Basketball ACT racism findings released after lengthy investigation

Basketball ACT has released the findings of the investigation which also found racial slurs were used during an under-14s match in July last year, but it was unable to identify the person or persons responsible.

The Winnunga Warriors, a Canberra Indigenous club, filed a complaint to Basketball ACT following the alleged incident.

"We were marching in the street a couple of weeks ago for Black Lives Matter and four weeks later these kids are experiencing racism," Warriors president Dion Devow said at the time.

"... [People] need to know racism in sport and saying things like that is actually unlawful and there can be serious consequences."

It was the second time in less than a year Basketball ACT was forced to deal with on-court racism issues after the Warriors raised concerns in 2019.

That prompted staff and referees to undergo racism awareness training, but the second incident led to the parties engaging a legal practitioner to undertake an independent investigation in September.

The final report was delivered to Basketball ACT on February 4.

The investigation recommended Basketball ACT engage an expert in racial discrimination to review all processes and programs "regarding the existence of any racial discrimination and, if appropriate, the elimination of all forms of racial discrimination".

It also recommended clubs to be fully aware of the member protection policy and undertake regular initiatives to keep all informed of their duties and responsibilities.

Basketball ACT chief executive David Simpson said the investigator held that all parties were considered to have spoken truthfully in their interviews and that the investigation was carried out in accordance with the Basketball Australia member protection policy.

"Everyone is relieved that it's concluded and we can all see a way forward off the back of it," Simpson said.

"It's definitely good to have a conclusion to it, it has been quite a long process but it was a very thorough investigation.

"The length of time was appropriate given the age and maturity of the individuals involved and the need to gather the right amount of information. It has been a long process and it's good to be concluded, I think all parties were relieved the matter is now concluded.

"The investigation report is what the report is, it's a fully independent report and was undertaken by legal practitioners, it gathered a significant amount of evidence to come to the point where it landed."