A matter of integrity: John Boultbee's National Sports Tribunal looks to restore faith

Leading sports administrator John Boultbee will take the reins as chief executive when the government-backed tribunal is officially launched on Thursday.

The reform is designed to combat threats from doping, match fixing, illegal betting, organised crime and corruption in Australian sport.

Boultbee's first major task is luring sports into a partnership with the NST in a bid to create consistency across a raft of codes in relation to matters crucial to sport's image.

Doing so could in turn consign drawn-out public disputes, like Rugby Australia's seemingly eternal battle with former star Israel Folau, to history.

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Some major codes will bypass the independent jurisdiction, which will run as a two-year pilot on an opt-in basis, to continue with their own means of handling disciplinary matters.

However Boultbee is urging sports administrators to consider linking up with the new body, adamant the consistency it will provide will be crucial to retaining confidence in doping and integrity issues.

"The tribunal will serve as a court if you like, to hear doping cases and other cases coming from sports, integrity matters and otherwise," Boultbee said.

"Disciplinary matters like the Israel Folau thing, selection disputes, anti-doping, harassment, bullying.

"Instead of each sport setting up their own tribunals when they need to, there will be a ready made, experienced sports court ready to hear these matters. That will provide consistent and high-quality decision making.

"The bigger sports are set up to have tribunals or people who are ready to hear matters, but most sports aren't.

"When something comes up, they have to scramble to pull something together, they don't really have processes ready to go. It can be inefficient, it can be expensive, it can be slow, and it can be unfair in some circumstances.

"We're trying to address all of those matters by having this tribunal. It should produce better results for both the athletes and the sports.

"The idea is to make it really easy for athletes and sports to access. We'll do the hard work for them."

Former AIS director Boultbee has been lauded as a major reason behind Australia's successful Sydney Olympic Games campaign two decades ago.

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He has been a judge with the Court of Arbitration for Sport since 1996 and will now oversee a tribunal featuring 40 of Australian sport's sharpest minds.

Boultbee says cases will be heard by tribunals made up of "some of the best sports medical people, former medal-winning athletes, and experienced sports administrators and lawyers" on offer.

Tribunals could be made up of one or more people. Should sports not want to front a tribunal, mediation has been made an option to bring two parties together for amicable discussions.

The tribunal is not designed to hear matters regarding an athlete's remuneration, with Boultbee's major focus on areas like doping given the project was partly born out of the AFL's Essendon supplement scandal.

"We now have to get the sports on board. We come into being on Thursday," Boultbee said.

"We would expect pretty well all sports to come on board for anti-doping matters, and we will be working with ASADA.

"That's what we expect to happen in relation to the sports who have got doping policies approved by ASADA. We should be hearing pretty well all the doping matters.

"In other matters, it's a matter of the sport agreeing to come on board. I think most of them will because it's going to be effective and convenient, and not costly for them.

"That's the big task in the next couple of months. My role is going to be getting around and talking to the sports, and getting them on board.

"From the discussions I have had so far, I expect most sports will want to take advantage of this new tribunal."