Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Social Services) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speech incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speech read as follows—

AUSTRALIAN SPORTS ANTI-DOPING AUTHORITY AMENDMENT BILL 2014

The Australian government strongly supports a fair, safe and healthy environment for all athletes from all nations and is committed to clean sport. Not only is doping a serious risk to an athlete's health and wellbeing, it is fundamentally about cheating and debasing all that is good about sport to which we hold close to our hearts—from improved health through physical endeavour to the pursuit of athletic excellence and the values it teaches.

The World Anti-Doping Code (the code), administered by sports and governments around the world, ensures that athletes are treated the same and abide by the same rules everywhere, regardless of nationality and sport.

WADA, as custodians of the code, initiated a comprehensive review of the code in late 2011. In reviewing the code, there was a common understanding that anti-doping authorities are now operating in an environment where the potential rewards from sporting success combined with the availability of substances and techniques that are not able to be easily detected through testing provide a greater incentive to cheat through doping.

In response to this, some of the key changes in the code include:

To ensure that anti-doping arrangements are harmonised across the world, over 300 international sporting federations and 170 governments and anti-doping organisations who are signatories to the code are currently updating their anti-doping policies, rules and legislation to reflect the revised code.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Amendment Bill 2014 brings Australia's anti-doping legislation into alignment with the revised world anti-doping code and international standards which will come into force on 1 January 2015. We need to bring our arrangements into line with the code, to ensure that our athletes are working under the same rules.

The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) is the Australian government agency responsible for working with sporting organisations to eliminate doping. ASADA's powers and functions are specified under the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Act 2006 (ASADA Act) and Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Regulations 2006 (ASADA Regulations).

One of the key aspects of the code is the anti-doping rule violations (ADRVs). Appropriately, athletes or athlete support personnel who are found to have committed anti-doping rule violations are subject to sanctions such as ineligibility to compete and disqualification of results from sporting competitions. The international anti-doping community has agreed that it is time to take action to protect sports from those support persons who orchestrate systematic doping programs.

From 1 January 2015, it will be an ADRV for an athlete or support person to associate in a professional or sports-related capacity with another person who is banned from sport or has been criminally convicted or professionally disciplined for an action that would constitute an ADRV.

In the act, athletes and athlete support persons are adequately protected in this new arrangement. Any association needs to be in a professional or sports-related capacity before it can be prohibited. This allows, for example, for athletes who may have family members in this category. Second, the athlete receives a warning in writing from ASADA to advise on prohibited association.

ASADA will also be required to use reasonable efforts to issue a notice to the athlete support person that they should not be associating with an athlete and allow that person an opportunity to contest the notice. It is also a requirement under the code that the association is one that the athlete or other person can reasonably avoid. The bill provides the CEO with the ability to issue the necessary advice.

Athlete support is extended through enabling review of decisions by the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee (ASDMAC). ASDMAC is responsible for considering applications by athletes for the legitimate therapeutic use of prohibited substances or methods. Athletes who have their application approved by ASDMAC receive a therapeutic use exemption (TUE). Revisions to the code appropriately require ASADA to provide a review mechanism for TUE decisions.

This review mechanism will be achieved by expanding the current membership of ASDMAC so that the minister may appoint up to three appropriately qualified review members for the sole purpose of reviewing decisions at the request of athletes.

Given the increasing complexity of substances and use of intelligence over time to catch cheats, an extension to the time available to commence action is sought through the code. Under the current code, action on a possible anti-doping rule violation must be commenced within eight years from the date the violation is asserted to have occurred. The code was revised so that, from 1 January 2015, authorities would have up to 10 years upon which to commence action. It is proposed to amend the act to align with this revision.

Since its establishment in 2006, ASADA has established information sharing arrangements with agencies such as the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. Access to this information has been critical in assisting ASADA to pursue non-analytical violations, such as trafficking or the possession of prohibited substances.

With investigations and intelligence gathering now forming an integral element of any strategy for detecting doping, the revised code emphasises the need for effective information flows between government agencies, sporting bodies and anti-doping organisations. Accordingly, amendments to the information sharing provisions in the act are proposed to ensure clarity and simplicity.

With the recent revisions to the code, it has also been necessary to update a number of definitions in the act. The definitions are mainly technical and minor in nature.

Given the need for legislative amendments to align Australia's arrangements with the revised code, it is also proposed to take this opportunity to make minor administrative amendments that aim to simply the operation of the act.

One of these simplifications is to remove the requirement for the Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel (the panel) to enter the details of a possible ADRV onto a register of findings.

An entry on the register does not reflect a final decision that an ADRV has taken place. Rather, it indicates that, based on the evidence reviewed by the panel, it is possible an ADRV has occurred. Making an entry on the register provides a legislative trigger for a number of notifications to be made under the National Anti-Doping Scheme. Ultimately, it is a matter for a sports administration body to determine whether an ADRV is established.

The presence of the register has led some people to believe incorrectly that the panel is the final hearing body for considering ADRV cases when its purpose is to independently review the evidence collected by ASADA prior to it being forwarded to the relevant sporting organisation for future action and final consideration by the relevant sports tribunal.

To assist with correcting these misapprehensions, the concept of 'register of findings' has been removed from the legislation. Instead, the ADRVP may make an 'assertion' of a possible anti-doping rule violation. This assertion is brought to the attention of the ASADA CEO, who, in turn, will refer it to a sports administration body for determination. This brings the legislation in line with the terminology used in the code.

Currently a decision to place details on the register of findings may be reviewed by the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT). The bill includes amendments that will maintain an affected person's access to the AAT, by way of reviewing the ADRVP decision to make an assertion.

It is also proposed that a 'violation list' will publically record ADRVs and sanctions at the completion of an ADRV process after any hearings and appeals have been finalised. The maintenance of such a public list is a requirement under the code. Provisions are also proposed to give the ASADA CEO discretion not to include an athlete or athlete support person on the violation list in certain circumstances, including for minor athletes.

The fight against doping in sport continues to get tougher. The key factor in addressing doping across the world is the unrelenting commitment of the international sporting movement and governments to work together to implement harmonised programs that are robust, effective and fair. This bill ensures that Australia meets its obligations to contribute to a safe and fair sporting environment, safeguard athlete health and continue to protect the fundamental values of sport.