Sport Integrity Australia, together with 23 other major sporting organisations from around Australia, has teamed with the eSafety Commissioner to help combat online abuse in sport.
According to CEO David Sharpe, the agency joined the collective in signing the Online Safety Statement of Commitment as there is no place for abuse – whether it’s on the sporting field, off the field, or online.
“The well-being of everyone involved in sport is essential to the future of the Australian sporting landscape,” Mr Sharpe says. “One of the key policies within our National Integrity Framework, and core to the integrity of sport, is to protect all sporting members from discrimination, vilification, abuse and other forms of inappropriate behaviour.”
“Sport should bring out the best in us, not the worst. There’s no place for online abuse in sport.”
Such abuse has become a serious issue, with athletes and staff across many sporting codes the targets of online abuse, misogyny, and racism.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says serious and harmful online abuse “compounds the daily racism, misogyny and homophobia many athletes already face and can have devastating impacts on their wellbeing”.
“I commend Sport Integrity Australia in coming together to work with eSafety to manage and minimise the risk of online abuse in sport. We all need to work together, in athletic pursuits and online, to tackle these issues.”
In signing the Online Safety Statement of Commitment, Sport Integrity Australia has committed to ensuring our policies, including our National Integrity Framework Member Protection and Safeguarding policies, continue to highlight the need for online safety and that there is zero tolerance to abuse.
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