Doping Ombudsman

Media Release:

23 July 2004 - Labor will establish a sports doping ombudsman position

Sports Doping Ombudsman Fact Sheet

A Latham Labor Government will establish a Sports Doping Ombudsman position.

The Sports Doping Ombudsman will be an independent person to whom athletes, players, coaches, officials, members of the public and sports organisations can refer complaints pertinent to doping allegations, and be assured that those complaints or allegations will be investigated fairly and independently without fear of legal or other repercussions.

The Sports Doping Ombudsman will be empowered to receive and investigate allegations of doping practices within and impacting on sport in Australia.

For a complaint to be heard by the Sports Doping Ombudsman:

I. It must pertain to a sports doping offence.

II. The complainant must have exhausted all other avenues of complaint considered reasonable, prior to making a submission to the Ombudsman.

III. It must fall outside the jurisprudence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Sports Doping Ombudsman in the first instance, will not hear complaints that fall within the jurisdiction of CAS.

A doping practice means:

	Any doping offence contrary to World Anti Doping Code policy
	Any breach of requirements by any person under the Australian Sports Drug Agency Act or regulations made thereunder; or
	Any breach of any law within Australia concerning the manufacture, supply, sale, offer for sale, import or export of any substance prohibited under anti-doping policies and codes.

The Sports Doping Ombudsman would be empowered to receive and investigate complaints that fall within the guidelines provided above, and where they are satisfied that the complaint is genuine and:

	Is not frivolous or vexatious and was not made in bad faith
	Is substantive and not trivial in nature
	Was made within a timeframe considered acceptable to justify investigation, and
	Is in the public interest.

As with the Commonwealth Ombudsman, where the Sport Ombudsman has reason to believe that a person or organisation is capable of furnishing information or other records relevant to an investigation they will have the power to require that the said person or organisation furnish that information to the ombudsman after notice in writing has been served.

In investigating any such allegation the Ombudsman will have the power to:

1. require and compel any person to:

a) give any statement or information, or

b) produce any document or other thing, or

c) give a copy of any document, or

d) answer any question,

provided the Ombudsman must set aside any of the requirements if it appears to the Ombudsman that any person has a ground of privilege, whereby, in proceedings in a court of law, the person might resist a like requirement and it does not appear to the Ombudsman that the person validly consents to compliance with the requirement.

	2. engage the services of any person for the purpose of getting assistance;
	3. delegate the whole or any part of his/her investigation to any person with the prior consent of the Minister for Sport.

The Ombudsman is not responsible for the prosecution of persons or organisations who are considered to have committed an offence. Sports groups and organisations will be responsible for upholding anti-doping measures within their own sport and for prosecuting any doping practice contrary to the requirements of their own policy and procedural processes or code of conduct.

The Sports Doping Ombudsman will hand down a fair and just report of their findings to the appropriate sporting body who will be compelled to act on the findings of this investigation. In the case of a finding of a criminal offence the Ombudsman would refer the matter to the appropriate law enforcement agency for prosecution via the criminal system.

In the case of a finding of a criminal offence, the Ombudsman will refer the matter to the appropriate enforcement agency for prosecution in the ordinary manner.

Where in an investigation, the Sports Doping Ombudsman considers that there are grounds for adverse comment in respect of any person, the Sports Doping Ombudsman before making any such comment in a report shall, so far as is practicable:

	a) inform that person of the substance of the grounds of the adverse comment, and
	b) give the person an opportunity to make submissions.

A statement or disclosure made by any witness in the course of giving evidence before the Ombudsman is not (except in proceedings for an offence against the requirement to provide evidence to the Ombudsman) admissible in evidence against that witness in any civil or criminal proceedings in any court of the Commonwealth, of a State or of a Territory.

The Sports Doping Ombudsman position will be co-located within the Office of the Commonwealth Ombudsman.

As with all Labor's policies, the Sports Doping Ombudsman is fully costed and funded. Details to be released prior to the federal election.