Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority :: 2006-07 Annual Report

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2 OVERVIEW ASADA Annual Report 2006:07 Message from the Chair This annual report comes at the conclusion of the debut year for the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA). The Australian Government launched ASADA on 14 March 2006 with a goal of making the ‘tough on drugs’ in sport message even tougher. ASADA has boosted Australia’s historical strengths in the areas of education and testing by the addition of a suite of new functions in a number of diverse areas. These include conducting investigations, presenting cases at sporting tribunals, recommending sanctions, and approving and monitoring sporting organisations’ anti-doping policies. Most importantly, ASADA has been empowered with the ability to share information with other Australian Government agencies (such as the Australian Customs Service, Australian Federal Police and Therapeutic Goods Administration) to accelerate whole‐of‐government cooperation in the fight against doping in sport. Internationally, ASADA has been commended by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which said, ’Australia has taken this approach [of anti-doping] even further and developed a revolutionary model that solidifies cooperation between the anti-doping authority and other government agencies’ (WADA Play true magazine, Issue 1 2007, p8). ASADA is an innovative organisation with a vision for Pure Performance in sport, supported by a range of new powers. Our mission is to protect Australia’s sporting integrity through the elimination of doping. Throughout our debut year of operation, ASADA remained focused on building new capabilities required under our new legislation and delivering on our expanded range of outcomes across our frontline business units of Deterrence, Detection and Enforcement. Deterrence ASADA’s first goal is to deter athletes from involvement in doping, which is achieved by educating at-risk athletes. ASADA seeks to communicate the message of Pure Performance to athletes in a way that is relevant and inspiring. During the past year, ASADA’s commitment to innovative anti-doping education has been demonstrated by the piloting and rollout of the ASADA Pure Performance Outreach Program. The program, aimed at the elite athletes of tomorrow, is supported by a team of qualified ASADA educators. Designed to be informative, interactive and fun, the program was developed in close consultation with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Australian Olympic Committee. The program made its highly successful debut at the 2007 World Olympic Youth Festival in Sydney, where the response from athletes was enthusiastic.
ASADA Annual Report 2006:07 OVERVIEW 3 Another key component of ASADA’s Education Service Charter was the development of a Pure Performance Athlete Workshop aimed at elite athletes in sports at greatest risk of doping. The workshop was trialled as part of an eight point anti-doping action plan for the sport of weightlifting, a sport determined to rebuild the confidence and trust of the Australian sporting public. ASADA also developed and piloted a Pure Performance Seminar to provide athletes and support personnel with quality anti-doping education. Seven pilot seminars were conducted during 2006–07 with the aim of informing participants about their anti-doping responsibilities and reducing the risk of athletes inadvertently doping. ASADA EXECUTIVE, KEVIN ISAACS ASSISTS AT OUTREACH PROGRAM ASADA’s revamped education program – targeted at both the stars of today and tomorrow – will be rolled out across urban and regional Australia in 2007–08. This will help communicate the message of Pure Performance to thousands of Australian athletes, their parents and other support personnel. In March 2007 ASADA’s Deterrence team launched a dedicated Athlete Whereabouts Online System to make life easier for elite athletes who, under their sporting rules, must provide whereabouts information for No Advance Notice testing. Using state of the art technology, the portal was launched following extensive consultation with stakeholders. It now provides athletes with secure, online convenience, around the clock, for lodging and updating whereabouts information. Feedback has been positive regarding the new online system compared with the previous cumbersome paper and fax-based system. No Advance Notice testing of athletes is a requirement under the World Anti-Doping Code (the Code) to ensure the maximum chance of detecting possible doping. The activities of ASADA cannot take place without the support of our key domestic partners. During the year, 95 domestic sporting organisations signed letters accepting the jurisdiction of ASADA in anti-doping matters. With these letters of referral in place, all recognised national sporting organisations are fully compliant with respect to their anti‐doping policy obligations under the ASADA legislation. I would like to acknowledge the goodwill and cooperation ASADA received from all sporting organisations (NSOs) as we completed this process. Detection While we all hope that Australian athletes would not involve themselves in doping, it is imperative that ASADA builds robust systems to catch those who let themselves, their sport and their country down by doping.
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Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority :: 2006-07 Annual Report

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