DownloadOutput 1.1 – Deterrence Program
The Deterrence output ensures that relevant anti-doping policy and legislative frameworks, such as the NAD scheme and sport anti-doping policies, reflect the Government’s commitment to the United Nations Education Science and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) International Convention against Doping in Sport and the Code.
The Deterrence output aims to inform members of the sporting community of their rights and obligations in relation to doping in sport through the provision of comprehensive and targeted education and awareness programs.
Furthermore, the Deterrence output ensures there is an ongoing move towards consistent anti-doping policy and procedures both domestically and internationally. It does this, among other things, by assisting sporting organisations in the development, approval and monitoring of their anti-doping policies.
| Output 1.1 – Deterrence Program | |
|---|---|
Measure |
Result |
Reduce the number of inadvertent anti-doping rule violations |
Of the 27 Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) entered on ASADA’s RoF during 2007–08, 11 (40.7%) were classified as inadvertent. While this figure has increased marginally from 38% in 2006–07, this is because of a timing issue and does not reflect the effectiveness of ASADA’s anti-doping education programs in place at the time of the During 2007–08 ASADA implemented a number of targeted strategies
|
| Quality | |
Reduce the number of athletes who may be contemplating doping |
Historically, this measure has been based on the percentage of athletes who responded, through an anonymous survey, that they would give During the year 8% of 204 Australian athletes at World Championship/Olympic level surveyed indicated that they would give ‘a lot’ or ‘some’ consideration to the offer of a prohibited substance which is unchanged from the previous year, but down from 16 per cent in 2004. The proportion of Australian athletes who responded to the survey reported that they would give ‘no consideration at all’ to an offer of prohibited substances has risen to 81% in 2008 from 59% in 2004. Ninety-five per cent of Australian athletes who took part in the evaluation of programs delivered under ASADA’s 2007–08 Education Services Charter believed the session they attended reduced their likelihood |
Full compliance with national and international responsibilities relating to the World Anti-Doping Code and other anti-doping agreements |
ASADA has internal policies and procedures that reflect the requirements of the Code and relevant International Standards. ASADA has reported on its compliance with the Code to WADA’s satisfaction as part of WADA’s compliance monitoring and reporting program. A review of the NAD scheme commenced to ensure continued compliance with the revised Code, which will come into force on ASADA contributed to the Australian Government’s submissions to WADA on the proposed amendments to the Code, the International Standard for Testing, the International Standard for Therapeutic Use Exemptions and the Prohibited List. Under the NAD scheme, Australian NSOs are required to have, maintain, and enforce anti-doping policies and practices that comply with mandatory provisions of the Code, and all requirements of the ASADA undertakes regular NSO compliance audits to determine compliance during specified timeframes. The outcome of the 2007–08 Compliance Audit process was that all recognised Australian NSOs are compliant with their obligations under the Code and the ASADA legislation. |
| Quantity | |
Eighty per cent of clients are satisfied with ASADA’s delivery of stakeholder values |
ASADA sought detailed feedback on satisfaction with our delivery of stakeholder values from a number of key external clients, including the Minister for Sport, the Department of Health and Ageing, the Australian Sports Commission, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC), athletes, and NSOs. The Minister’s office was satisfied with the briefings it had received from ASADA. The Australian Sports Commission indicated that it was satisfied with The Department of Health and Ageing indicated that it was highly satisfied with the way in which ASADA kept it aware of current ASADA worked closely with the AOC and the APC during 2007–08 on the development of Pure Performance Programs for the Australian Olympic and Paralympic teams participating in the Beijing 2008 Games (see page 31 for details). Surveys of elite athletes conducted during 2007–08 indicated:
In June 2008 65 out of 94 NSOs completed an end-of-year survey. Ninety-two per cent of NSOs that responded were either satisfied or very satisfied that ASADA is assisting them to protect the integrity of their sport by driving pure performance. |
Deterrence
ASADA’s deterrence activities aim to help athletes, support personnel, and NSOs understand and meet their anti-doping obligations. Deterrence focuses on strategies to reduce both inadvertent doping and the number of athletes who may be contemplating doping. We approach this by enhancing awareness of anti-doping issues among the sporting and general communities, promoting best practice anti-doping programs, and building stakeholder support for ASADA’s work.
ASADA’s Deterrence team also ensures the Minister for Sport and the Department of Health and Ageing are kept fully informed of current and emerging anti-doping issues through regular meetings and full briefings.
Education
Anti-doping education
Consistent with obligations under its legislation and the Code, ASADA plans, implements, and monitors anti-doping education programs. Education is a key strategy to reduce the number of athletes contemplating doping and reduce the percentage of inadvertent anti-doping rule violations.
Education Service Charter
The 2007–08 ASADA Education Service Charter was developed in close consultation with
NSOs, Australian athletes, other national anti-doping organisations, and WADA. The result was
a fully integrated anti-doping education program for athletes at all levels of competition and their support personnel.
The Education Service Charter included a number of face-to-face education strategies:
- Pure Performance Seminars provide athletes and support personnel with quality anti-doping education to ensure they are informed and knowledgeable about their anti-doping responsibilities and to reduce the risk of athletes inadvertently doping.
- Pure Performance Athlete Workshops engage and influence the behaviour of athletes to prevent them from contemplating doping.
- Athlete Outreach teaches young athletes about their anti-doping responsibilities in a fun, interactive environment.
- Coaching Workshops raise the awareness of coaches and other athlete support personnel in relation to their anti-doping responsibilities and encourage them to foster an anti-doping culture among their athletes.
The target for the Education Service Charter was to provide 7,000 athletes and support personnel with face-to-face anti-doping education. ASADA exceeded this target when 8,126 people attended education sessions held across Australia.
Throughout 2007–08, the Education Team delivered 117 Anti-Doping Workshops, 50 Pure Performance Seminars, three Athlete Outreach sessions and four Coaching Workshops. These activities included working with professional sports, Olympic sports, and large-scale junior events.
For the first time, ASADA delivered face-to-face anti-doping education in regional areas, such as Cairns, Warrnambool, Bathurst, Newcastle, Geraldton, Alice Springs and Darwin.
| Program | No. of sessions delivered |
No. of participants |
|---|---|---|
Pure Performance Programs |
50 |
2,534 |
Anti-Doping Workshops |
117 |
4,466 |
Athlete Outreaches |
3 |
1,043 |
Coaching Workshops |
4 |
83 |
Total |
174 |
8,126 |
Partnerships
ASADA’s Education Team continues to work closely with WADA on new education initiatives and models. This is highlighted by ASADA’s adoption of the WADA model for Athlete Outreach and the WADA Coaching Toolkit. ASADA has successfully implemented these programs and has received positive feedback from participants and NSOs.
Forming an important part of the Pure Performance Program for the Australian Olympic Team, ASADA worked closely with the AOC to ensure all Australian athletes going to the Beijing Olympics had the opportunity to receive face-to-face anti-doping education.
Evaluation
Surveys of participants in education sessions indicated 97 per cent believed the education session reduced their likelihood of inadvertent doping, and 95 per cent believed the education session deterred them from contemplating doping
NSOs are a key stakeholder in ASADA’s Education Service Charter. During 2007–08, ASADA surveyed NSOs on their views of the effectiveness of ASADA’s education programs. The findings
from this survey included the following:
- 88 per cent of NSOs were satisfied with ASADA’s Education Service Charter
- 84 per cent believed the activities delivered under the Education Service Charter reduced the risk of inadvertent doping, and
- 63 per cent believed the activities delivered under the Education Service Charter deterred athletes from doping.
Education Resources
During the year ASADA introduced a wallet sized Information Card that outlines key information on medications and Therapeutic Use Exemptions. The Information Card, which athletes are advised to carry with them at all times to show their doctor or pharmacist prior to receiving any treatment or any medication, safeguards athletes from doping through inadvertent use of common medications.
ASADA has distributed over 4,000 Pure Performance Information Cards in the last six months
of 2007–08 as well as making it available for download from the ASADA website.
Another source of information for athletes on their responsibilities under anti-doping rules is the ASADA website (www.asada.gov.au). The ASADA website makes publicly available comprehensive anti-doping information. During 2007–08, the website has had 687,732 hits.
ASADA continues to provide athletes and support personnel with other resources including the Pure Performance in Sport DVD, an annual Anti-Doping Handbook, Doping Control Guide, and a Wallet Card. All publications are available for purchase, or for download from the ASADA website.
Athlete Whereabouts
Athletes in the Registered Testing Pool (RTP) are required under the Code to provide ASADA with Athlete Whereabouts Information (AWI) – one location for a time period of one hour per day, for a quarter (three month period) in advance, to facilitate No Advance Notice Out-of-Competition testing.
Failure either to provide AWI, or to be at the nominated location for sample collection – or a combination of these – three times within an 18 month period can lead to sanctions under the Code.
A key feature of ASADA’s Athlete Whereabouts System is a user-friendly web-based tool that provides athletes with a convenient way to submit and update their AWI from anywhere in the world. Approximately 90 per cent of RTP Athletes were using this system at the end of the 2007–08 financial year.
There is growing evidence that RTP Athletes are becoming more accustomed to their obligations under ASADA’s Athlete Whereabouts Policy. During 2007–08, the proportion of athletes in the RTP who were asked to explain a ‘Failure to Provide Information’ has dropped to 4 per cent in Quarter Four (June 2008) from 18 per cent in Quarter One (July 2007).
Pure Performance Programs
Overview
Sporting administration bodies, including the AOC, APC, NSOs and individual event organisers,
must meet certain fundamental requirements to maintain compliance with the Code.
During 2007–08, ASADA introduced Pure Performance Programs that take individual sporting administration bodies beyond basic compliance to best practice in anti-doping.
During the year, ASADA partnered with selected sporting administration bodies to develop and implement a suite of Pure Performance Anti-Doping Tools, tailored to the unique requirements
of each sport.
Pure Performance Programs combine a range of tools including the education, intelligent testing, sharing information with specified bodies, and long term storage of samples in the Tank.
The development and implementation of Program on a sport-by-sport basis will be a priority for 2008–09.
Pure Performance Case StudySingle events – 2008 Union Cycliste Internationale ‘Tour Down Under’ASADA partnered with the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) to implement a Pure Performance Program for the 2008 Tour Down Under held from 22–27 January 2008 in South Australia. The 2008 Tour Down Under is the first event on the UCI-sanctioned world professional cycling calendar and the first time that a UCI-sanctioned ProTour event has been held in Australia. The Pure Performance Program initiatives implemented included steps never before seen
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International engagement
Collaborating with our international partners, we promote shared learning and international best practice in anti-doping programs.
Liaison with the World Anti-Doping Agency
Our relationship with WADA is an important element of our international engagement strategy.
WADA developed the World Anti-Doping Program that consists of three levels:
Level 1: World Anti-Doping Code
Level 2: International standards
Level 3: Guidelines and models of best practice
The Code and the International Standards (including the Prohibited List, testing, laboratories
and therapeutic use exemptions) are implemented by signatories to the Code.
Review of the Code and International Standards
Throughout 2007–08, ASADA provided to the Australian Government, submissions to WADA
on its review of the Code and the International Standards. ASADA, together with the then portfolio department, Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (DCITA), held a number of stakeholder forums for Australian sporting organisations during the consultation periods. These forums delivered information about the updated Code and international standards to Australian sport, and enabled WADA to receive feedback from Australian stakeholders.
The input of the Australian Government into the review of the Code resulted in significant revisions. ASADA’s operational experience in the new anti-doping areas of investigations and information sharing was reflected in the new Code.
ASADA also contributed to the preparation of Australian Government submissions to reviews of International Standards that operate under the Code and provided technical advice on other aspects of the Code.
Before the new Code was adopted in November 2007 at the World Conference on Doping in Sport, convened by WADA in Madrid, Spain in November 2007, WADA undertook a number of consultations with stakeholders. Revised international standards were also adopted by WADA during the first half of 2008.
Prohibited List
The Prohibited List is updated annually by WADA. Every year, ASADA and the Australian Sports Drug Medical Advisory Committee (ASDMAC) provide technical input to the Australian Government’s submission.
World Conference on Doping in Sport – Madrid, 15–17 November 2007
The development of a new Code and the associated International Standards was a key topic at the World Conference on Doping in Sport. ASADA addressed the conference on how effective investigation activities can complement traditional testing to increase the chance of doping athletes being detected.
WADA Investigations Symposium – Sydney, 1–2 May 2008
ASADA played a key role in the third WADA Symposium on the Investigative Powers of Anti-Doping Organisations which was held in Sydney on 1 and 2 May 2008. The symposium was hosted by the Department of Health and Ageing and opened by the Minister of Sport, the Hon. Kate Ellis MP. Participants included representatives of National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs), International Sporting Federations, the International Olympic Committee, UNESCO, the Australian Sports Commission, law enforcement bodies from Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States and Interpol.
The symposium built on the previous two investigations symposiums held in Colorado Springs and London. At the Sydney symposium, ASADA presented its framework for building investigative and intelligence capabilities to detect forms of doping which are unable to be detected through traditional testing.
ASADA is contributing to the WADA Protocol for Investigations, which is currently in development by WADA.
Oceania Regional Anti-Doping Organisation
ASADA is a board member of the Oceania Regional Anti-Doping Organisation (RADO). As part of its worldwide anti-doping development program, WADA brings together several countries and stakeholders within a geographic area to mobilise and pool resources for anti-doping under the umbrella of an independent RADO.
This approach is intended to increase worldwide testing and promote long-term sustainability of testing and anti-doping education. The overall goal is to ensure that all athletes in all countries and in all sports are subject to the same anti-doping protocols and processes.
On 16 and 17 March 2008, ASADA participated in the Oceania RADO board meeting in Port Vila, Vanuatu. During the board meeting, each member country (Australia, the Cook Islands, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu) provided an update on:
- establishment of a national anti-doping organisation and implementation of anti-doping rules, and
- Code compliance and status of acceptance of the UNESCO Convention against Doping in Sport.
A key outcome of the meeting was for the Oceania RADO Board to note a plan for each country,
with associated timelines for implementation of testing and education programs.
Other World Anti-Doping Agency interaction
- At the invitation of WADA, ASADA provided an independent observer at the Pan American Games in Brazil, in July 2007.
- ASADA participated in a WADA Athlete Outreach program at the World University Games in Bangkok, Thailand in August 2007.
Other international engagements
International Anti-Doping Arrangements Steering Group Meeting
ASADA gave a presentation to the Steering Group for International Anti-Doping Arrangements (IADA) about ASADA’s investigations framework in November 2007. IADA facilitates the harmonisation of anti-doping programs in participating countries. The aim of IADA is to positively influence the international sporting community through continuous improvement and best practice. Countries participating in IADA include Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, the Republic of South Africa, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
Fifth Asian Region Intergovernmental Meeting on Anti-Doping in Sport
For the first time, ASADA was invited to attend the Asian Region Intergovernmental Meeting
on Anti-Doping in Sport that took place in Seoul, Republic of Korea, on 26 and 27 May 2008.
The meeting, jointly hosted by WADA and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of the Republic of Korea, included representatives from 22 countries. ASADA gave presentations on its anti-doping programs, with particular emphasis on investigations activities.
Association of National Anti-Doping Organisations
ASADA continues to be an active participant in the Association of National Anti-Doping Organisations (ANADO), a group of 42 member NADOs established to share anti-doping information and experience.
ASADA gave a presentation on the Education Services Charter at the ANADO workshop in Tokyo, Japan, in September 2007. ASADA also presented its framework for building investigative and intelligence capabilities at the ANADO workshop in Lausanne, Switzerland, in March 2008.
ASADA continues as a member of the ANADO Management Working Commission.
International Visitors
During 2007–08 ASADA’s Canberra headquarters played host to:
- a delegation from the Korea Anti-Doping Agency
- the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Anti-doping Agency, Mr Travis Tygart
- the Head of Operations, Drug Free Sport, UK Sport, Mr Andy Parkinson
- a delegation from the Beijing Organizing Committee for the XXIX Olympiad
- a delegation from the Japan Anti-Doping Agency
Each of the visits offered an information-sharing opportunity. Key points covered during visits included:
- ASADA’s strategic plan, organisational structure, and resource allocation
- the Education Service Charter
- ASADA’s investigative and intelligence management framework
- recruitment and training of ASADA Doping Control Officers and Chaperones
- the preparation and presentation of doping cases before sporting tribunals
- therapeutic use exemption processes, and
- athlete whereabouts provisions.
Media
ASADA engages with the media to promote the message of Pure Performance. Media reporting of significant ASADA programs and activities, as well as public announcements of anti-doping rule violations helps highlight the importance of Pure Performance to athletes and their support personnel.
During 2007–08, we conducted proactive media activities focused on:
- launch of the Pure Performance Program for Australian Olympic Team for the Beijing Olympics by the Minister for Sport, the Hon. Kate Ellis MP
- behind the scenes insight into a doping control session
- the importance of investigative capabilities to the fight against doping in sport
- implementation of the Pure Performance Program for the UCI Tour Down Under event
in January 2008 - promoting the anti-doping education delivery in regional Australia
- a ministerial launch of the Education Service Charter
To communicate ASADA’s message of pure performance to the widest possible audience, we:
- issued over 30 media releases and statements
- processed over 450 media enquires
- conducted over 120 interviews.
Key deterrence projects
National Anti-Doping scheme amendments
The ASADA Act provides that the ASADA Regulations must prescribe a scheme about:
- the implementation of the General Anti-Doping Convention (the Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention)
- the implementation of the UNESCO Anti-Doping Convention, and
- ancillary or incidental matters.
Schedule 1 of the regulations prescribes the NAD scheme in accordance with the ASADA Act. The NAD scheme provides a detailed framework for the performance of ASADA’s powers and functions. In particular, it:
- sets out anti-doping rules applicable to athletes and support personnel
- sets out the procedure for the management of potential anti-doping rule violations including entries onto the RoF
- sets out sporting administration body rules applicable to sporting administration bodies
- authorises and requires ASADA to do certain things
- sets out procedures governing the exercise of ASADA’s powers, and
- sets out certain rights applicable to athletes.
Section 10 of the ASADA Act provides that, by legislative instrument, ASADA may amend the NAD scheme.
Following the adoption of the revised Code, it became necessary to amend the NAD scheme to reflect changes to the Code.
The review of the NAD scheme commenced in November 2007 and is scheduled for completion in late 2008. Ongoing consultation with sporting organisations has been occurring as part of this review.
Completion in late 2008 will allow sufficient time for NSOs to have input into the NAD scheme review and to implement changes to their sporting policy by the deadline of 1 January 2009.
Revision of sports’ anti-doping policies
Following the revisions to the Code, we commenced a review in February 2008 of sports’ anti-doping policies. This review has resulted in a revised anti-doping template designed to help NSOs formulate anti-doping policies that comply with the Code, International Standards, the Act, and the NAD scheme. The revision of sports’ policies, as with the NAD scheme review, will ensure the continued compliance of Australian sports with the revised Code and the UNESCO International Convention against Doping in Sport.
The roll out of revised sports’ anti-doping policies is expected to be completed in late 2008, giving athletes time to familiarise themselves with the new policies before they come into effect.