DownloadPerformance review
Output 1.2 Education, communication and advocacy services – Education and communication
National Anti-Doping Education program
ASADA’s 2005–06 National Anti-Doping Education Program was a core element in providing anti-doping information and services to Australian athletes, NSO’s and athlete support persons.
The 2005–06 Education program aimed to:
- deter the use of prohibited doping practices
- reduce inadvertent doping by raising awareness of the Prohibited List and therapeutic requirements
- advise athletes of the Doping Control Process
- ensure athletes are aware of their anti-doping Rights & Responsibilities
- inform athletes and support persons about the anti-doping rules of sport including ADRVs
- inform stakeholders about the establishment of ASADA and the new functions of the Authority.
ASADA’s Education Service Charter for 2005–06 detailed for NSOs the level of education service ASADA provides athletes. The Charter also outlined educational strategies that the NSO can implement.
Anti-Doping DVD
During 2005–06 ASADA produced and delivered the Anti-Doping DVD. The production of the DVD enables ASADA to be more flexible in the delivery of presentations and ensures ASADA is able to reach a larger stakeholder group as an ASADA representative is not required to be present when the DVD is screened.
In accordance with the Education Service Charter each Government Funded sport received copies of the DVD to show to athletes. The requirement on the sport is for elite level athletes included in the Registered Testing Pool to view the DVD. Many NSOs have also used the DVD to educate athletes of other levels, including junior level athletes. A number of educational institutions across Australia have purchased the DVD as a means of educating students on anti-doping issues.
Commonwealth Games
A targeted education strategy for the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games included a dedicated Commonwealth Games section being added to the ASDA website. These pages ensured that athletes were aware of the Commonwealth Games Federations’ Anti-Doping Rules and Doping Control processes.
Direct mail was distributed to all members of the Australian team regarding the Commonwealth Games Federations’ Rules, to ensure they were aware of specific information regarding the TUE process for the Games.
As part of the delivery of services to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games Corporation, 71 Commonwealth Games Associations (CGA) were provided with a suite of resources including:
- Powerpoint presentation for athletes
- presentations to CGA chief medical officers and chef de missions
- seven Anti-Doping Fact Sheets (also provided at athlete interviews and at Doping Control stations)
- copies of the Anti-Doping DVD
- individual athlete interviews.
Website
Significant improvements were made to the Authority’s website in 2005–06, which was completely redeveloped for the launch of ASADA with new branding and site architecture. Other improvements to the website included:
- all content completely reviewed and revised
- new web page layouts with clear and easy to use menus for easier site navigation
- provision of consistent user experience across the site using uniform web page templates
- use of web standards compliant code and techniques to improve site accessibility for users with disabilities
- enhanced site search functionality and new A-Z index to improve content discovery
- improved presentation and indexing of substance information pages.
The launch of the new ASADA website has already created a significant positive response from its audience in that there is now on average:
- 27.6 percent increase in visitor sessions per day (currently an average of 457.80 visitor sessions per day for the new ASADA website, up from 358.67 for the previous ASDA website)
- 31.7 percent increase in page views per visitor session (currently an average of 4.94 page views per visitor session for the new ASADA website, up from 3.75 for the previous ASDA website)
- 9.7 percent increase in viewing time per visitor session (currently an average duration of 5 minutes 4 seconds per visitor session for the new ASADA website, up from 4 minutes 37 seconds for the previous ASDA website).
Areas of the website where functionality improvements were not implemented in 2005–06 include the provision of an Online Medications Database and the ability for athletes to provide whereabouts information online.
In 2005–06 the specifications for the Online Medications Database were scoped. It is anticipated the Online Medications Database will become operational in 2006–07 making it much easier for athletes to check the status of medications in their sport.
The delivery of an online service for athletes to provide whereabouts information is inherently linked with the Athlete Whereabouts project as detailed on page 24.
The Athletes Whereabouts online application is expected to be launched in 2006–07.
“The information I have seen and heard keeps me from taking prohibited substances.”
Athlete comment, ASADA survey 2005–06
Education products and services
Ninety-seven percent of ASADA’s Stakeholders were satisfied with ASADA’s education products and services. This exceeds the performance measure of 80 percent.
Stakeholder surveys were conducted at Doping Control sessions, presentations, via the Anti-Doping Hotline and by direct mail sent to NSOs.
During 2005–06 the education publications were internally reviewed. This review saw the redesign of core products that were introduced with the launch of ASADA.
Core education products and services delivered in 2005–06 include:
- 2006 Anti-Doping Information Card (this publication was discontinued with the launch of ASADA*)
- 2006 Anti-Doping Handbook
- Anti-Doping DVD
- Anti-Doping Hotline
- Anti-Doping Wallet Card
- Doping Control Guide
- Presentations to athletes and support staff
- fASADA website.
The Anti-Doping Information Card was re-published in January 2006 to ensure information provided was consistent with changes to the Code 2006 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods which came into effect on 1 January 2006. This product also included information about the Doping Control Process.
*The Anti-Doping Information Card was not produced with the suite of ASADA education products; it has been replaced with the Doping Control Guide and the Anti-Doping Wallet Card.
A Stakeholder review of the new education products will be conducted in the first quarter of 2006–07.
Communication products and services
A priority of the 2005–06 Communication Strategy was the development of the ASADA corporate brand, ensuring stakeholders (especially athletes) were aware of the change from ASDA to ASADA and informing stakeholders about the additional roles of ASADA.
Communication products and services delivered in 2005–06 included:
- Anti-Doping Update (Spring 2005 and Summer 2006)
- targeted direct mail
- ASADA Fact Sheet
- ASADA Corporate Brochure
- ASADA Corporate Posters
- ASADA Corporate Banner.
Access to services
The performance measure for access to ASADA’s services is based on the quantity of publications distributed, and the utilisation of ASADA’s services. The activity in 2005–06 was unusual as additional resources were produced and distributed as part of the launch of ASADA, as a result distribution figures in 2005–06 are higher than in 2004-05.
In 2005–06 ASADA achieved 75 percent of the specified requirements in the access to services performance measure.
ASADA distributed in excess of the 3,500 publications required by the performance measure. ASADA sells education publications to stakeholders, NSOs, State Governments and the general public.
ASADA attracted 150,327 unique website sessions, meeting the performance measure. Users of the ASADA website accessed 623,205 pages.
Presentations
ASADA reached the performance measure for face to face presentations. ASADA provided 203 presentations to elite level athletes and support staff.
A total of 6,156 athletes and support persons attended these presentations.
The production of the Anti-Doping DVD has enabled anti-doping presentations to be provided to athletes and support persons participating in all levels of sport.
During 2005–06 ASADA conducted presentations on the establishment of ASADA and the introduction of the National Anti-Doping scheme to NSOs. These presentations were held in each State. The provision of these presentations is not captured in this performance measurement.
Anti-Doping Hotline
The Anti-Doping Hotline service provides sport specific information to athletes and support persons about the status of medications and substances in sport. In 2005–06 the Anti-Doping Hotline received 3,290 unique calls, with callers requiring information about 9,709 medications and/or substances. This is below the performance measure of 5,000 unique calls.
There has been a 25% decline of calls to the Anti-Doping Hotline in 2005–06; the decline in use can be attributed to the enhancements made to both the website and the Anti-Doping Handbook.
The list of all prohibited, permitted and restricted Australian medications is available on the ASADA website enabling stakeholders to access this information 24 hours a day. This information is updated quarterly to ensure information relating to new products is available on the website. The indexing of the medication information section of the website was improved with the launch of the ASADA website in March 2006. Hotline operators ensure users of the service are aware of the information provided on the website, should they need to access information about the status of medications outside the operating hours of the Hotline.
The ASADA Anti-Doping Hotline service enables athletes to check the status of medications in sport .
Commencing with the 2005 edition of the Anti-Doping Handbook (published March 2005) this publication now includes the list of all permitted and prohibited Australian medications; previous editions of the Handbook had only included information on medications permitted for use in sport. The 2006 Anti-Doping Handbook was provided to all athletes included on the Registered Testing Pool as part of the Education Service Charter.
ASADA is planning to launch an Online Medications Database in 2006–07. This system replicates the current Anti-Doping Hotline service by providing sport specific information on the status of medications and substances in sport. This system will enable stakeholders to access the information online and directly access additional anti-doping resources including therapeutic use information and application forms. It is envisaged that with the implementation of the Online Medications Database the number of calls to the Anti-Doping Hotline will further decrease.
In 2006–07 ASADA will improve services that are provided through the ASADA website. These services include the ability for athletes to provide whereabouts information online, the development of the Online Medications Database and increased anti-doping resources for NSOs to utilise.
ASADA will also explore the possibility of providing anti-doping information to athlete’s via email during 2006–07.
Media Coverage
There was significant media interest in the establishment of ASADA and anti-doping matters throughout 2005–06.
ASADA utilised media organisations to enhance public awareness of the new Authority. By engaging with media organisations ASADA was able to quickly build its reputation as the new force of antidoping in Australia and help foster public confidence in the fight against doping in sport.
In June 2006 the Authority implemented a new communication strategy regarding the announcement of the results of anti-doping cases. ASADA now releases individual statements regarding an ADRV at the completion of the results management process, instead of quarterly reporting on multiple ADRV cases. The new strategy ensures ASADA is providing timely information regarding issues of public interest. It is anticipated that with the new strategy fully operational the Authority will increase the number of media releases distributed in 2006–07.
During 2005–06, high profile media interest centred on:
- establishment and launch of ASADA
- announcement of anti-doping inquiry into the sport of weightlifting
- Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games
- adoption of the World Anti-Doping Code by professional sports
- individual ADRVs.
Media statistics:
- 12 media releases distributed – seven as ASADA
- 40 media interviews conducted
- 350 media inquiries processed
- 2,336 anti-doping related media press clips received.
“The higher the profile of ASADA the better!”
Athlete comment, ASADA survey 2005–06
Public information
ASADA responded to over 200 public information requests. The vast majority of public information requests are received from students. Many educational institutions in Australia now incorporate anti-doping components into their curriculum and students are referring to ASADA to provide information about anti-doping rules, doping control statistics, information on prohibited substances and the ethical issues relating to doping in sport.