The Making Of New Zealand's Newest Government Organisation

Tuesday, 2 July 2024, 2:32 pm
Article: RNZ

Dana Johannsen, Sports Correspondent

01 July 2024

After more than six years of sports reviews, feasibility studies, draft proposals and working groups, New Zealand's newest government organisation is set to open its doors.

The Sports Integrity Commission - Te Kahu Raunui - launches on Monday, completing a system-wide overhaul sparked by a series of damning reviews into the country's elite sporting environments.

The establishment of the commission was announced by then-minister for Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson in mid-2022, following the high-profile inquiry into Cycling NZ and High Performance Sport NZ in the wake of the death of Rio Olympian Olivia Podmore.

But since then, much of the regulatory work to get the new body up and running has flown under the radar.

Here's all you need to know about the commission.

Why do we need a sports integrity agency?

The origin of the commission dates back to 2018 - a year of reckoning for many of the country's elite sporting environments. While high-profile reviews were playing out in several sports, including cycling, hockey and football, prominent sports lawyer Stephen Cottrell was commissioned by Sport NZ to carry out an overarching review of elite athlete rights and welfare.

Cottrell's review identified shortcomings in New Zealand's sports integrity mechanisms and recommended Sport NZ urgently address the lack of a clear process for escalating athlete welfare concerns.

Sport NZ implemented several temporary fixes while an integrity working group looked into options to "streamline institutional arrangements" in the sports integrity space.

Then, in August 2021, the high performance sports landscape was changed once more when Podmore died in a suspected suicide. An inquiry launched in the wake of Podmore's death made clear the system needed a radical overhaul.

Following the release of the inquiry's findings, Robertson announced that "change was coming".

What will the commission actually do?

The commission is an independent Crown entity tasked with "preventing and addressing threats to integrity in sport in New Zealand". If that sounds like a broad remit, that's because it is.

Its functions include participant protection (including discrimination), child safeguarding, anti-competition manipulation and anti-corruption.

From Monday, the commission will also take over the responsibility of enforcing the world anti-doping code, with Drug Free Sport NZ's (DFSNZ) operations to be folded into the new body.

The Sport and Recreation Complaints and Mediation Service (SRCMS) is also now part of the Commission to support the resolution of complaints and investigation functions.

Who are the key players?

The new agency will be headed up by former White Fern Rebecca Rolls, who along with a strong sporting pedigree, has previously held leadership positions with Police, Corrections, the Serious Fraud Office and Sport NZ.

The board is led by prominent lawyer and governance expert Don Mackinnon, who has carried out a few sports reviews in his time, and features former All Black Keven Mealamu and ex-Silver Ferns captains Adine Wilson and Lesley Nicol.

Will this new agency actually have any teeth?

In short, yes. The Integrity Sport and Recreation Act 2023 provides the commission with investigatory powers.

A key "compliance lever" for the commission will be a new national code of integrity, which will be rolled out later this year. Adoption of the code will be voluntary.

But irrespective of whether a sport signs up to the code, the commission has the power under the Act to initiate an investigation into a sporting body - including Sport NZ, High Performance Sport NZ and the NZ Olympic Committee - if it believes there is a threat to integrity, and the commission is satisfied it is in the public interest to do so.

Rolls says the public interest test will be "participant-centric" and take into account the vulnerabilities of the participants concerned.

What levels of sport will the commission govern?

The commission is responsible for all levels of sport and recreation in Aotearoa, from community programmes through to the elite end.

A lot of grassroots sports organisations are run by volunteers - isn't this all a bit heavy-handed?

Rolls says she sees the commission's primary role as educating and supporting sports organisations to lower the need for enforcement.

"We have the opportunity to promote and embed consistent values that positively shape the culture in sport and recreation. This will help this community uphold integrity standards, promote positive beliefs and behaviours, and build capability."

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