AusLeisure

Australia's Federal, State and Territory Sport and Recreation Ministers have taken the next steps in the fight to combat match fixing and protect the integrity of Australian sport.

Reporting on a meeting of Sport and Recreation Ministers in Melbourne, Federal Minister for Sport Mark Arbib announced that the Ministers had endorsed an operational model for the National Policy on Match-Fixing in Sport.

Senator Arbib explained "Australia's Sports Ministers are determined to protect the integrity of sport and we are putting in place the important details to support the National Policy.

"We are working to empower Australia's sports to ensure their athletes are protected and that everyone involved with sport understands the importance of combating match fixing.

"In developing the policy governments have been working with sports and betting agencies."

The policy's key elements are:

• Sporting organisations/event organisers can apply to the relevant state and territory regulator to become sports controlling bodies and enter into Integrity Agreements with betting agencies;
• Where Integrity Agreements exist, regulators will set the baseline parameters for bet types/events but a sports controlling body, under the Integrity Agreement, may exercise a right of veto on bet types within those parameters;
• Where there is no recognised sporting organization or event organiser, state and territory gaming regulators will continue to be responsible for all betting approvals on that event; and
• All sporting organisations which receive government funding will be required to meet integrity benchmarks as agreed under the National Policy.

Ministers agreed to take the legislative and administrative framework to their Cabinets.

Sport Ministers also received an update from the working group developing nationally consistent criminal offences which will be considered by Attorneys-General and Justice Ministers in November.

A diagram of the model and the meeting's Communique can be viewed at http://bit.ly/qTl0bh 

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