Sport anti-corruption chief forecasts evolving threats
The woman freshly appointed to combat corruption in Australian sport forecasts evolving threats ahead of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
And Sarah Benson, who has taken over as Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) chief executive officer, says the corruption and doping watchdog must also change to succeed in the fight for fair play.
"Some of the challenges as we look to 2032 is just really understanding the vulnerabilities that sport and the system in Australia faces from those integrity threats," Benson told AAP.
"Not only for 2032, but on the pathway with a number of major events.
"For us, we have started the process of horizon scanning to look what those integrity threats are, and then looking back at the Paris Olympics and across a number of sports to see what are some global trends and issues that we're seeing in sports."
Dr Sarah Benson PSM has been appointed as the next CEO of Sport Integrity Australia.Dr Benson had been acting in the CEO role prior to her permanent appointment and said leading the agency is a great honour and privilege.Read more: https://t.co/OCz7QPAj63 pic.twitter.com/VdtHRdD4Yc
— Sport Integrity Australia (@ProtectingSport) March 14, 2025
Benson, a former Australian Federal Police chief forensic scientist, had been SIA's acting CEO since the departure of David Sharpe last August.
And on taking the role permanently, she predicted ongoing integrity issues from organised crime, doping and match-fixing to rising incidents involving children in sport.
"The high level themes we will be looking at into the future is the impact of emerging technology and AI," Benson said.
"Online abuse of athletes and officials, that is a problem here and now and is only going to compound as technology and social media platforms keep evolving.
"Societal attitudes towards doping friendly competitions ... as well as issues that may be posed from emerging sports such as e-sports.
"We have had a very traditional background with respect to integrity threats and built our frameworks ... around doping and safeguarding of competition manipulation.
"But certainly one thing that we forecast is the nature of those integrity threats is certainly going to change and evolve."
Benson said striking a balance between monitoring present threats and those potentially in the future was vital for SIA.
Last year, SIA managed more than 250 child safeguarding or discrimination complaints across more than 50 sports.
And in the six months to February this year, child safeguarding accounted for 100 per cent of complaints investigated by SIA - 21 matters have been referred to law enforcement.
"Those figures are because we have that increased awareness and also athletes now have a place to go," Benson said.
"But certainly when we look at the child safeguarding numbers, no-one in their right mind would want to see that number above zero."
SIA was formed in 2020, replacing the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) while also bringing under its umbrella all other sporting integrity matters.
Benson said recent global criticism of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was impacting SIA.
"When trust in the global system is questioned then it, by extension, relates to the role that we perform," she said.
"Because we conduct all our functions under the World Anti-Doping Code and if that's not trusted necessarily, then it impacts us.
"We are operating in a system that is changing and we all need to evolve.
"Whether it's advances in science and technology or advances in how people are trying to cheat, there are always lessons to learn."
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