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Submission by Australian Drug Foundation on 31 October 2008.
1. Ensure Australia's continued elite sporting success
The Australian Drug Foundation works to prevent alcohol and other drugs problems and minimize harm caused by misuse of these substances. Sport is significantly impacted by problems associated with alcohol and other drugs. One ADF initiative having a positive influence in sport is Good Sports – it develops safer, healthier communities by helping sports clubs change their culture to be more focused on young people and families and less on the consumption of alcohol. KEY POINTS RE; ELITE SPORTING SUCCESS: i. Elite sport is influenced by an association with alcohol ii. Elite athletes are at risk of being affected by sport’s alcohol culture iii. Elite athletes are influenced by the culture they learn from their local community sporting club iv. Elite sport reinforces a drinking culture to the broader community v. The health benefits of sport are tarnished by sports alcohol culture vi. Comprehensive, supportive alcohol and drug education is essential for elite athletes and all members of the athlete’s support team GETTING IT RIGHT AT THE START Young athletes start their journey to excellence from their local club. Exposure to the values, norms and culture of their local club shapes their future approach. Elite sportspeople are vulnerable to exposure to drugs and alcohol. Research indicates elite athletes are higher risk-takers than others thus making them more susceptible to misuse of alcohol and other drugs. A PREVENTATIVE APPROACH Equipping an athlete to manage themselves when exposed to D&A challenges should start early in an athlete’s life cycle. It is not sufficient to provide a one hour lecture on drugs and expect that a young athlete will be protected. Proper protection is provided through lifestyle management and a practical, supportive structure is set in place. Australian investment into the drug-testing focuses on “catching” the user. Little investment is made in preventative drug management where young people are supported in a realistic, best practice way. Co-morbidity links between drugs, alcohol and mental health are not given enough attention. Comprehensive drug and lifestyle education to athletes would ensure they progress with knowledge of how to avoid problems related to alcohol or other drugs. That same education must be undertaken by people who have an association with elite athletes - coaches, support staff, office staff, parents. It is not helpful to educate athletes without educating those who have influence on them, or to expect one type of behaviour from athletes and a different set of behaviours from their support team. There is little point in educating athletes if the cultures of their sports do not support the expected behaviours i.e. the sports in which they participate are sponsored by the alcohol industry, whose express purpose is to increase the consumption of alcohol. This is a harmful double-standard. Alcohol misuse creates toxic cultures in sport and repels families, women, non-drinkers who don’t wish to participate in an unhealthy culture. RECOMMENDATIONS #1: investment be made to support local clubs foster positive club cultures and better management of alcohol. Every local sport club in Australia be supported to achieve Good Sports status. #2: Sporting Institutes be required to involve their athletes, coaching, support and administration staff in the ADF National Drug Education Program. #3: Institute athletes complete the lifestyle education and management program provided by Good Sports #4: a part-time employment scheme be implemented for Institute athletes to be trained as ADF Project Officers to work with local sporting clubs to enhance the skills and knowledge of these clubs in dealing with alcohol and drug management. #5: all professional sports be invited to develop a whole-of-organisation approach to alcohol and illegal drugs management and demonstrate leadership to the rest of the community on this issue.
2. Better place sport and physical activity as a key component of the Government's preventative health approach
ISSUE 1 - COMMUNITY SPORT INVESTMENT The majority of financial sport investment goes to elite sport with an emphasis on performance, rather than quality participation ISSUE 2 – ENGAGE CLUBS The current framework where NSO/SSO decide what resources are required at community level based on a performance-based model does not help community engagement required to sustain and grow participation. NSO/SSO are not equipped to provide support, nor are they expected to create results around engagement and improved health and wellbeing. Good Sports was developed because of the disengagement by sporting orgs around alcohol and their inability and/or lack of commitment to support community sport clubs on alcohol and drug issues. Good Sports is endorsed by the Fed Govt’s National Binge Drinking Strategy and applauded for its positive and preventative approach to managing alcohol and drug misuse. Good Sports works directly with the local clubs to create partnerships between families, club members, athletes, local authorities, local businesses. Good Sports builds community capacity. Results to date show that there are significant benefits for clubs when they change their culture and increase membership of players, non-players and volunteers ISSUE 3 – PRACTICAL ISSUES FOR CLUBS AND COMMUNITY Community sport needs focus on the practical ability of the local club to build community and to support members both on and off the field. Good Sports has been effective as it works with clubs to create supportive club structures and cultures. Important practical issues: i. Community sport clubs will not naturally buy-in to issues that potentially upset the financial viability of a club. Issues like responsible alcohol management therefore, often take some time to imbed in community sport ii. Community sporting clubs need support to ‘take on’ health issues as they are not ‘core’ business for clubs. Volunteers will also be reluctant to take on important issues if they are going to get a lot of resistance iii. Good Sports is delivered in community sporting clubs by Project Officers specifically trained to support club committees and volunteers implement the program iv. Community sporting clubs do not need a series of Project Officers ‘selling’ a range of different health messages working with them. They need one Project Officer, trained across all the key health issues, working directly with the clubs. They should not be people whose primary role is promoting a sport or developing elite athletes, nor should they be managed by NSOs or SSOs whose charter is not on delivery health related outcomes. ISSUE 4 – BETTER LINKS Links between schools and local sport clubs need to be established and sustained. Further capacity within local sport clubs to address disease prevention, health promotion and other at-risk behaviours that affect their members is an option. ADF research shows that when the culture in sport clubs is positive towards responsible alcohol management, the number of women participants increases significantly. Clearly, a poor alcohol culture in a sport club can be a powerful deterrent to women members. RECOMMENDATION #1: Good Sports be offered to all sport clubs in Australia #2: NSOs / SSOs be required to work collaboratively with Good Sports to promote the program to local sports clubs and to endorse the program in their strategic plans and policies #3: a national Volunteer Program is developed, whereby people willing to be volunteers in remote and regional centres are trained and supported. Good Sports is an infrastructure that could be utilized to assist in the delivery of volunteer training #4: ADF be appointed lead to develop a National Indigenous Good Sports Strategy, designed to support Aboriginal Sports Clubs and members #5: national public media campaign to raise awareness of positive drug and alcohol management in sports clubs
3. Strengthen pathways from junior sport to grassroots community sport right through to elite and professional sport
COMMUNITY SPORT – THE CORNERSTONE NSO/SSOs focus is athletes & performance. Insufficient attention/investment is paid to local sports clubs. The Australian Drug Foundation has conducted research into sport and health conjointly and built its intervention programs upon evidence. Alcohol misuse is the most common theme – it compromises the safety and good health of clubs and causes significant drops in family participation. Without family participation, it is difficult to improve club business models, volunteer brigades and club viability. ALCOHOL CULTURE - Sports tackle drugs & alcohol as “player-based” problems. There is reluctance to engage in drug & alcohol discussions. Managing alcohol is an important strategy in improving a sport’s public image and retaining and growing player numbers, officials and volunteers. Left unchecked, alcohol mismanagement fosters unattractive club cultures. The 2003 NSW Alcohol Summit, identified community sport clubs as one of the highest risk settings for unlicensed alcohol sales, binge & underage drinking and drink driving. The ADF’s Good Sports program has shown that by creating community sport environments where alcohol is managed responsibly participation (playing, non-playing and volunteers), on-field success, financial partnerships and improved viability can be achieved. Sport will become more attractive to people in communities and the health and wellbeing of these participants can be nurtured, protected and enhanced. BUILDING LOCAL SPORTS CLUBS CAPACITY The ADF seeks to support local communities by building capabilities and resources in local sports clubs. Each club is a micro-community. The ADF helps build systems, policies, cultural norms and practices that promulgate healthy lifestyles, especially relating to alcohol, tobacco and drugs. Good Sports works one-on-one with clubs, providing a project officer who facilitates local solutions in cooperation with the club volunteers and leaders. The ADF works directly with local clubs through a cooperative partnership approach to strengthen the ability of club management to make more effective decisions, to feel connected and empowered, to solve problems and to address their club’s development needs in a sustainable manner. When a Good Sports Project Officer is invited into a local sports club, the club gains a resource – the Project Officer aims to help them reach the highest level of Good Sports accreditation. Local authorities, Council members, businesspeople etc are recruited to assist clubs address the accreditation criteria and achieve standards. This infrastructure enables health/lifestyle messages to be delivered into local sports clubs. Good Sports enables clubs to deal effectively with many of the sub-cultures arising from alcohol abuse including poor driving, assault, domestic violence, gender inequity, depression etc. Many of the issues that clubs address in Good Sports are those highlighted by the Federal Govt’s Burden of Disease document. RECOMMENDATION #1: the Australian Drug Foundation be endorsed to develop a collaborative, community-based and whole-of-sport-and-health strategy (Australian Sports Drug Strategy) to facilitate the structural, attitudinal and behavioural reforms necessary to protect the local sports community from alcohol misuse and illicit drug use. Fundamental to the success of this strategy is it is based on a harm-minimisation, is jointly supported by health and sport professionals, is linked to govt and social policy, is piloted and evaluated and promotes sport as a community leader. The outcomes would include: i. Increased club membership/ participation ii. Increased club revenue iii. Increased social events at clubs iv. Decreased adverse events v. Decreased alcohol and drug-related injuries (NB. ADF has already confirmed with 7 NSW sporting organizations -AFL, Cricket, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Soccer, Netball, Surf Life Saving - that this strategy has merit and is needed.)
4. Maintain Australia's cutting edge approach to sports science, research and technology
PROVIDING EVIDENCE-BASED ADVICE, LEADERSHIP AND SUPPORT ON THE EFFECTIVE MANAGEMENT OF ALCOHOL AND OTHER DRUGS There are three distinct but related drug issues confronting sporting bodies and their members 1. performance-enhancing drugs 2. alcohol misuse 3. illicit drug use. These three issues are not mutually exclusive. Since 2006, the ADF has been a pivotal, though not necessarily a public player in the development of solutions to assist sport deal with the issue of illicit drug use and alcohol misuse. Two examples are the contribution of the ADF to the AFL’s illicit drug policy and the innovative strategy developed for the Newcastle Knights Rugby League team on better management of alcohol and other drug use. As a consequence of this work and the role the ADF plays in community sport through the Good Sports program, the ADF is consistently approached by a range of community sports clubs, leagues, associations and national and state sporting organizations seeking assistance of all three drug issues. Evidence to date reveals that 1. illicit drug use is having an impact on community sporting clubs 2. illicit drugs are used by people involved in all sports at all levels including administration 3. sports want to respond positively and be actively engaged to support players, coaches, administrators etc and to protect the integrity of their sport 4. sports are struggling to know how to respond 5. alcohol is by far the most significant issue in sport, and alcohol misuse appears to be a significant factor in the use of illicit drugs in sport. Sporting bodies seek support from the ADF in a number of areas, including A. guidelines – on how to deal effectively with the issues at club level B. educational resources – targeting members, players, coaches, committee members, parents C. educational presentations and training sessions – targeting different audiences within the club D. policy development – to assist clubs develop illicit drug policies, behavioural codes etc E. counseling and referral services F. legal advice G. incident management advice. The ADF earnestly seeks to support sporting bodies in their quest for information, advice, resourcing and support. The need for deeper, richer investment in this preventative, educational and positive approach to the community drug issue is paramount to sports being able to manage the problem. Sports should be aided to tackle the drug issue at a local level in a positive, proactive and with a preventative, rather than punitive approach. RECOMMENDATION 1: that the Australian Drug Foundation be funded to expand its leadership, practical support and targeted advice to all sporting bodies through the provision of a specialist National Sport Drug Support Unit. This national Unit would be resourced to: 1. provide community-oriented support and guidance to sports and their clubs on how to deal effectively with illicit drugs 2. ensure there is a nationally consistent approach on illicit drug management in community and elite sport 3. engage sports to effectively deal with the alcohol issue at all levels of their sport 4. engage in research directed at understanding the depth and spread of the drug problem in sport and develop solutions to meet identified needs 5. provide on-the-ground support to sports clubs, with a particular emphasis on rural, remote and indigenous sports clubs 6. facilitate collaboration between health and sporting agencies, transport, local government, housing and police authorities, to work in partnership on disease and injury prevention in sporting environments #2 that the work done by ADF with the professional Newcastle Knights Rugby League Club, on developing and implementing an integrated “Alcohol and other Drugs Strategy” be replicated amongst other professional sporting codes, and that this work be used in a public health promotion campaign to highlight and role model, effective intervention strategies to community clubs across Australia.
5. Identify opportunities to increase and diversify the funding base for sport through corporate sponsorship, media and any recommended reforms, such as enhancing the effectiveness of the Australian Sports Foundation
ALCOHOL MANAGEMENT AND NEW SPONSORSHIP REVENUES Alcohol sponsorship of sporting events, organisations and clubs takes various forms. At the elite level alcohol brands can sponsor whole competitions (e.g. AFL, NRL) and major sporting events (e.g. tennis and golf Opens, Spring Carnival), either as a naming rights sponsor or associate sponsor. Individual clubs and elite players (e.g. captains of AFL teams) can be individually sponsored and particular venues (e.g. nightclubs) may give players drink cards to encourage their attendance at the venue. At the community level, particularly in regional and rural areas, clubs can be supported in various ways by a local alcohol outlet, such as a hotel. The consequences of prohibiting alcohol sponsorship may have a different effect on elite and community based sports bodies and organizations. Elite competitions, events and clubs are more likely to have alternative sponsors on hand (e.g. banks, insurance houses, airlines). However at the community level there may be fewer alternatives and the sudden loss of a sponsor might threaten the immediate viability of individual clubs or competitions. For that reason it would be prudent to investigate the extent of alcohol sponsorship, particularly at community level, the likely impact of a ban on alcohol sponsorship and alternative sponsors for community based clubs. In the interim the government should encourage businesses and potential sponsors to offer sponsorships to sport and sports bodies at all levels, and encourage sports organizations to seek and accept non-alcohol sponsorships. The ADF has powerful evidence to show that when the culture and values of a sports club align with the Good Sports principles 1. the abuse of alcohol and associated negative behaviours diminish 2. the membership of the Club grows 3. women members increase in number 4. more families join the sports club 5. the incidence of crime decreases 6. the local community is favorably enhanced. If the sporting industry were to take a whole-of-sport approach to setting new, national standards regarding responsible alcohol management in sport, then the potential to attract new sources of commercial revenue to sport would likely increase. It is proposed that new category sponsors, rather than alcohol sponsors, would seek to partner the sporting industry in building stronger, more sustainable communities if local sporting clubs as well as licensed sporting venues were able to provide a less alcohol-fuelled and more family-friendly environment. In Australia there is a plethora of large and vital companies that have an interest in sponsoring sport, including airlines, sporting good manufacturers, motor car dealers, banks, insurance houses etc. The Good Sports program has observed a keener interest from new potential sponsors, when these companies realize that there products can be aligned with the image of creating safer, healthier and happier lifestyles and environments for community. . One such example is in NSW where the Newcastle Permanent Charitable Foundation has sponsored Good Sports to directly support the community battle against drug and alcohol misuse. RECOMMENDATION 1: that a national audit/ inquiry be conducted to assess the impact of alcohol sponsorship across all levels of Australian sport and to determine the social, health and commercial impact of banning sponsorship of community sport by the alcohol industry. #2 : that the ADF be engaged to work with the alcohol industry and licensed sporting venues to assist them to get all current commercial sponsorship and partnership arrangements to comply with a contemporary and evidence-based Responsible Alcohol Management Plan.
Page last updated: 31 October, 2008