Federal inquiry finds sport bodies failing First Nations athletes on racism complaints

During the concluding hearings of the federal inquiry into racism, hate and violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Melbourne, witnesses argued that both elite and community sport organisations are unsafe for First Nations participants. Former Olympic boxer Marissa Williamson Pohlmann, the first Aboriginal woman to represent Australia in Olympic boxing, said she faced racist slurs and that Boxing Australia warned her home coach of "repercussions" if she displayed the Aboriginal flag at a qualifier in the Solomon Islands.

She also pointed to difficulties pursuing complaints against former national head coach Jamie Pittman, now acting high-performance manager at Boxing Australia, and called for an independent investigation of the federation. Leaders from the Fitzroy Stars football and netball club described racism from opponents and officials with little recourse, while former AFL executive Tanya Hosch warned that placing the burden of addressing racism on victims is unacceptable.

The committee noted that the AFL and NRL have declined to attend, and executives from one outlet and SBS/NITV will testify later. The inquiry follows earlier terror-related incidents at Indigenous events and aims to table its final report by the end of the year.