The department will be closed from Wednesday 27 December 2023 to Monday 1 January 2024. We will respond to queries in the New Year. Best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.
Ensuring athlete safety and wellbeing is prioritised in the pursuit of sporting excellence.
A 2022 Sport Integrity Australia review of Western Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) historical Women’s Artistic Gymnastics program found that it was reasonably likely that some gymnasts suffered abuse and/or harm.
Following this review, the Minister for Sport and Recreation directed the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries (DLGSC) to conduct a review of safeguarding governance and culture across all current elite sporting programs to ensure that it is a safe place for athletes now and into the future.
The Athlete Safeguarding Governance and Culture Review of WAIS (the review) has commenced and is calling for contributions.
The DLGSC appointed KPMG Australia to perform the review, including independent consultations, which will been overseen by DLGSC. The review will be conducted in accordance with terms of reference agreed between DLGSC and WAIS.
The review will consider governance and culture relating to athlete safeguarding, identify areas for improvement and make recommendations that will ensure WAIS is providing a safe and supportive environment for all athletes, now and in the future.
It will also consider WAIS’ policies and procedures in relation to athlete safeguarding, governance, oversight, culture and complaints handling.
If you are currently at the WAIS or have been in the past 5 years (from April 2019 onwards), you will be able to contribute to the review of WAIS’s safeguarding governance and culture through a range of engagement options.
Consultation for the review will be conducted in 2 parts.
Part A consultations will engage the following participant groups:
Part B consultations will involve the WAIS Board, executive, management, administration staff, support staff and medical staff.
There are a variety of ways you can contribute to the review, including:
All methods of consultation foster a safe and collaborative environment, where participants feel comfortable, safe and supported to provide their views.
Information collected will extract meaningful insights, identifying areas of importance and recommendations for the review report.
Key insights and issues identified through the review, including during consultation, will be reported in a deidentified, thematic and summarised way.
Interested parties who match the participation group criteria are encouraged to visit the consultation portal and complete the expression of interest form as soon as possible. The in-person elements of part A consultations are expected to be carried out in November and December 2023, with part B to be conducted in early 2024. It is expected that the surveys will remain open throughout the review period.
For those within the following groups who are currently at WAIS or have been in the past 5 years, you are encouraged to complete the relevant cultural perception survey:
It is planned that these surveys will be available for the duration of the review period.
KPMG will provide a final report to DLGSC at the completion of the review.
If you’d like to speak to KPMG or have any questions about your involvement, please contact KPMG at safeguardingreview@kpmg.com.au
For enquiries and further information regarding the Review, please contact: childsafeguarding@dlgsc.wa.gov.au
If you have an urgent concern about the safety, health or welfare of a child, contact emergency services on 000.
If you are a child or adult who has been the victim of child abuse, or if you have information about someone else being abused, you can contact police anytime on 131 444 and can request to speak to a member of the Child Abuse Squad.
If you have concerns for a child’s wellbeing, contact the Department of Communities on 1800 271 889.