Understanding Australian local sports clubs’ integrity systems

Abstract

The persistence of integrity breaches (e.g., sexual harassment, on field violence, cyber bullying) within local Australian sport clubs is a challenge for sport officials that requires the implementation of an integrity system. A local sport integrity system consists of individuals, institutions, policies, practices, and agencies that contribute to safeguarding and promoting the integrity of an organization (Huberts & Six, 2012). Using Kihl’s (2019) national sport integrity framework, the purpose of this exploratory research was to identify the components and processes of local Australian clubs’ sports integrity systems. An exploratory multi-case design (Yin, 2014) was used to examine ACT Coalition of Major Participation Sports clubs' integrity systems representing nine sports. Twelve semi-structured interviews were conducted and secondary data via club websites, policies, and strategic plans were collected. The thematic and grounded theory analysis showed the main components of the ethics infrastructure were compliance (e.g., monitoring and investigations) and values based (e.g., code of ethics, encouraged dialogue, leadership) management tools. External accountability mechanisms included both the state and national governing bodies. Mapping local club sport integrity systems addresses an important theoretical gap in the sport management and ethics literature by exploring how local clubs safeguard integrity in their sport.