Sport Integrity and Corruption: Best Practice Australian and International Policy & Program Delivery Approaches

It is undeniable that sport is a central element of Australia’s national and international identity, and of our social and economic life. In researching contemporary policy and program delivery approaches to promoting sport integrity, we identified eight best practice responses to assist Australia in developing a robust and adaptive regulatory framework:

- supporting an integrated model to sport integrity
- building an integrity coalition
- adopting a triage system for a range of sport integrity issues
- collecting and sharing data, information and intelligence
- ensuring sport governance practices align with private sector standards
- implementing a responsive regulatory approach
- developing strong whistleblower/reporting processes, and
- playing the long game by prioritising trust in all relationships.

When identifying these responses, three overarching conclusions emerged that frame the discussion in this Working Paper. First, we confirmed that there is no single best practice model for safeguarding integrity in sport. Instead, most countries are still coming to terms with the growing integrity challenges and threats. Second, by establishing a national sport integrity authority, Australia has the opportunity to be a world leader in protecting sport. Third, trust between stakeholders is an essential element for the success of all best practice responses.

Keywords: sports integrity, integrity, anti-corruption, public policy, policy, sports policy