AFL’s new Respect and Responsibility policy will see greater support for women

THE AFL’s new Respect and Responsibility policy includes concrete guidelines for breaches after an admission there was a “history of inconsistency” over the way offences towards women were dealt with.

Richmond’s Nathan Broad addresses the media at Punt Road.

EXCLUSIVE: THE AFL will establish an anonymous complaints portal for offences against women as part of its new Respect and Responsibility policy.

The policy was finally handed to clubs on Wednesday night, 20 months after the league promised a review following the Dustin Martin “chopsticks” controversy.

The policy establishes concrete guidelines for clubs and the AFL for issues involving offences against women.

THREE GAMES: TIGER SUSPENDED OVER NUDE PHOTO SCANDAL

READ THE FULL RESPECT AND RESPONSIBILITY POLICY HERE

STAR TIGER: DUSTY BREAKS SILENCE ON CHOPSTICKS INCIDENT

The league’s general manager of inclusion and social policy, Tanya Hosch, told the Herald Sun a more transparent policy was needed.

She admitted there had been a “history of inconsistency” over the response to offences towards women and “unsatisfactory processes” from clubs.

Under the policy the league will not only set up a whistleblower mechanism on its website, it will pay for counselling and support for complainants.

Nathan Broad expressed remorse after a nude photo scandal.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan. Picture: Alex Coppel

Conceding it must do more to protect women lodging complaints, the league will hire an external case worker to guide a complainant through an issue.

Every complaint must be referred to the AFL’s integrity team, which in some cases will conduct investigations without the knowledge of clubs.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said the AFL was committed to “addressing the cultural issues that cause harm to women and girls”.

Under the new policy, changes include:

A “TRIAGE” system where the AFL assesses the seriousness of a complaint and evidence before referring it back to a club, dealing with it or referring it to police;

HOSCH and AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon will “finalise” the penalties handed to any player or official as part of the Respect and Responsibility policy;

THE AFL integrity team can take action over a Respect and Responsibility breach even in the absence of a complaint;

THE AFL will conduct a series of seminars for clubs and players on its revamped policy;

AFL diversity and social inclusion general manager. Picture: Rebecca Michael

HOSCH will present an annual Respect and Responsibility breach report to the AFL Commission to expose trends and potential areas of concern;

THE scope of policy includes sexual harassment, assault and discrimination but also unacceptable behaviour outside the AFL workplace and environment; and

“UNACCEPTABLE” conduct by players or officials in their personal lives can “impact their ongoing recognition as a leader of the game”. Presumably this could mean sanctions including removal from their positions.

The league used its new policy to deal with Richmond player Nathan Broad’s distribution of a nude photo, which saw him suspended for three weeks.

Hosch said now “people will be able to find who to go to when lodging a complaint or raising a concern’’.

She said the complaints process in some cases would sidestep AFL clubs, which would ensure no conflict of interest for them dealing with their players.

“What became clear in the research was it was difficult for clubs to deal with an issue without some degree of conflict of interest if the complaint lands with them.”

Hosch said clubs now realised they could no longer “manage” incidents.

“There is an appetite in the industry to do better on this.”