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Athletics Australia has announced the expansion of its management team with acclaimed international technical official and administrator Brian Roe stepping into the role of General Manager, Sport Delivery on a maternity leave contract, while Simon Thompson will join the body in the new role of National Integrity and Risk Manager.

Recently awarded a World Athletics Plaque of Merit for his service to athletics within the Oceania region, Roe will become a member of Athletics Australia’s Senior Leadership Team, and will play a key role in the execution of the 2022 Australian Summer of season, set to be announced in the following weeks.

Roe has worked in the sport in both voluntary and professional capacities for more than four decades, and his expertise and involvement includes work at the local, national, area and international levels. Most recently, he acted as an International Technical Official (Start Referee) at the Tokyo Olympics.

Thompson will commence in the Integrity and Risk Manager position, a role newly created in conjunction with Sport Integrity Australia. Thompson will be tasked with the responsibility of implementing the National Integrity Framework and management of member protection and integrity issues including prevention, monitoring, intelligence and investigation. He will also ensure Athletics Australia has best practice integrity, risk and compliance systems and processes, to deliver safe, ethical and inclusive practices across the sport.

Thompson is currently the Senior Project Officer - Governance and Integrity with Sport and Recreation Victoria. As part of his current role, he works closely with a number of stakeholders to implement integrity and governance across the sport sector within the state. Prior to the role, Sport and Recreation Victoria, he worked at Tennis Victoria and Boxing Australia, and will bring a wealth of knowledge of the sport sector to complement his legal, governance and integrity experience.

Advising that the appointments will be a major boost for the professionalism of the sport,

Athletics Australia Chief Executive, Peter Bromley stated “we’re always thrilled to welcome new staff to our sport, but especially when they are roles that are integral to the business of athletics.

“Brian has worked with Athletics Australia in a number of roles over the years, and his name is synonymous with professionalism at the elite level. We’re extremely excited for him to bring his expertise in the international competition sector as we finalise our preparations for the Australian domestic season ahead.

“I’m also looking forward to Simon joining our team as our Integrity and Risk Manager. The role is a new one for Athletics Australia, but incredibly important as our responsibility grows to protect all participants within our sport.

“We recognise the weight of supporting athletes, coaches and officials and we believe Simon’s skills will help create a new safety net for everyone involved in our sport. We’d like to thank Sport Integrity Australia for their support in creating this new role.”

Roe, who has previously worked with Athletics Australia in sport delivery, said of his appointment, “my first role with AA began in January 1983 which seems an eternity ago - but importantly for me, it began a long period of learning and innovation which I believe it is now critical to be passed on to the new generation of administrators, technical officials and meet organisations who will take the sport onwards over the next vital decade.

“I had the privilege and good fortune to lead the small team of paid personnel and the huge cohort of volunteers who delivered the highly successful and acclaimed athletics competitions in Sydney in 2000 but even more so in the seven year period leading up to the Games.

“We now have an even better opportunity with 10 years full of potential before South East Queensland 2032 and I thought I should put up my hand for the next nine months to seize the moment to provide guidance first-hand to those who want to put up their hands for this exciting journey to come.”

Like Roe, Thompson is looking forward to bringing a different skillset to the Athletics Australia family.

Thompson stated “my background has come from being involved in some good organisations with great leaders, and then some organisations not prioritising risk. Along the way, I learnt from each experience, and have added to that with a law degree. Afterwards, I found that many of the principles in law apply equally in sporting organisations.

“For me, my role will be all about how policies like the National Integrity Framework get implemented. For that to happen, it is a whole of sport effort and not an isolated or individual approach and I look forward to achieving an easy to understand and easy to use integrity framework that makes athletics the trusted leader in sport integrity in Australia.”

Roe will begin in his role next week to allow for a smooth transition before the announcement of the Australian Summer of Athletics calendar, while Thompson will commence his role on 10th January.

Image: Brian Roe (left) and Simon Thompson.

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