Are we effectively preventing unlawful drug use in Australian sport?

THE Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) has commenced an inquiry into Sport Integrity Australia’s (SIA) management of the National Anti-Doping Scheme.

SIA was established in 2020 to protect Australian sporting integrity through a coordinated national approach that includes the detection and prevention of illegal drug use by athletes.

Committee Chair Josh Burns MP said, “Sport Integrity Australia has been tasked with the vital role of detecting and preventing the unlawful use of drugs in Australian sport. It is of great interest to the Committee whether the current scheme to achieve this is working as it should. The Australian National Audit Office has provided advice to the committee recommending further investigation.”

"Given the importance of sport in Australian life, and as we approach the hosting of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brisbane which will be another wonderful landmark in our nation’s sporting history, it is critical that SIA has effective management and governance arrangements in place.”

The inquiry’s terms of reference will include an examination of SIA’s testing and investigative functions, the alignment of Australia’s Anti-Doping Scheme with both domestically and internationally established standards, and the prevalence and causes of unlawful doping in Australian sport.

The inquiry will further consider the findings in Auditor-General Report No.27 2024-25 Sport Integrity Australia’s Management of the National Anti-Doping Scheme.

Submissions to the inquiry addressing its terms of reference have been invited by Friday, October 17, 2025.

Further details of this inquiry – including its terms of reference, submissions received and public hearing schedules – can be accessed on the inquiry website.

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