Policy responses to reports of gender-based violence against women by Australian sporting organisations and best-practice principles

Gender-based violence (GBV) against women remains a persistent issue in Australian sport. The safety of sport participants, known as safeguarding and member protection within sport integrity policy in Australia, is increasingly recognised as a priority for government, violence prevention and response services and sports organisations. Best practice in responding to reports of GBV against women in sport is poorly understood with no overarching principles to support sport organisations in responding. To address this gap, we determined five best-practice principles in responding to reports of GBV through analysis of common themes across three leading trauma and abuse response organisations: accessibility, policy development, empowerment, trauma-informed approach and ongoing evaluation. Next, we mapped and analysed sport policy documents to examine how national sport organisations (NSOs) respond to GBV via policy and their alignment to best-practice principles. We found that sport organisations’ policy documents are both interrelated and interdependent, but often do not align with best-practice principles. Instead, they are often overly complex, inaccessible, and do not centre or empower the person who has experienced GBV. Despite recent developments in sport integrity policy in Australia, more work is needed to ensure that response pathways align with best-practice principles.