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While there will always be some clearly obvious child safety measures that all coaching staff and employees should adhere to and be alert to, there is no doubt that some elements can prove challenging for coaches. New research carried out in Europe and released in late 2021 showed that 44% of respondents experienced physical violence inside sport as children, 35% reported non-contact sexual violence and 20% reported contact sexual violence. Abuse was highest amongst those competing in international sport compared to recreational sport, and most commonly the perpetrator was the athlete’s coach. 

The challenge for coaches

Coaches are largely employed on the basis that they have the skills to assist athletes to reach their sporting potential. In some environments, that might include shouting or getting angry at athletes to motivate them, in another touch will be essential. How coaches get their results varies.

Occasionally, this can lead to blurred lines between what is acceptable or not acceptable in terms of the treatment of athletes. It is a coach’s job to employ techniques to reach new levels, but not when those techniques may be considered a potential well-being and safety issue. For example, in the recent case of Liddick v Gymnastics Australia and Sport Integrity Australia, the National Sports Tribunal (NST) found that Liddick (former senior national coach for the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Team) had committed two breaches of the relevant Member Protection Policy (MPP): one breach involved a threat to lock the complainant and her teammates in their rooms and feed them “peas and carrots under a door”; and a second involved telling the complainant and some of her teammates that they were overweight and this was the reason for their underperformance at the Olympic Games. 

However, notably, the NST found that three of the five complaints heard by the NST did not amount to harassment or abuse under the MPP. In relation to one allegation, the NST found “as the national coach asking questions or making comments about the performance of the team as alleged in Allegation 5 does not amount to harassment, abuse or ridicule within the meaning of MPP Version 4” – that allegation was therefore dismissed. This case demonstrates the difficulties in differentiating between appropriate coaching behaviour and behaviour which constitutes harassment or abuse. 

Given the varying coaching styles and athlete needs, how can an organisation truly ensure that its children and adult athletes are not put at risk? How can coaches be supported to know exactly what is and isn’t permitted in your organisation? What can be done to ensure the parameters are clear and still allow your organisation to maintain the levels of high performance that it is known for?

It is a coach’s role to find ways for individual athletes to reach their potential. How one athlete responds to training techniques will be different from another athlete. Coaching can be a difficult role to perform and as sport lawyers we empathise with the challenges that people in these roles face. However, we also want to ensure that coaches can be sufficiently supported to protect their own reputation and legacy in their sport and that sports organisations and clubs can feel secure in the knowledge that they are doing everything they can to protect their members, athletes and volunteers.

From a club or organisation perspective, the consequences of an investigation can be significant and long-term. For instance, most parents will think twice about having their children participate in a sport or environment, if there are concerns about children being harmed or if it could be an unsafe culture.

Drawing a line in the sand

As you will be aware, harm can take many forms including physical, verbal, sexual, or emotional abuse. Overtraining also needs to be considered as part of this conversation. Even if your organisation only has adults, your organisation’s reputation can still be at risk when parents and children associate, for instance, a harmful diet culture or sexual abuse with a particular sport. 

With high profile cases in gymnastics, women’s football (soccer) and more recently swimming, each involving varying forms of child abuse, the need for organisations at all levels to revisit and ensure their child safety policies and procedures are comprehensive, is essential. Even in organisations where children are not actively involved, it can still be important to ensure that a healthy culture is maintained within the sport to ensure continued participation.

Why child safety is relevant in all sport environments

Participation from a young age is always crucial for any sport, even if it is not child-focused. Why? Because every sport requires a pool of talent coming through the ranks and not being pushed out of the sport due to an unsafe culture. Every sport is entirely reliant upon children participating at the grassroots level. If there are fewer children participating, then there will be fewer adults participating, fewer adults watching or supporting the sport at the elite level and less funding available to the sporting organisations involved in the sport.

Child protection in sport coaching

In recent times, Swimming Australia issued an unreserved apology to the elite female swimmers who faced mistreatment and a toxic culture, at the hands of the coaching staff. We heard young swimmers discussing the critique of their body, with pressure on them to lose weight and restrict their food consumption to the point that it harmed their performance. In some cases, resulting in Relative Energy Deficiency Syndrome (RED-S). Such revelations are likely to harm the sport. 

As mentioned above, the Liddick case demonstrates that there have likely been similar issues occurring in the sport of gymnastics. A review of the sport in 2020 by the Australian Human Rights Commission revealed persistent use of highly authoritarian coaching techniques, the prevalence of inappropriate and harmful weight management and body shaming practices leading to eating disorders and disordered eating, and a sense amongst the gymnastics’ community that there was a “toxic” culture. Gymnastics Australia has responded to these findings by (amongst other things) adopting new procedures for dealing with complaints. 

High profile cases like these have meant all sporting organisations and coaches need to reexamine if they have the balance right between pushing people to perform at their best, and ensuring child safety and athlete mental well-being are of equal importance.

There have also been revelations of child sexual abuse across a range of sports in Australia and internationally. 

So, what is involved in making sure what you have in place currently, is adequate to assist coaches to do their job effectively as well as manage potential safety risks? 

What is needed to ensure there is 100% clarity about guidelines for coaches to follow, and ensure that child protection and safety in general, is not compromised?

Minimising risk and consequences in your sporting environment

Creating clear child safety policies and procedures is the starting point to help manage these risks. Policies that cover all sides including teachers, coaches and trainers, as well as the athletes. This likely means a need for separate policies and codes of conduct for coaches, volunteers, staff, club executives and athletes. 

Having these policies is only one step in this process. The second piece is ensuring coaches are well-trained and have a clear understanding about what is and is not acceptable within your organisation or club. Additionally, making sure everyone is aware of the policies, has read them, and knows the consequences if any policies and procedures are not followed, is essential. 

The education piece is often the most overlooked element, and yet it is one of the best ways to avoid these issues. Sitting alongside education is the general club culture on this issue – where there is broad knowledge that child abuse won’t be tolerated, members will be prepared to speak up and report early incidents they observe. The wrong type of members will move on or be moved on quickly.   

But all of this is only as good as the detail included in the policies and code of conduct that are put in place. 

A satisfactory or comprehensive approach?

You will likely already have some policies in place. Any policies you have in place should clearly detail what the process is if a concern is raised, and if these issues will be investigated internally or with the assistance of a third party.

A good child safety policy will also detail what duty of care each person has, and who any concerns should be flagged with. These policies should also provide details for what to do in the event there are concerns about an issue not being investigated properly.

If your club or organisation is serious about safety and avoiding these issues, then you also need to have good procedures in place. One example might be to ask an athlete, member or employee on their onboarding form if they have any previous sexual offence charges against them. In this instance, you would then need to have a policy in place detailing what action would be taken if someone were to answer ‘yes’ to this question. Would all parents, athletes, team members and management be notified? 

There are a range of elements that can be included in these types of policies to significantly reduce risks for children, athletes and members as well as reduce the financial and reputational risks to your organisation.

Generic child safety policy and procedures will, most times, not go far enough in significantly reducing these risks. To be confident that you are doing the right thing by your coaches, athletes, members and the organisation at large, you should have these policies reviewed annually. They may need to be customised to ensure they will meet the unique needs of your sport, people, organisation and community. 

As we have seen in many cases where safety has been compromised in sporting environments, it can sometimes take years for allegations to come to light. If years down the track it is ascertained that 2022 was the year that the alleged offence occurred, the child safety policies and procedures that your organisation has in place now, will be investigated. And if the alleged offences are proven, a decision will be made as to how culpable the coaches, management and organisations were. 

Article by Alexandria Anthony

Related Articles: It’s Not Child’s Play: Sports Organisations and Child Safety Offences

Performance Enhancing Technology in Sport: Considerations for Decision Makers at all Levels of Sport

Member Protection Policy: Could Yours Be Out of Date?

Striking a Balance: Child Protection in Sport and Effective Management of Allegations

At SportsLawyer we are specialists in child safety policies and procedures. We partner with your club, membership group or sporting organisation to review effective policies that meet your organisational needs. We also assist with the delivery and education of these policies to ensure the policies are not just in place, but can be clearly followed. Get in touch with our team, discuss how we can work together for the success of your sporting club or organisation here.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this article should be relied upon as legal advice. The contents of this article should be regarded as information only, and for specific legal matters, independent advice should always be sought. Please contact Paul Horvath on info@sportslawyer.com.au or phone (03) 9642 0435 to discuss any matter or to arrange an appointment.

The post High Performance Training and Child Protection in Sport Coaching appeared first on Sportslawyer - Experts in Sports Law Melbourne & Australia-wide.

It will briefly explore the 2011 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations (National Principles) and the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework.  It will provide a more comprehensive examination of the implementation of Victoria’s New Child Safe Standards through the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP), before briefly highlighting similar schemes that apply in other states and territories across Australia.

The principles discussed in this article may apply to your sporting organisation, especially if you are based in Victoria, and even where they do not specifically apply, the approaches recommended in the principles are likely to be beneficial in preventing child sexual abuse and other forms of child abuse. Sporting organisations should be aware of the applicable principles and obligations that apply to them, and ensure that they are compliant and obtaining advice where issues are identified.

The National Principles for Child Safe Organisations

The Royal Commission recommended a set of 10 child safe standards for various organisations to adopt for the purpose of developing organisational cultures which foster child safety and wellbeing. The National Principles are intended to provide guidance and help all organisations which engage with children to develop a child safe culture. Each principle includes a set of key actions which will help organisations to implement the respective principle. The National Principles focus on embedding child wellbeing at all levels, raising awareness of child safety and rights and ensuring that proper procedures are implemented and reviewed.

To find out more about the National Principles, please read this.

Commonwealth Child Safe Framework

The Royal Commission also emphasised the need for organisations to provide a child safe environment, and ensure that their staff and volunteers are equipped with the requisite skills, confidence and knowledge to keep children safe.

To implement this, the Federal government developed a Commonwealth Child Safe Framework (Framework). The Framework consists of a whole-of-government policy which sets the minimum standards for Australian government entities to “create and maintain behaviours and practices that are safe for children”. It is compulsory for all Commonwealth non-corporate entities and is strongly recommended for other Commonwealth entities. Examples of sports entities which may be affected by this are Sport Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport.  The Framework requires the organisations to adopt the National Principles.  To find out more about the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework, please read this.

Victoria’s New Child Safe Standards

On 1 July 2022, Victoria will adopt a new set of 11 Child Safe Standards (Child Safe Standards) to improve the safety of children and young people in specific organisations in place of the current 7 Child Safe Standards. These mandatory standards apply to all organisations defined as a relevant entity in section 3(1) of the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic). These organisations comprise any Category 2 entities, which include but are not limited to:

1. Entities which provide coaching services specifically for children;
2. Any youth organisations in which children participate or that provides activities in which children participate;
3. Entities that provide sporting or recreational services specifically for children; and
4. Entities which employ children.

The Child Safety Standards themselves largely mirror the National Principles, with the following exceptions:

1. The Child Safe Standards feature an additional standard which requires organisations to:

“…establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued”.

2. The second National Principle has been changed slightly in the Child Safe Standards so that children and young people are not only informed about their rights, but are empowered by their rights.
3. The Child Safe Standards are to be regularly reviewed and improved.

The Commission for Children and Young People

Compliance with the Child Safe Standards is primarily regulated by Victoria’s CCYP. However, there may be other regulators and enforcement agencies which help ensure compliance with the Child Safe Standards in specific circumstances. This includes the Department of Human Services, and Victoria Police where suspected criminal behaviour has occurred.

Reportable Conduct Scheme

The CCYP runs a Reportable Conduct Scheme (Scheme). The Scheme requires the heads of organisations to: have systems in place which prevent child abuse, report to the CCYP any reportable allegations, ensure that investigations are conducted thoroughly and rigorously, and inform the CCYP of outcomes or findings.

Reportable allegations include allegations of sexual offences, sexual misconduct, physical violence, behaviour that causes significant emotional or psychological harm, and significant neglect.

Heads of organisations must report any reportable allegations to the CCYP within three business days, and provide the CCYP with certain information about the allegations and the organisation’s proposed response within 30 days.

A failure to comply with these 3-day and 30-day notification obligations without a reasonable excuse is a criminal offence. A person found guilty of an offence may be liable to a fine worth 10 penalty units ($1817.40). They may also be guilty of an offence under various other pieces of legislation, including the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), which could result in significant fines or up to three years imprisonment.

To read more about reporting obligations, please read our previous article.

Enforcement

The CCYP also oversees and enforces organisations’ compliance with the Child Safe Standards. It does this by:

1. informing and educating organisations about the Child Safe Standards and requirements for compliance;
2. supporting organisations to comply with the Child Safe Standards where non-compliance is identified. It provides advice and guidance to organisations to understand what compliance looks like and to identify child safety risks;
3. monitoring compliance by investigating and responding to concerns about alleged non-compliance, observing any efforts made by an organisation to remedy non-compliance, and requesting and sharing information with co-regulators and Victoria Police; and
4. enforcing the law by:
   1. issuing a Notice to Produce to gather information, or Notice to Comply with the Child Safe Standards;
   2. requesting Victoria Police or other regulators to take action or investigate non-compliance with the Child Safe Standards;
   3. publishing information about the Child Safe Standards, naming specific organisations where appropriate;
   4. applying to the Court for a declaration of non-compliance with any notice and an order for the organisation to pay a civil penalty;
   5. prosecuting the head of the organisation for failing to notify the CCYP of a reportable allegation within the 3-day period or failing to provide a 30-day update.

Other Approaches to the National Principles and Child Safe Standards

Other Australian states and territories have different approaches to the National Principles and Child Safe Principles.

• New South Wales has adopted the National Principles with its child safe standards.
• Queensland has endorsed the National Principles, but they currently do not have any general child safe standards.
• South Australia currently uses its own set of child safe standards called the “Child Safe Environments – Principles of Good Practice”. Organisations which provide services to children are required to comply with these standards.
• Western Australia has a voluntary approach to the National Principles for organisations. Its Department of Communities, Department of the Premier and Cabinet, and Commissioner for Children and Young People are currently developing a framework for the effective implementation of the National Principles which will legally require organisations to follow them.
• Tasmania does not currently have child safe standards. However, the Child Safe Organisations Bill 2020 has been drafted and if passed will lead to the adoption of a set of child safe standards that largely align with the National Principles.
• The Northern Territory does not have general child safe standards. While the National Principles have been endorsed by the Northern Territory government, compliance is not monitored.
• The ACT currently requires organisations to comply with relevant streams of the Children and Young People Standards. For example, there are a different set of standards for childcare services compared with organisations which employ children or young people. In October 2019, the ACT government committed to regulating its child safe standards and develop its scheme. The government has stated that the wording of its standards would be similar to the National Principles, but that it would also look at the Victorian and New South Wales child safe standards.

Conclusion

Sports organisations should be aware of the various child safety principles and policies in Australia. These child safety principles and policies may be compulsory for a sports organisation. If not, they would, at the very least, assist a sports organisation in devising an effective child safe policy which would prevent child abuse from occurring and, therefore, prevent the organisation from incurring any of the criminal or civil liabilities described in our previous child safety article.

SportsLawyer understands that sports organisations may have further questions regarding their own child safety policy. If your sports organisation needs assistance, please contact our sports law team at SportsLawyer on (03) 9642 0435 or reach out to us at info@sportslawyer.com.au.

Disclaimer:  Nothing in this article should be relied upon as legal advice. The contents of this article should be regarded as information only, and for specific legal matters, independent advice should always be sought. Please contact us on info@sportslawyer.com.au or phone (03) 9642 0435 to discuss any matter or to arrange an appointment.

Sources

https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/resources/New-CSS/New-Child-Safe-Standards-Information-Sheet.pdf

https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/assets/resources/Regulatory-Approach/CCYP-Regulatory-approach-Final.pdf

https://childsafe.humanrights.gov.au/national-principles/about-national-principles

https://childsafe.humanrights.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-02/National_Principles_for_Child_Safe_Organisations2019.pdf

https://childsafety.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-12/commonwealth-child-safe-framework-2nd-edition.pdf

https://www.ngoservicesonline.com.au/blog/child-safe-standards-whats-happening-in-your-jurisdiction/

Related articles: Member Protection Policy: Could Yours Be Out of Date?

The post Getting Child Safe: An Overview of Australia’s Child Safe Principles for Sports Organisations appeared first on Sportslawyer - Experts in Sports Law Melbourne & Australia-wide.

The impacts of such abuse can be long lasting for the young athlete victims and can lead to reputational damage to the sport.  Shane Lewis first opened up about the abuse he allegedly experienced at the hands of Mr Wright following a suicide attempt in 2010.  His death earlier this year prompted other alleged victims to speak out about the abuse they and others suffered.  The ABC earlier this year also reported on the devastating impacts of the St Kilda paedophile ring on certain of its young victims which in some cases led to years of drug abuse, addiction, mental health issues, and hardship.  Internationally, gymnastic great, Simone Biles, has recently commented that she may quit the sport because she continues to suffer as a result of USA Gymnastics’ failure to protect her and her fellow gymnasts against abuse by Larry Nassar.

These cases serve as a reminder of the risks of child abuse occurring in sport and that when it does occur, it can have devastating impacts for the athletes, the sporting organisations and the sport itself.

No sporting organisation wants to find itself in the news for failing to protect its participants from serious harm at the hands of sports administrators, coaches or medical staff, especially when the participants are vulnerable young athletes.  Reputational harm aside, sporting organisations may face lawsuits from victims, as in the case of USA Gymnastics, and in Victoria, there may now also be criminal consequences for failures to protect against risks to children.

This article will explain the obligations and potential liability under civil or criminal law which sports clubs in Victoria may face for failures to protect against child sex abuse under criminal and civil law.

In a separate article we will discuss the Commonwealth Child Safe Framework and National Child Safe Principles, the Sport Australia Child Safe Policy and Victoria’s new Child Safe Standards, which commence operation in July 2022.

Liability for failure to protect against child abuse

Sporting organisations and individuals within sporting organisations that fail to take steps to protect children under their care, supervision or authority from harm resulting from child abuse may also be liable under civil or criminal law.  Liability will arise where the abuse or risk of abuse arose from a person associated with the sporting organisation and the sporting organisation or an individual in a position of authority within the sporting organisation failed to take reasonable steps to protect against harm.  Persons that may be relevantly associated with a sporting organisation include any person who is an officer, employee, manager, owner, volunteer, contractor or agent of the sporting organisation.

Criminal offence

People with positions of authority within a sporting organisation should ensure that they are taking steps to protect children from known risks arising from persons associated with the sporting organisation.  A negligent failure to remove the risk resulting from such a person may be a criminal offence under s 49O of the Crimes Act.

Specifically, a person within a sporting organisation commits the offence of failing to protect a child from a sexual offence when that person:

• Is aware of a substantial risk that a child under the age of 16, that is or may come under the care, supervision or authority of the sporting organisation, will become a victim of a sexual offence committed in Victoria by an adult “person associated” with the sporting organisation;
• occupies a position within that sporting organisation that gives them the responsibility or power to reduce or remove a substantial risk to child relating to sexual abuse; and
• negligently fails to reduce or remove that risk.

Such conduct will still constitute an offence regardless of whether a sexual offence has been proved to have been committed.  It will be negligent to fail to take steps where the failure to do so involves a great falling short of the standard of care that a reasonable person would have exercised in the circumstances.

A person found guilty of the offence is liable to up to 5 years imprisonment.

Civil liability

Victims of child sexual abuse may sue sports organisations for the organisation’s failure to take reasonable care to prevent the victim from child abuse by an individual associated with the sport organisation, as long the abuse occurred while the victim was under the care, supervision or authority of the relevant organisation.

If an individual sues a sporting organisation for a breach of its duty of care in relation to child abuse, the sporting organisation will be presumed to have breached its duty of care where proof of child abuse exists, unless it proves on the balance of probabilities that it took reasonable precautions to prevent the abuse.  Therefore, sporting organisations that do not actively take steps to reduce the likelihood of child sexual abuse may be liable for any harm that occurs to a child.

Criminal offences where there is a failure to report child abuse

There are two key criminal reporting obligations associated with child safety in Victoria. These obligations are “criminal” in the sense that a failure to report the child safety issue is a criminal offence which may lead to imprisonment or significant fines. The two reporting obligations are derived from:

1. Section 327 of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic); and
2. Section 38 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic) (OHS Act).

Section 327 of the Crimes Act

This provision imposes an obligation on all people over 18 years of age to report to Victoria Police an incident if they have a “reasonable belief” that child sexual abuse has been committed by another adult against a child under 16 years of age.  Child sex abuse includes, but is not limited to:

1. rape of a child;
2. sexual assault of a child;
3. grooming of a child;
4. encouraging a child to engage or be involved in a sexual activity; and
5. causing or allow a child to engage or be involved in a sexual activity.

A person must make this report as soon as it is practicable to provide that information unless they have a reasonable excuse for not doing so. A reasonable excuse includes fearing on reasonable grounds for the safety of any person other than the person reasonably believed to be the perpetrator of the child sex offence.  A reasonable excuse does not include protecting the perceived interests of the alleged offender or any organisation (including a sporting organisation).  In the absence of a reasonable excuse, a failure to report can result in up to three years imprisonment.

In the case of PPA v Secretary to the Department of Justice and Community Safety (Review and Regulation) [2019] VCAT 1962 (11 December 2019), it was established that a mother had committed an offence under section 327 because she had failed to report her daughter’s allegations of child sex abuse against her father to police.

The same offence would apply to anyone involved at a sporting organisation who witnesses an incident of child sex abuse or is informed of an account of child sex abuse by another person, including the victim

However, a person who is informed by a victim aged 16 years and above of their child sex abuse who does not wish for that information to be disclosed is generally not liable for an offence if they fail to report the allegations.

Section 38 of the OHS Act

This provision is different to the provision in the Crimes Act in that it concerns physical injuries to the child in a workplace rather than child sexual abuse, and is not specific to harm to children. It imposes an obligation on all workplaces covered by the OHS Act to report to WorkSafe Victoria (WSV) any safety incident which has occurred in the workplace and results in harm to the physical wellbeing of a person, including a child.  Harm to the physical wellbeing of the child includes, but is not limited to:

1. Death of the child;
2. Injuries requiring hospitalisation; and
3. Injuries requiring immediate attention.

The workplace must make this report immediately after becoming aware that the incident has occurred. A written record of the incident must also be provided to WSV, and kept for at least 5 years.  This record must be provided within 48 hours after becoming aware that the incident has occurred.

A failure to report a relevant incident under this provision is an indictable offence.  This can result in a fine of up to 240 penalty units (approximately $40,000) for natural persons or 1,200 penalty units (approximately $200,000) for body corporates, including sports clubs and organisations.

An example of where this may be relevant to a sports club or organisation is where a child is employed by a sports club and becomes injured at work.

Conclusion

Sports organisations should be aware of the risk of child abuse, and child sexual abuse in particular, and should be taking steps to prevent and report all instances of child abuse.  A failure to take steps may not only cause significant harm for any victims, but it may also result in criminal or civil liability for the sporting organisations or individuals within the sporting organisation who fail to take reasonable steps to report or protect against child abuse.

SportsLawyer understands that sports organisations may have further questions regarding their child safety reporting organisations. If your sports organisation needs assistance, please contact our sports law team at SportsLawyer on (03) 9642 0435 or reach out to us at info@sportslawyer.com.au.

Disclaimer:  Nothing in this article should be relied upon as legal advice.  The contents of this article should be regarded as information only, and for specific legal matters, independent advice should always be sought.  Please contact Paul Horvath on info@sportslawyer.com.au or phone (03) 9642 0435 to discuss any matter or to arrange an appointment.

Related article: High Performance Training and Child Protection in Sport Coaching

Striking a Balance: Child Protection in Sport and Effective Management of Allegations

Sources

Crimes Act 1958 (Vic)

Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (Vic)

Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-05/swimming-coach-john-wright-accused-of-abusing-boys/100504054

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-21/ex-swimming-coach-john-wright-extradited-on-child-abuse-charges/100556616

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-20/swimming-coach-john-wright-accused-of-abuse-arrested/100555244

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-15/paedophile-coaches-turn-boyhood-dreams-into-nightmares-st-kilda/100080988

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-19/advocate-peter-jess-st-kilda-little-league-paedophile-ring/100144382

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/gymnastics-victoria-sued-over-historical-sexual-abuse-by-independent-coach-20210722-p58c1n.html

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-03/gymnastics-australia-report-human-rights-commission-culture/100111962

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/2021/10/21/simone-biles-still-scared-gymnastics/

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