seeking an advantage and not by somebody sitting thousands of kilometres away sending instructions to an athlete who may be vulnerable to pressure or exploitation. Fairness, integrity, honesty, community and our social fabric—these are the principles at the heart of this bill.

Sport in Australia provides $83 billion in combined economic, health and educational benefits each year and makes a vital contribution towards our national identity. Match fixing has become increasingly linked to organised crime due to the potential financial benefits, and the new offences within this bill will help target those attempting to corrupt Australian sport for financial gain.

At present, our criminal law is uneven across jurisdictions. Some states and territories have specific offences. Others rely on general fraud provisions. Some offences are closely connected to betting, and others are not. That inconsistency creates gaps, and where there are gaps in the law, there are opportunities for people who are determined to exploit them.

This bill works to fill those gaps by establishing a national framework with seven new Commonwealth offences that aim to eliminate corruption from Australian sport and protect its integrity from the threat of match fixing and related harms. The offences are formulated to apply nationally, within Australia, as well as outside Australia in certain circumstances. This recognises that, due to the global nature of sports, integrity threats have increasingly become international. The offences contained in the bill will work alongside existing state and territory laws, with the aim of ensuring that sport is protected from a range of conduct that occurs both here and abroad.

Implementation of these offences will make Australia compliant with the Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, supporting an effective global response to international sport integrity matters. These offences are not designed to impede or affect the types of matters that sporting organisations currently investigate, which are currently addressed through the National Platform for Information Sharing, under the responsibility of Sports Integrity Australia. The national platform enables intelligence sharing and coordinated action between sporting organisations, wagering service providers, law enforcement and regulators both domestic and international.

Sport Integrity Australia's role will not change with the introduction of the new national sport integrity offences. The agency will continue to fulfil its role as Australia's national platform in the fight against the manipulation of sporting competitions. As the national platform, Sport Integrity Australia sits at the heart of Australia's response to match fixing. It provides a central point for the collection, analysis and sharing of intelligence and information that can help detect, disrupt and prevent attempts to manipulate sport.

The introduction of these new offences represents an important step forward in protecting the integrity of Australian sport. By strengthening and creating greater consistency across Commonwealth, state and territory laws, law enforcement agencies and prosecutors will be better equipped to investigate and prosecute those who seek to corrupt sporting competitions for their own gain.

The AFP will have a role in investigating offences that fall within the Commonwealth's jurisdiction and those involving a multijurisdictional element. However, responsibility for tackling match fixing will not sit solely with the AFP. It will remain a shared effort, with law enforcement agencies across Australia playing their part in protecting the sport that Australians love. Ultimately, these reforms are about more than creating new offences. They're about sending a clear message: Australian sport is not open for exploitation. Manipulation and match fixing threaten the trust, fairness and integrity that sits at the heart of sport.

By strengthening our laws and our collective response, we can make Australia a harder target for criminal infiltration and help ensure that athletes, fans and communities can continue to have confidence that sporting contests are decided on the field, not behind closed doors. This legislation also complements the government's broader gambling reforms, reinforcing a united commitment to protecting the integrity of Australian sport and reducing its appeal to those who would seek to exploit it for criminal purposes.

The bill introduces several offences that aim to rid our sports of unwanted and unfair practices that cripple the foundation of fairness in sport. First is an offence that prohibits engaging in conduct that would or would be likely to corrupt a sporting event with the intention of obtaining a benefit or avoiding or causing a detriment that would not otherwise be due because of participation in the sporting event. This would capture a circumstance such as a football player intentionally getting a yellow card to obtain payment from a third party. This offence would attract penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for individuals or a fine of 100,000 penalty units for bodies corporate.

Second is an offence that prohibits inducing the corruption of sporting events by providing a benefit to another person or related behaviours and be reckless as to whether that conduct would tend to influence a person to engage in conduct that corrupts a sporting event. This would capture a circumstance such as an organised crime member providing a payment to an athlete to ensure the athlete's team loses their next match. This offence would attract penalties of up to five years imprisonment for individuals or a fine of 50,000 penalty units for bodies corporate.

Third is an offence that prohibits asking for, receiving or obtaining or agreeing to receive or obtain a benefit and be reckless as to whether this would tend to influence the person to engage in conduct that corrupts a sporting event. This would capture a circumstance such as an athlete asking another person for a payment to lose their next match. This offence would attract penalties of up to five years imprisonment for individuals or a fine of 50,000 penalty units for bodies corporate.

Fourth is an offence prohibiting, altering, destroying or concealing information about the corruption of a sporting event where doing so facilitates, conceals or disguises obtaining a benefit, or avoiding or causing a detriment. This would capture a circumstance such as player A messaging player B, saying player A will deliberately miss goals in their next football match in exchange for a free holiday, and then player A and B both deleting those messages. This offence would attract penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for individuals or 100,000 penalty units for bodies corporate.

Fifth is an offence prohibiting the use or communication of information about conduct that corrupts a sporting event with the intention of improperly obtaining a benefit for, or avoiding or causing a detriment to, a person. Previously, where a player has been prosecuted under state offences for their part in match fixing, those who profited from their knowledge of the fix could not be prosecuted. This offence will enable prosecution of those who, for example, place bets on their knowledge of the corrupted sporting event. This would attract significant penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for individuals or a fine of 100,000 penalty units for bodies corporate.

Sixth is an offence to prohibit the possession of information about conduct that corrupts a sporting event where that possession is for the purposes of improperly using or communicating that information. This would capture a circumstance such as where player A plans to deliberately give away free kicks to opposition player B to give player B more shots at goal, player A texts their friend with details of the plan and the friend looks up odds on player B kicking multiple goals during the game. This would attract penalties of up to three years imprisonment for individuals or a fine of 35,000 penalty units for bodies corporate.

Lastly, the bill introduces an offence to prohibit the improper use or communication of inside information. This would capture circumstances where a player tells friends they will plan an attack rather than defence in an upcoming match, and the friends use that information to bet on that player to be the first goalscorer. This offence would attract penalties of up to three years imprisonment for individuals or a fine of 35,000 penalty units for bodies corporate.

These offences send a clear message: sport is not for sale. They target the people who corrupt competitions, those who bribe or pressure others to do so and those who profit from knowing a fix is in place. The offences cover deliberately manipulating a sporting event for financial gain, offering or seeking payments to influence an outcome and concealing evidence of corruption. They also ensure that those who use or communicate information about a sporting fix can be held to account. Importantly, the offences also address the misuse of inside information, closing a loophole that has allowed people to profit from information that other competitors and fans do not have. Penalties are deliberately serious, reflecting the seriousness of the conduct, with individuals facing up to 10 years imprisonment for the most serious offences.

Sport is woven into the fabric of Australian life. It brings us together in moments of triumph, heartbreak, pride and celebration. From local club and weekend competitions to the world's biggest sporting stages, sport creates a sense of belonging and gives Australians something to share regardless of age, background or circumstances. It reflects the Australian values we hold dear—fairness, courage, resilience, respect and giving everyone a genuine chance to compete. When Australians watch and play sport, they trust that the contest is real and that the result is earned. Protecting that trust means protecting an important part of who we are as a nation.

Sport occupies a unique and powerful place in Australian life. It brings people together, creates a sense of belonging and gives expression to values that so many of us hold dear—hard work, teamwork, excellence and fair play.

In the Kooyong electorate, sport is woven into the fabric of community life. Every weekend, thousands of people—my family members and myself included—participate in local sporting competitions. We volunteer at clubs, we cheer from the sidelines and we connect with our friends, our family and our community through sport. For many families in Victoria and beyond, the AFL is far more than a game; it is our game, a cultural institution. It's a source of identity. It's a bridge between generations. One of the most important features of sport, whether it be a professional competition watched by millions or a local get-together played for the love of the game, for fitness and for fun, is that the conduct of sport is undertaken with integrity. Players, coaches, supporters, administrators and commercial partners must have confidence that results are always determined by skill, effort and fair competition, not by corruption or criminal manipulation.

The government's bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026, seeks to strengthen Australia's framework for protecting that integrity in sport—and there's much in it which deserves support. The legislation gives effect to key recommendations arising from the 2018 Wood review of Australia's sports integrity arrangements, including the application of criminal penalties as a strong deterrent to match-fixing and corruption in sport. It also takes steps to align Australia's domestic laws with the Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, known as the Macolin convention, which the Australian government signed in 2019.

These are appropriate reforms, as is the introduction of a nationally consistent legal framework across Australian jurisdictions for the criminalisation of conduct which disrupts the integrity of sporting competitions. Match fixing doesn't stop at state borders and nor should our response to it. Coherent national laws which provide greater certainty for law enforcement agencies, sporting organisations and athletes will improve everyone's confidence in what they're watching. They'll strengthen Australia's capacity to cooperate internationally in addressing threats to sporting integrity. They'll improve the integrity of our major sporting competitions, including those events which put us under an international spotlight, such as the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games, the Men's Rugby World Cup and the Netball World Cup to be held here next year.

I support these legislative measures, but it's difficult to consider this legislation without also reflecting on who stands to benefit from it most. One obvious beneficiary of stronger protections against match fixing is the gambling industry. Sports-betting companies depend on public confidence in sporting competitions. Their business model relies not just on the vulnerability of millions of Australians who gamble every year, losing in excess of $30 billion in the process; it also relies on social licence and the credibility of sporting competitions. When a result is manipulated, betting operators may face significant financial losses, and confidence in the products that they market so aggressively to so many of our young people could be damaged. That reality poses the awkward question: why is this legislation in front of this parliament now?

Australian governments agreed to the national policy on match fixing in sport more than 15 years ago. The Wood review was released more than eight years ago. Australia signed the Macolin convention seven years ago. It's been a very long time since we had a betting scandal of the sort of the Fine Cotton affair, but this legislation was introduced to parliament one day after the Labor and Liberal parties conspired to pass the government's weak, disappointing gambling regulations, reforms which were meant to reduce Australians' exposure to harmful gambling advertising but which will not do so.

If the government is genuinely really concerned with promoting integrity in Australian sport, then we should be looking beyond protecting sporting outcomes from criminal interference. Integrity also requires transparency about the financial relationships between the major sporting organisations that we value and the gambling industry. Australians deserve to know the extent to which our professional sporting competitions receive income from financial relationships with betting companies, a predatory industry whose business model depends on profiting from the supporter bases of those sporting codes.

During the recent debate on gambling reform, I argued that greater transparency is needed around the commercial arrangements between professional sporting organisations and gambling companies. At present, we have limited public visibility over these arrangements, despite Australia's two largest sporting codes—the AFL and the NRL—receiving an estimated $80 million a year in tax-free income from the gambling industry. Australians rightly expect integrity from athletes, coaches and officials, but they also expect greater levels of transparency and accountability from the organisations that actually govern professional sport.

This bill deals with one important dimension of sporting integrity—the prevention of match fixing, the prevention of corruption and criminal manipulation of sporting contests. Those reforms are fine. Aligning Commonwealth law with our international commitments and improving consistency across jurisdictions will strengthen the integrity framework of sporting competitions. It will increase confidence in those much-loved sporting competitions. But, if we're actually serious about integrity in sport, we should be prepared to examine all factors that influence it, including the growing commercial dependence of professional sporting organisations in Australia on gambling revenue.

Sport is one of Australia's great social institutions. It deserves strong and consistent protection against corruption in all of its forms. So, for those reasons, I support this bill. But, in doing so, I also encourage the government to pursue a broader agenda on integrity in Australian sport, one that encompasses not only criminal conduct on the field but also the financial relationships that are shaping the sporting landscape in homes and communities across the country.

I rise today to speak in support of the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026. In 2017, the Hon. James Wood AO QC conducted a review into the integrity of Australian sport as part of the then National Sport Plan. The review was not conducted because there was a lack of integrity in Australian sport; it was conducted to examine the measures that were in place to make sure that they were effective and to make sure that they were sustainable.

The Wood review examined the then current national and international sports integrity threat environment and foreseeable future challenges. It looked at the adequacy of Australia's sports integrity capability against this environment, with particular attention going to the capability of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and Australia's sports sector to address contemporary doping threats, including the antidoping rule violation process, opportunities for improvement and the effectiveness of the National Policy on Match-Fixing in Sport, including a consideration of the merits of becoming a signatory to the Macolin convention. It also examined the merits of establishing a formal national platform for effective ongoing detection of and response to betting-related sports corruption and the merits of establishing a national sports integrity tribunal as a single independent body to hear antidoping rule violations and other sports integrity matters.

The Wood review resulted in 52 recommendations, all designed to help safeguard the integrity of Australian sport and combat the present, emerging and future threats from doping, match fixing, illegal betting, organised crime and corruption. The review also acknowledged the increasing commercialisation of sport, the rapid growth in sports wagering, and the frequent revelations of doping scandals and ongoing manipulation in sports competition.

Recommendation 1 from the review was that Australia become a party to the Council of European Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions, or the Macolin convention. This would allow the enactment of national match-fixing criminal legislation, supporting an effective global response to international sports integrity matters, acknowledging the transnational nature of match fixing and related corruption in sport and recognising the global quality of threats to the integrity of Australian based competitions. Entry into the Macolin convention represents a vital step in protecting athletes, officials and fans across all sporting codes by keeping criminal elements out of Australian sport. With Brisbane hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and with the exponential growth of women's sport, which is only going to continue, it's a critical time for Australia to affirm that integrity in sport is a national imperative.

I'm a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties and, as part of my duties on that committee, I worked with my fellow committee colleagues to conduct an inquiry into the Macolin convention. Australia signed it in 2019, the first country outside of Europe to do so. Ratification of the convention will complete the government's commitment to that first recommendation of the Wood review. There are two main purposes of the convention: firstly, to prevent, detect and sanction national or transnational manipulation of sports competitions and, secondly, to promote national and international cooperation against manipulation of sport.

Ratification does a number of important things. It permits the government to set up harmonised and nationally consistent criminal legislation to prevent corruption in sport and then to prosecute it if and when it happens.

Match fixing in particular happens at many levels of sport and often involves cross-jurisdiction actors, meaning effective ratification is a significant step forward in seeking to stamp this out. The Macolin Convention is the only international agreement that directly seeks to stop the manipulation of sports competitions. It requests governments to work with sports organisations, betting companies and event organisers to prevent, detect and punish sports manipulation. It also sets out a shared legal framework that helps countries cooperate more effectively against a problem that increasingly is crossing borders. Although Australia has a strong sports integrity protection reputation, no single organisation in this country can manage the risk posed by the international nature of sport. By joining the convention, Australia will gain access to expert networks that are preparing and engaging with monitoring systems. Australia will also be able to collaborate with other convention members on issues such as illegal sports betting, emerging sports that attract wagering but lack clear governance structures and the use of cryptocurrency to conceal corrupt activity.

To meet the requirements of the Macolin Convention, Australia needed to update the Commonwealth Criminal Code Act 1995 to create new national sport integrity offences that complement existing state, territory and other Commonwealth laws. This bill does this by introducing a comprehensive suite of reforms that will operate to protect Australian sport. And it also does this by introducing significant penalties for the new offences, including penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment for individuals who engage in conduct that corrupts a sporting event. This is entirely appropriate because, given the amount of money—prize money, sponsorship money, community sports club investment, personal investments and taxpayer funded grants and programs—the harm that can be caused by match fixing is significant.

The bill identifies seven types of conduct that are prohibited. Firstly, it's prohibited to engage in conduct that would or would be likely to affect the outcome of a sporting event with the intention of obtaining a benefit for or avoiding or causing detriment that would not otherwise be due because of participation in that sporting event. It also prohibits providing a benefit to another person that would tend to influence them to engage in conduct that corrupts a sporting event. The bill also bans a person asking for, receiving or obtaining or agreeing to receive or obtain a benefit that would tend to influence a person to engage in conduct that corrupts a sporting event.

Then, from an information perspective, the bill outlaws the alteration, destruction or concealment of information about corruption of sporting event, where that alteration, destruction or concealment of information would facilitate, conceal or disguise the obtaining of a benefit. It also prohibits the improper use or communication of information about conduct that corrupts a sporting event and the possession of information about conduct that corrupts a sporting event. The improper use or communication of inside information is also prohibited.

The general principles of criminal responsibility, as outlined in chapter 2 of the Criminal Code, will apply to these new sport integrity offences, which are formulated to apply nationally within Australia as well as outside of Australia in certain circumstances, which is consistent with recommendation 3 of the Wood review. So that Commonwealth criminal offences be formulated such that offence provisions have transnational application, match fixing offences are linked to wagering outcomes, irrespective of whether the said wager would have otherwise been lawful, and provisions include offences for the use of the inside information. Offence provisions, including for sentencing, are calibrated such as to enliven the possibility of utilising telecommunication intercept powers, and offence provisions are calibrated such to ensure that any applicable time limit for the start of proceedings will not interfere with reasonably conducted investigations of the type anticipated.

These prohibitions respond to a number of growing threats to the integrity of sport in this country. The first is offshore illegal gambling. During the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties inquiry, the committee heard that Australia's illegal offshore gambling market has more than doubled since 2019. It's now worth $3.9 billion a year and makes up around 36 per cent of total online gambling. Illegal gambling organisations are very often based in offshore jurisdictions and are therefore not subject to Australia's gambling laws and regulations. That means they can allow huge incentives, revenue-sharing agreements and other rewards that are prohibited in Australia. Other evidence given during the inquiry was that, in an absolute appalling action, illegal offshore providers were targeting Australians who had signed up to the self-exclusion register BetStop. So these new offences and their transnational application recognise that sport integrity threats from manipulation of sporting competitions are increasingly international, reflecting the global nature of sport. Offences with extraterritorial reach are therefore necessary to respond to these transnational threats that match fixing and related behaviours pose to the integrity of Australian sport and, indeed, to the Australian people.

Match fixing has a long history. In preparing my remarks for today, I did some research on historical match-fixing scandals and I, sadly, had my assumptions reaffirmed that match fixing has been prevalent for centuries across many sports. We had a 1980 Italian football scandal in which teams were suspected of rigging games through the selection of certain referees. Even earlier, there was apparently a scandal in 1910 involving the Carlton Football Club in the then Victorian Football League. I also learned that baseballers in the USA were throwing matches as far back as 1865 for the princely sum of $30. We all remember, with disappointment and frustration, the Hansie Cronje cricket scandal at the turn of the century that ultimately ruined his career.

Match fixing is stupid and pointless and it wrecks sport. I don't want to pay to watch sport or even watch it for free if the outcome is predetermined. There's no point. Part of the appeal of sport is its unpredictability. The conditions on the day, the form of the team, what's on the line, the upsets, the one-pointers and the extraordinary and unexpected feats of athleticism is what you go to watch sport for.

So this bill and the significant steps it takes in complement with the ratification of the Macolin treaty is about a fair sports sector, free from corruption, underpinned by safety and credibility and also underpinned by a drive to ensure that all stakeholders, be they the players, officials, umpires, spectators or, particularly, the kids who watch their sporting idols, are participating in sport in an environment that is not predictable, not predetermined and wholly based on the capability and merit available on the day. I commend the bill to the House.

Australians expect sports to be decided on the field, not in a betting market, not through corruption and certainly not by organised crime. I support the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026 because the integrity of Australian sport must be protected. Sport occupies a special place in this country. Across regional Australia, including my electorate of Farrer, sporting clubs are much more than places where games are played. They are meeting places. They are where friendships are formed, where volunteers contribute thousands of hours and where young Australians learn discipline, teamwork, responsibility and respect.

On Saturday afternoons and Sunday mornings across football grounds, netball courts, cricket pitches, tennis courts and racecourses, communities come together. And whether the contest takes place before 50 spectators at a country ground or 50,000 spectators in a major stadium, there is one fundamental expectation: the contest is genuine. That expectation is the foundation upon which sport rests. When two teams walk onto a field, when horses enter the barrier and when athletes take their mark, Australians expect the result to be determined by ability, preparation, judgement and, of course, sometimes, luck. They do not expect the result to be determined beforehand by someone sitting behind a computer screen manipulating a betting market. That is why this legislation matters.

The bill establishes seven national sports integrity offences dealing with corrupting sporting events, inducing or soliciting corruption, concealing corrupt conduct information, using or communicating corrupt information, possessing that information with criminal intent and the improper use or communication of inside information. These are serious offences, because the conduct we are dealing with can be very serious. For most of these offences, the legislation provides penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. That sends the appropriate message. Corrupting Australian sport is not clever gambling; it's criminal conduct.

The transformation of sports betting markets means the risk confronting Australian sports has changed. Betting markets can operate nationally and internationally, money can move across borders almost instantaneously and betting is no longer confined to simply who wins or loses a match. Markets can potentially be created around individual events and occurrences inside sporting contests. That creates opportunities for people who seek to manipulate competition for financial advantages, and whenever significant amounts of money can be made through corruption, organised crime and criminal interests will inevitably look upon those opportunities. That means we cannot expect individual sporting organisations, clubs or state jurisdictions to carry this responsibility alone. A national problem requires a national response.

The legislation also recognises that corruption does not necessarily begin with someone deliberately losing a match. It may begin with information—information about an injury, information about team selection or information about tactics or circumstances surrounding a competition. There's nothing inherently wrong about sporting information, but when privileged information is deliberately exploited and communicated for an improper financial benefit, particularly in connection with betting, the integrity of the contest and the market surrounding it can be compromised. This bill appropriately targets that deliberate misuse.

There is another important principle here. The overwhelming majority of Australian athletes, coaches, officials and volunteers are honest people. We should never allow legislation addressing corruption to create an impression that corruption is widespread throughout Australian sports. It's not the ordinary player, coach, trainer, volunteer or club official this parliament is seeking to criminalise. It is those who deliberately seek to corrupt them. Indeed, one of the reasons we need strong national laws is to protect the athletes themselves. A young athlete beginning a professional career should not have to confront approaches from gamblers, intermediary or criminal organisations without knowing that the full force of the Australian law stands behind him, her or them. The message should be unmistakeable: if you attempt to buy an Australian athlete, manipulate an Australian competition or corrupt an Australian sporting result, you risk going to jail.

There are also much broader issues at stake. Sport survives on trust. Once supporters begin asking whether the result they have just watched was genuine, enormous damage has already been done. That damage does not stop with the professional competition. It damages sporting organisations, it damages legitimate betting markets, it damages sponsorships and it ultimately damages the public confidence in the sport itself. We therefore need to protect that trust before it's lost. This legislation also advances reforms recommended by the 2018 Review of Australia's Sports Integrity Arrangements, the Wood review, which called for the Commonwealth criminal offences targeting match fixing and related sporting corruption. Eight years later, it is appropriate that Australia establishes a clear national framework.

I support strong criminal penalties, but legislation alone can never completely protect Australian sport. We also need education. Young athletes need to understand the risks associated with gambling, approaches from outsiders and the misuse of privileged information. Sporting organisations need effective reporting mechanisms. Athletes and officials need confidence that, if they report a suspicious approach, it will be investigated and they will be supported. Government sporting bodies, law enforcement agencies and betting operators must continue sharing information when suspicious activities emerge. Prevention must remain one of our first lines of defence.

But, when prevention fails, the law must be strong enough to respond. When somebody fixes a sporting outcome, bribes a petition, conceals corrupt conduct or deliberately exploits information, they do more than manipulate the result. They steal the contest from the athlete, they steal the contest from the supporter, and they steal the contest from the community. Australia should be able to take their children to a football match, watch a race or turn on a sporting contest and know that what they're seeing is genuine. That principle is worth defending. From the smallest country sporting club to the largest stadiums in Australia, the standard should be exactly the same: play hard, play fair, and let the contest decide the winner. Sports must be won by ability, preparation and courage, and never corruption. For those reasons, I support the criminal code amendment bill 2026 and commend the bill to the house.

Australia is a sporting nation—we all know that—and sport is part of who we are. It might be a Saturday morning and we're standing at the edge of the footy field watching our kids play, or we might be at the local swimming pool, or we might be at the cricket pitch; Sports is Australia. It's also about sitting around that television and watching that sport. Maybe, it means watching the Matildas, the Socceroos, the Ashes, the Australian Open, the State of Origin, the AFL or the NRL grand finals, which are coming up soon. In just a few years, the eyes of the world will turn to Brisbane, my electorate, where we will be hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic games.

But there is something fundamental that makes sport work—we have to believe that it's fair. When two teams walk onto a field, when two players walk onto a court, when athletes line up behind that starting line, Australians expect that what happens next will be decided by their skill, by their preparation, by their courage and maybe even by a little bit of luck. What we cannot accept is the possibility that the result has already been decided somewhere else, not on the field but through corruption, through bribery, through organised crime, through the misuse of inside information or maybe even through match fixing. That's why this Albanese Labor government has introduced these important reforms. This legislation sends a very simple message: Australian sport is not for sale, and those who deliberately corrupt it should face serious consequences.

For many Australians, the term 'match fixing' probably conjures up a fairly simple image—somebody paying an athlete to deliberately lose a match. But modern sports corruption can be much more sophisticated than that. It might involve manipulating one particular moment in a game. It might involve a player deliberately committing a certain infringement. It might involve somebody influencing an athlete, a coach or an official. It might involve information about a planned manipulation being secretly passed from one person to another. And, increasingly, these activities can involve international criminal networks operating across national borders. The Albanese government has warned that match fixing can provide a foothold for transnational criminal organisations who manipulate sports outcomes, launder money and exploit vulnerable people involved in sport. That changes the way we need to think about sports integrity. It isn't simply about someone breaking the rules of a sporting competition; at its most serious, it really is organised criminal activity. And criminal activity requires criminal justice. It requires a criminal justice response.

The legislation therefore proposes seven new Commonwealth criminal offences. They cover corrupting a sporting event. They cover inducing another person to corrupt a sporting event. They cover soliciting corruption. They cover altering, destroying or concealing information about corrupt conduct. They cover improperly using or communicating information about corrupt conduct. They cover possessing information with the intention of improperly using that information or communicating it. And importantly, they also cover the improper use or communication of inside information relating to sporting events. Together, these offences are designed to attack the problem from multiple dimensions. Because, if we are serious about stopping corruption, we cannot simply punish the person who might ultimately manipulate the contest. We have to target the network around them.

For the most serious conduct the legislation provides for penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment. That's significant, and it should be so, because deliberately corrupting a sporting competition for personal benefit, it's not okay. It's not a harmless shortcut. There can be victims. There can be athletes whose careers are damaged. There are sporting clubs whose reputations can be destroyed. There are supporters who've spent their hard-earned money attending an event they believe to be genuine. There can be sponsors and other organisations that suffer financial losses, and, ultimately, there can be enormous damage to public confidence in sport.

There is another important feature of this legislation that also deserves attention. The offences are generally not limited to corruption connected with betting, and that distinction matters because sports can be corrupted for reasons other than gambling. Someone might manipulate a sporting event to influence a tournament outcome to benefit another team, to obtain some financial advantage or other advantage, or because the pressure of inducement completely unrelated to a conventional wager. The principle behind this legislation is therefore broader. The thing we are protecting is not really the integrity of the betting market that might be associated with sport. We are protecting the integrity of competition itself, and we are protecting that wonderful uncertainty that makes sport worth watching. Think about the thousands that will be watching Brisbane versus Adelaide at the Gabba this weekend at the field, or maybe even on the television. Maybe think about why millions of Australians will watch the NRL grand final in a few weeks' time. We watch because we don't know what's going to happen. Think about the thousands of people that sit at a stadium until the final siren goes off. They do this because the result is still uncertain, and, of course, we really want our team to win. But that unpredictability is the magic of sport. Take that away, and eventually you take away the reason people care. A sporting competition where the outcome is secretly manipulated isn't competition at all. It's theatre. It's theatre pretending to be sport. Australians deserve better than that.

Australia has long recognised the need for stronger and more consistent national laws to combat match fixing and sports corruption. The 2018 Wood review found that integrity threats to Australian sport, including organised criminal involvement, were real and were increasing. The review recommended creating national match fixing offences and stronger national mechanisms to address sports corruption. This legislation delivers on that recommendation. It establishes a national response to a problem that extends beyond state and territory borders.

Sports corruption is increasingly international, also in nature, with criminal syndicates, betting networks, individuals operating across multiple jurisdictions and countries. Those seeking to manipulate Australian sporting events may be located overseas, making a coordinated national framework essential.

The legislation also supports Australia's commitment to the Macolin Convention, an international treaty aimed at preventing the manipulation of sporting competitions. International cooperation is critical because the money, the information, the betting markets and the criminal networks move across borders, and they can do so rapidly. By strengthening domestic laws and aligning these with international efforts, Australia will be better equipped to work with global partners and protect Australian sport from both domestic and overseas criminal threats.

That becomes particularly important as Australia prepares for an extraordinary decade of international sport. We are going to host some of the world's biggest sporting events here in Australia: there's the men's Rugby World Cup next year; there's the Women's Rugby World Cup in 2029; there's the Para Cycling Road World Cup in 2028; and of course, in 2032, Brisbane will host the Olympics and Paralympic Games—for Queenslanders in particular, that's something incredibly exciting. But hosting major sporting events also brings responsibility. When athletes from around the world come to our great country, they should know that we are taking sporting integrity seriously. When international organisations hold competitions here, they should know that Australia has strong institutions and strong laws protecting those competitions. And when Australians buy a ticket and walk through that gate, they should be able to trust what they are watching.

There's another group that this legislation is designed to protect—the athletes themselves. When we talk about match-fixing, it might be easy to think that athletes can simply choose to participate in corruption, but the reality can be far more complicated. Athletes can be targeted and manipulated, and sometimes the most vulnerable may be people at the beginning of their careers, people earning relatively modest incomes or participants who don't have support structures surrounding their professional endeavours. Organised criminals deliberately look for vulnerabilities. That's why a strong integrity system cannot simply say to athletes, 'Don't do the wrong thing.' We need prevention, we need education and we need reporting mechanisms. We need sporting organisations capable of identifying suspicious behaviour, and where criminal conduct occurs we need laws that are strong enough to respond.

The Commonwealth offences proposed by this bill sit within a broader integrity framework. Sport Integrity Australia already works with sporting organisations through the National Integrity Framework, covering areas including competition manipulation and sports betting. This legislation adds another important layer because sporting sanctions and criminal sanctions serve two different purposes. A sporting organisation might suspend an athlete, might ban someone or might impose disciplinary penalties. But when that conduct crosses the line into serious corruption or criminal activity, Australia needs the capacity to say, 'This isn't simply against the rules; it's against the laws of Australia.'

There is something distinctly Australian about the principle behind the legislation. Australians have always had that strong sense of fairness. We don't expect everyone to win; sport teaches us the exact opposite. Sometimes you can train incredibly hard and you lose, sometimes the other team is just better, sometimes the ball bounces the wrong way or sometimes the referee makes that decision you might disagree with. That's sport, right? But Australians cannot tolerate the idea that the contest itself was dishonest and manipulated, if somebody behind the scenes bought the outcome. Fairness doesn't mean everybody gets the same result; fairness means everyone gets a genuine contest. That principle goes well beyond sport. It reflects something Labor has always believed: rules should apply fairly. Power shouldn't simply belong to whoever has the deepest pockets. People should not be able to buy outcomes that everyone else is expected to compete honestly for. Institutions that Australians trust should be protected from corruption.

We should also remember the enormous contribution sport makes to this country. It contributes to the economy. It creates jobs. It brings tourists to our cities and towns. It improves physical and mental wellbeing. It gives children confidence. It creates friendships. It gives communities something to rally around. Perhaps most importantly, sport connects people who may otherwise have very little in common—different backgrounds, different religions, different cultures, different politics. But you put them in the same grandstand with the same coloured shirt, and, suddenly, they're all on the same side. That is powerful, and that is worth protecting.

In a few years time, as I mentioned, Brisbane will welcome the world. Children who are currently kicking footballs around suburban parks and streets or diving into local swimming pools will be watching the best athletes in the world compete in my home city—and some of those children may even be the athletes that are competing. When they stand on that starting line, step onto that field or dive into that pool, they deserve something very simple: a fair contest—nothing more, nothing less. That is ultimately what this legislation is about. It's about protecting the athlete who's trained honestly, protecting the supporter who bought the ticket, protecting the club built by generations of volunteers, protecting the reputation of Australian sport and protecting the simple belief that, when Australians watch a sporting contest, what happens on the field is real. Sports should be unpredictable. It should be competitive. It should be exciting. Above all else, sports should be fair. Our athletes are not commodities to be exploited. Our competitions are not opportunities for organised crime. And Australian sport is not for sale.

At the outset, I want to say I support the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026. The Albanese Labor government is committed to upholding the rule of law, and that is critical in all our cultural institutions, including sport, which is woven into the fabric of Australia's life. It builds teamwork and community, teaches resilience and unites Australians across every form of divide. And it promotes healthy and active lifestyles. Over 14 million Australians participate in sports related activity annually, and it helps to generate approximately three per cent of our national GDP. Sport in Australia provides $83 billion in combined economic, health and educational benefits each day, and it's deeply embedded in our community. It's part of our national psyche, and it's important in our local communities.

In my home city of Ipswich, we are absolutely sports mad, and it's been a famous nursery for brilliant athletes over the years, from Alfie Langer, the Walters family and Sam Walker, in rugby league, to Craig McDermott and Shane Watson in cricket, to teenage sprint sensation Gout Gout in more recent times. I might add, the Ipswich Jets team will be perfect for the NRL 20th franchise in 2029, as part of the game's expansion plans. It's been fantastic to see the Sydney Roosters chairman and Ipswich boy, Nick Politis, as well as super coach Wayne Bennett backing Ipswich's bid in recent weeks.

The whole Western corridor, from Logan through Ipswich to Toowoomba, has been a rugby league heartland for decades for schools and local clubs, and it's a feat in the NRL. And that's why the fanatical fanbase would easily absorb another NRL team in South-East Queensland. It's those fans that sustain our grassroots community sports. They're critical, whether it's Redbank Plains Bears Rugby League Club in Ipswich or, in the Somerset region, the Brisbane Valley Soccer Club's Eagles. I was pleased to announce today to both their officials that they're getting volunteer grants. I am delighted to support local sport. Those local supporters in my community love their sport, and they want it based on merit, effort and fairness.

Sadly, the growing threat of match fixing exposes athletes to coercion and exploitation and threatens the integrity of Australian sport and sport globally. It undermines the credibility of sporting competitions and defrauds the public. Match fixing has provided a foothold for transnational crime syndicates to launder money, manipulate outcomes and target vulnerable participants in domestic sporting codes and internationally. Who can ever forget when, in 1919, gamblers bribed some members of the famous Chicago White Sox baseball club to throw even the World Series, or when, in 2000, the South African captain, Hansie Cronje, and several teammates engaged in match fixing in the One Day International. That's even penetrated the NRL in Australia, the NBA in America and, of course, Champions League matches and Europa League matches in Europe, where hundreds of players and officials have been prosecuted, suspended and banned for match fixing.

A fair, safe and strong sporting sector is absolutely vital for the safety and credibility of our sport and for Australians who play sport, along with our credibility as a participant in international sporting arenas, particularly in the lead-up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Breaches of sports integrity also pose a potential risk to participation rates, where people feel it's just not fair and question why they should participate, and a reduction in Australia's investment in sport.

We're introducing this legislation to criminalise match fixing and strengthen integrity in sport. The new offences under the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026 will target a range of competition, manipulation and betting related corruption. It provides a comprehensive suite of reforms that protect Australia's sport, including seven new offences providing a graduated hierarchy of culpability, each of which has an identifiable Australian antecedent.

First, the bill prohibits engaging in conduct that would or would be likely to affect the outcome of sporting contests with the intention of obtaining a benefit or avoiding or causing detriment that would not otherwise be due because of participation in a sporting event. Secondly, the bill prohibits providing a benefit to another person that would tend to influence them in engaging in conduct that corrupts a sporting event. These are the two most serious offences, corrupting a sporting event and inducing or soliciting that corruption, and they carry a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years and five years respectively. It captured circumstances in Australia where a tennis player intentionally lost a set to obtain payments from a third party and where an organised crime member provided a payment to an athlete to ensure that the athlete's team lost their next match.

There was an antecedent in the Victorian Premier League where there was a provision for the imported players, under a fictitious sponsorship arrangement, instructed to lose and concede. More than $2 million in winnings were traced, and the Australian organiser was imprisoned and subsequently deported, and several players received lifetime bans from FIFA. This remains one of the most significant match-fixing prosecutions in Australian sport and proceeded under state law.

Thirdly, the bill provides that it prohibits asking for or receiving or obtaining or agreeing to receive or obtain a benefit that would tend to influence a person engaging in conduct that corrupts a sporting event. Fourthly, it prohibits altering, destroying or concealing information about the corruption of a sporting event where doing so would facilitate, conceal or disguise the obtaining of a benefit. Fifthly, the bill also provides for the prohibition of the improper use or communication of information about conduct that corrupts a sporting event. Sixthly, the bill prohibits the possession of information about conduct that corrupts a sporting event where that possession is for the purpose of improperly using or communicating that information. Finally, it prohibits the improper use or communication of inside information.

You can see that it's a very comprehensive code that's been put in place. It's very, very important. It also captures the circumstances where a player tells friends they will plan in attack rather than defence in an upcoming match or where friends use information, for example, on the pitch or information on who would be the first scorer or who would be first out to play the game, or whether there'd be a leg bye, in these circumstances. There's a whole range of different sports where that inside information could be available. Players in the past have used it and said, 'Look, it's not really important; it's the kind of information that might be available.' But it's not. It just gives an opportunity to organised crime syndicates to be involved in this process. Often, they know what they're doing. It's not just players. It's coaches, managers, trainers and those involved in the governance of sport.

The legislation complements the government's landmark gambling reforms that were recently passed. Indeed, when the Prime Minister announced the initial package of gambling reforms in April this year, he unveiled a range of national sport integrity offences to complement these measures aimed at reducing harm from gambling and gambling advertising and reducing the influence of gambling on sport. Our message is crystal clear: if you undermine the integrity of sport through corruption and manipulation, you'll face the full force of the law. As a number of speakers have said, in 2017, it was the former government, in recognition of the threats to the integrity of the sporting sector, which commissioned the Hon. James Wood AO, QC to conduct a review into Australia's sports integrity and arrangements. That found the threat of organised criminal infiltration in sport to be real and growing. In 2019, the government agreed to the recommendation that the government establish a series of national match-fixing offences which continue to encourage consistency in terms of relevant criminal provisions introduced by state and territory governments. This particular legislation is crucial.

The Wood review also recommended that Australia become party to the Macolin convention, which provides support for a global response to international sports integrity matters. Recently, in March this year, the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties recommended the Australian government ratify the Macolin convention. We're the first non-European country to sign this international treaty, which is aimed at preventing, detecting and sanctioning national and transnational match fixing of international and national sporting competitions. The United Kingdom, France and Kenya have all introduced similar legislation, so we're amongst good company in world's best practice.

Match fixing is not a matter of cheating. It's deliberate corruption. It's criminal activity. It can't be swept under the carpet. It threatens fairness and safety and our reputation as a country. We've engaged with a number of sporting agencies and key stakeholders in this area, including Sport Integrity Australia, the Office of the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions and the Australian Federal Police. A whole range of other bodies have been consulted in relation to this information, including sports controlling bodies such as the NRL, AFL, Cricket Australia, Football Australia, Tennis Australia and Basketball Australia. They have all been consulted in relation to this. An advisory group was supportive of the establishment of the offences and strengthening our response. They expressed support for a nationally consistent and harmonised approach. I note that some of the sporting bodies commented that the offences were not limited to betting outcomes. However, broad offences are required to ensure compliance with the convention.

I think we're privileged in Australia with our sporting legends. I think we're privileged with the community sport we see across the electorates of our country. A fair, safe and strong sporting sector free from corruption is absolutely vital to our economy and to our community. It provides safety and credibility in sport and to the participants and Australia's participation in the international sporting arena. I support the legislation and commend it to the House.

Sitting suspended from 13:30 to 16:00

I rise to speak in support of the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026. Sport is a huge part of my life. Growing up, I played netball, volleyball, basketball and hockey. I loved the athletics carnivals, as you can imagine, as the tallest girl in the year and, at one point, the tallest girl in the school. I loved high jump and long jump. Some of my best memories came from being part of a team, working towards a goal and sharing both the wins and the losses with the people around me. More recently I played footy for both the West Footscray Roosters and the Western Spurs. I know the feeling well of being part of a team—handballing the ball to your mates, scoring a goal, supporting one another whatever the challenge. It is like you're part of something bigger than yourself, experiencing the joy, triumphs and failures together as one.

Today I go for a jog in the mornings, often on Saturday mornings with our local Aintree parkrun community—and, I admit, slightly less often with our local Brimbank parkrun, but only because of the hill aptly named 'Big Hill' at Brimbank Park. Park runs do something truly amazing for local communities. I'm not the only one in this place who loves their local parkrun; I know my friend the member for Fenner is amongst this group. Like me, he is a loud advocate for initiatives like parkrun and the benefits they provide in the wider community. It's a free, noncompetitive and inclusive environment where participants can walk, jog, run or spectate, addressing both a health problem and financial challenges. It makes healthier choices easier, providing a built-in community to join at your own fitness level or running pace. It helps to combat the loneliness epidemic as well, acting as a way of building social connections and trust amongst neighbours. There's also the helper's high that one can get through volunteering, helping to organise an event and, first thing on the weekend, doing something altruistic. I give a special shout-out to Tan, Mark, Janelle, Jono, Katie and all our fantastic regulars at Aintree parkrun, as well as Amanda at Brimbank parkrun, and all the volunteers for their time and enthusiasm week in, week out. You are providing such an important service to our community.

Sport is so important to a healthy, thriving and successful community. Every weekend, thousands of locals head to netball courts, volleyball competitions, dance studios, football grounds and community sporting clubs right across our electorate. They do it because sport brings people together. It builds confidence, creates lifelong friendships and, most importantly, teaches teamwork. When we are using sport to foster principles of fair play, respect and teamwork in our community and in our kids, it only makes sense that people expect sport to be fair. Whether it's a young netballer taking to the court, a footy team competing in a local league or a gymnast preparing for a competition, participants deserve to know that talent, hard work and commitment determine the outcome—not corruption, not manipulation, not match-fixing.

This bill sends a clear message: there is no place for those who seek to undermine the integrity of Australian sport. That's why integrity matters. When a child takes to the netball court or a teenager runs onto the footy field, they should know that the game they are playing is fair. They should know that the result comes down to the effort of the players, not who's paid who, who has insider info or who has manipulated the outcome. That principle applies at every level of sport, from the local sporting clubs to our biggest professional competitors. That is why we need laws that protect the integrity of Australian sport, and that's what this bill does.

This bill creates seven new Commonwealth offences targeting match-fixing, betting related corruption and the misuse of inside information connected to sporting events. This bill is addressing the broader issue, instead of just targeting the person who fixes the match. Each of these offences are directed at the people who organise match-fixing, who encourage it, who profit from it and who help cover it up.

The first offence targets the corruption of a sporting event itself. Put simply, it will mean you can't deliberately manipulate what happens in a sporting contest in order to get something you are not otherwise entitled to. Say a tennis player deliberately loses a set because someone has promised to pay them for doing so. That's the kind of conduct this offence is designed to capture. When someone deliberately fixes a sporting contest, they are not just breaking the rules of the game. They are undermining the confidence that fans, athletes, sponsors and the wider community place in that competition.

The second offence targets the people who encourage someone else to corrupt a sporting event. This recognises that it's not always the people who are on the field, who touch a ball, that are participating in this kind of behaviour. It's the ones on the side offering money, applying pressure, creating the incentive for corruption in the first place.

The third offence deals with the other side of that transaction, creating an offence for those obtaining a benefit. The fourth offence is about what happens to those who try to cover up the corruption, making it an offence to alter, destroy or conceal information about the corruption of the sporting event.

The fifth offence targets the use and communication of information about corrupt conduct, and the sixth offence deals with the possession of information about corrupt conduct where that information is possessed for the purpose of improperly using or communicating it.

Finally, the seventh offence deals with inside information, like a player knowing that in an upcoming match they are going to play in attack instead of defence. Telling someone who then uses that information to place a bet might not have been an agreement to fix the match, but it acts as a gateway to more serious forms of match fixing.

Each of these new offences are important because modern sports corruption doesn't necessarily always look like one athlete taking a bribe. It involves a network of people passing information between them, sometimes across borders. That is why these offences are designed to apply nationally and, in certain circumstances, to conduct occurring outside Australia. Sport is increasingly international. The people seeking to corrupt it can be too.

Our laws need to reflect that reality. As our Attorney-General, who's in the chamber with us today, has said, competition manipulation or match fixing is not a victimless crime. It can destroy careers. It can damage clubs and competitions. Match fixing works to undermine the credibility of our sporting competition. It defrauds the public who rightly expect better, and it exposes athletes to coercion and exploitation. It's one piece in a larger problem. It acts as a foothold for transnational crime syndicates to launder money, manipulate outcomes and target vulnerable participants in our domestic sporting codes.

This legislation, Deputy Speaker, will help protect athletes, officials, volunteers, and sporting leagues and organisations from criminal conduct that threatens the integrity of competition. For communities like mine, that really matters because community sport is about more than winning. It's about respect. It's about fairness. It's about ensuring that every player who steps onto a court, field or stage knows they are competing on a level playing field. The Albanese government is taking action to protect these values and strengthen Australia's ability to combat match fixing and sports corruption.

The bill also supports Australia's efforts to ratify the Macolin Convention, the international treaty aimed at preventing and combating the manipulation of sports competitions. But it trickles down to local sports as well. My electorate of Gorton is home to an incredible sporting culture. From the Taylors Lakes Lionesses to the Aintree Giants and so many other local clubs, sport brings our community together. These clubs are about so much more than the game itself. There are places where friendships are formed, confidence is built and young people learn skills and valuable life lessons. They are powered by volunteers who give up their evenings and weekends to coach teams, run canteens, organise fundraisers, and support and safeguard the next generation.

I'm proud to have a collection of merch from our local sporting clubs, like beanies from the Burnside Bears, Green Gully Soccer Club, George Cross football club, Balmoral Football Club, Aintree Giants, Taylors Lakes Lions, Keilor Blues and so many other clubs and some of my favourite jumpers, scarves and tops as well. While they might look just like simple pieces of merch, to me, they represent something so much more. Every scarf tells a story. Every beanie represents a community filled with pride. They remind me of the people behind these clubs—the volunteers, the parents, the coaches and the players who give their time to create opportunities for others.

They are also a reminder of why I am here. I'm here to be a true representative of the people of Melbourne's western suburbs, to strengthen communities and to help ensure everyone gets a fair go, on and off the field. That idea of fairness sits at the heart of this bill. I've spent so much time with so many of our local sports clubs in the west, but I'll use this opportunity to talk about some of my recent visits, like to the St Albans Caroline Springs Netball Association, who I recently spent the evening with and saw how much energy, teamwork and talent they bring to the court. This is a megaleague with 157 teams with packed courts from 5 pm to 10 pm. At the St Mary's Syro-Malabar parish in Ravenhall the new court was built by young people who saw a need in our local community and decided to do something about it. It was fantastic to join them at the opening of their new volleyball court. It was wonderful to be with the Taylors Lakes Lionesses as they kicked off the start of their season earlier this year. These fantastic women played that day at the club's home ground, but unfortunately they don't always, because of poor lighting and scheduling conflicts. That's why we're investing $209,000 for lighting upgrades at Lionheart Reserve. We're also investing in lighting upgrades at Caroline Springs rec reserve and Keilor rec reserve as well. These are such important investments which prioritise the needs and safety of our community and will get more people involved in sports.

Another reason I love visiting our local sports clubs is that I believe it's so important to encourage women across the community to get involved in local sporting clubs. Girls are taught to be perfect while boys are taught to be strong. But that's not what we should always be aspiring towards. I love sport because it gives kids confidence in themselves and teaches them to work together and they learn how to lead, how to make decisions and how to live with the consequences and move on. For women and girls, who are often taught not to trust our own bodies, sport teaches us to listen to our bodies and to trust them, to learn our own strengths, weaknesses and limits, to stay connected to our bodies and to look after them as well. Sport teaches us how to be accountable and how to hold others to account in a positive way and how to have each other's backs.

Growing up, it was through sport I learned the importance of showing up, working hard and supporting others. I learned resilience when things did not go to plan, and I learned that success means more when it is earned. Those experiences shaped who I am today and they are a big part of why I value fairness so incredibly deeply.

When I look at the young people participating in sport across Gorton today, I see those same lessons being taught every single day. I see young people building confidence, learning respect, developing leadership skills and discovering what it means to be part of something bigger than themselves. That is why protecting the integrity of sport is so incredibly important. Everyone who steps onto a court, field or stage deserves to know that the competition is fair and that effort, commitment and talent are what will determine the outcome. That simple principle should be protected in our own laws. That is what this bill does. I commend this bill to the House.

The Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026 will protect the integrity of Australian sport by criminalising match fixing and related behaviours. The introduction of these offences will play a vital role in protecting athletes, officials and fans across all sporting codes in keeping criminal elements out of Australian sport. Competition manipulation, or match fixing, undermines the credibility of sporting competitions and exposes athletes and officials to coercion and exploitation. It provides an opportunity for transnational crime syndicates to launder money and manipulate sporting events for financial gain. While there are similar offences at a state and territory level, this bill will fill gaps in existing legislation and recognise that match fixing is a crime that extends beyond borders.

The bill introduces a range of offences to protect Australian sport. This includes criminalising the manipulation of sporting events for undue benefit, prohibiting inducing or soliciting sports corruption, offences related to destroying or improperly using and possessing information about sports corruption, and criminalising the improper use of inside information. Implementation of these offences will ensure Australia is compliant with the Macolin Convention, a multilateral treaty that aims to prevent, detect and sanction manipulation of national and international sporting competitions.

As Australia prepares to host the 2032 Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games, it is essential that Australia has effective laws to ensure the integrity of sport. The passage of the Criminal Code Amendment (National Sport Integrity Offences) Bill 2026 is a vital step in safeguarding Australian sport from manipulation. I commend the bill to the chamber.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

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