Officials’ warnings on sport integrity body
The Public Services Commission has raised opposition to Sport NZ’s involvement in establishing a new sports integrity body, as the overhaul of New Zealand’s antidoping and integrity operations gathers pace.
Cabinet last month confirmed the broad purpose, functions and powers of the new standalone entity, which is being set up as part of the Government’s response to the raft of alarming findings from successive reviews into the country’s elite sporting environments.
The new body, for now operating under the unwieldy working title of Integrity Sport and Recreation New Zealand (ISRNZ), will be responsible for implementing a national code of sport integrity, which it will have the mandate to enforce.
But officials have flagged early concerns over the independence of the new agency.
In its advice to Cabinet, the Public Services Commission opposed Sport NZ’s involvement in developing the legislation that will govern the new agency, noting that under its remit, the integrity body may be required to investigate the activities of Sport NZ.
‘‘Having its establishing legislation administered by Sport NZ may create a perception that the new entity is somehow subject to Sport NZ ... responsibility for administering the legislation would be more appropriately placed with the monitoring department,’’ the advice read.
The issue is essentially one of perception, but one sport integrity expert told Stuff that perception in itself is a real problem the agency needs to overcome given the current lack of trust and confidence in the sports institutions among the athlete community.
In the string of reviews into troubled sporting environments
that have played out over the past four years, High Performance Sport NZ has been forced to examine its own role in allowing concerning cultures to fester within these sports.
The background information provided to Cabinet last month noted the collective findings of these reviews ‘‘indicated a lack of capability across the sport sector to deal with integrity-related issues, particularly in relation to the reporting and management of complaints’’.
In a statement Minister for Sport and Recreation Grant Robertson said the operational independence of the new agency from Sport NZ is critical.
He said the Integrity Transition Committee (ITC), headed by deputy State Services Commissioner Doug Martin, engaged with the Public Services Commission about the new entity and related legislation.
‘‘Following those discussions, the ITC were satisfied that Sport NZ’s involvement in administering the legislation wouldn’t compromise the independence of ISRNZ, and that this approach was not unique across the public sector and reflects the current administration for Drug Free Sport NZ [in relation to the Sports Anti-Doping Act 2006].’’
To emphasise the independence of ISRNZ, board members of the new entity will be precluded from being members of either the Sport NZ or High Performance Sport NZ boards, and cannot be employees of either organisation, the minister added.
The new agency’s agreed scope spans participant protection, child safeguarding, anti-doping, anti-competition manipulation, anti-corruption and organisational culture, across grassroots sport and recreation through to the elite end.
As part of the system overhaul, Drug Free Sport NZ will be disestablished, with its operations being folded into the new integrity agency, which is expected to be up and running by 2024.