Australia’s New National Sports Tribunal

Following a year-long independent review of the Australian sport’s regulatory environment, led by the Honourable James Wood AO (Order of Australia) QC (Queen’s Counsel) (the Wood Review), the Australian Federal Government released a report containing the Wood Review’s findings and 52 recommendations which included a recommendation for the establishment of an Australian National Sports Tribunal (NST).

Introduction

By Peter Paleologos

The establishment of the NST is aimed at achieving a consistency of response across various sporting integrity issues in all sports within Australia. The Football Federation Australia (FFA) has the opportunity to opt-in and refer disputes to the NST. To do so, relevant amendments to the FFA’s constitution, by-laws, rules, disciplinary regulations and dispute resolution policies will be required.

Currently, the FFA has its own internal in-house dispute resolution tribunal and process (grievance procedure and disciplinary regulations) to deal with integrity issues (e.g. doping, match fixing, governance, misconduct, disciplinary matters etc.). It may be that the FFA waits to join the NST to develop its jurisprudence. Conversely, as there are also 9 state football federations in Australia, these bodies may opt in separately to the NST instead on relying on referrals to...

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