Sport deserves inquiry scrutiny, too
International Safe Sport Day is about recognising the positive impact sports bring to our communities, especially to our young people. However, it is also a day to acknowledge and address the critical issue of safety within these environments.
The recent findings of the Abuse in Care Royal Commission of Inquiry have revealed a sobering truth: abuse and neglect are highly likely to be present in sports clubs, community organisations, and youth groups as well as state care and faith settings. This revelation is a stark reminder that even in settings meant to nurture and develop our children, the risk of harm exists.
The inquiry has urged New Zealand to consider its findings and recommendations and apply them more broadly to other settings, stating: “Settings outside the inquiry’s scope, such as rest homes or aged care facilities, sports clubs, community organisations and youth groups, have been the subject of international investigations into abuse and neglect.”
The recommendations added: “It is highly likely that people in these settings in Aotearoa New Zealand have experienced abuse and/or neglect.”
At Safeguarding Children, we wholeheartedly agree. We know children are experiencing abuse in organisations across Aotearoa. We could be doing more, and we should be.
Many national sporting bodies, such as Gymnastics NZ and Netball NZ, have worked to ensure child safeguarding systems are in place, staff and volunteers are trained, and that the practice is being adopted at individual club level. However, they are doing this entirely voluntarily; there is no legal requirement.
Safeguarding Children is collaborating with Sport Tasman to lift child safe standards at club level sports. Expected to launch in October this year, the programme will work to raise the standard in terms of coach safeguarding training, club policies, and hiring practices, ensuring taiohi/youth can thrive in sport.
Nationally, a step in the right direction is the new Sport Integrity Commission tasked with ensuring sport and recreation is safe and fair. However, they can only guide practice and uphold existing safeguarding legislation.
Our current legislation just falls far too short. The Children’s Act 2014 fails to mention training altogether and only puts the requirement for child protection policies and safe recruitment on government-funded organisations.
The safe recruitment practices also only apply to paid employees, not volunteers.
We appeal to government to amend The Children's Act 2014 to require all organisations where children spend time to meet robust child-safe standards. This includes clubs and associations like Scouts and Girl Guides, sports clubs, swimming schools, early childhood centres and care services, services for children with disabilities, youth groups, gym and play facilities, private teaching, coaching or tuition and gym and play facilities.
It would also require more than police vetting and child protection policies, requiring things like child-focused complaints procedures, children being informed of their rights, behavioural codes of conduct and equity being upheld.
New Zealand is lagging behind. Australia, for example, has had National Principles for Child Safe Organisations since 2018.
Based off these principles, Queensland recently embedded these child-safe standards in law via their Child Safe Organisations Bill 2024.
If Australia can bring these requirements into legislation, surely we can. If not now, under the weight of all we now know, then when?