Senate: ‘clear evidence’ that head knocks and CTE linked

A landmark report makes recommendations, including sweeping legal reform to let professional athletes to sue for brain injuries.

Former Newcastle Knights winger James McManus unsuccessfully sued the NRL. Picture: Gregg Porteous

A “landmark” Senate report on concussion has called for sweeping legal reform to allow professional athletes to sue for brain injuries and is proposing the major Australian codes hand over concussion management to the government.

That recommendation will be vigorously opposed by the major codes, which maintain their concussion protocols are among the best in the world and based on the most up-to-date science. “Consideration should be given to whether any existing government bodies would be best placed to monitor, oversee and/or enforce concussion-related rules and ­return-to-play protocols in Australian sports,” the report says.

In a radical recommendation, the inquiry recommends state and territory governments explore amendments to workers’ compensation legislation to allow professional athletes to claim for injuries suffered in a game.

Professional athletes in contact sports are currently not entitled to workers’ compensation under state and territory law because it is assumed they accept the dangers inherent in the game.

Newcastle Knights player James McManus unsuccessfully sued the NRL for allowing him to allegedly play with concussion. His case collapsed because NSW civil liability laws specifically ­exempt professional footballers.

The Senate report into head trauma made a raft of recommendations and also acknowledged “clear evidence” of a link between chronic traumatic encephalopathy and head trauma – bucking the view of Rugby Australia and NRL concussion consultant Andrew Gardner, who has publicly disputed the mainstream science around head injuries and degenerative brain disease.

The chair of the committee, Janet Price, acknowledged the “tragic stories” of athletes and their families who had been affected by the brain disease CTE, citing the accounts of Danny Frawley’s wife Anita and Shane Tuck’s sister Renee.

She singled out the story of NRL great James Graham, who hosted The Australian’s Head Noise podcast. He told the inquiry that while the game gave him a great life “he believes it will come at a cost”.

Senator Price said the committee’s view was there was “clear evidence” that CTE is linked to repeated head knocks and concussions. “The people who shared their stories with the committee urged us to push for more action so that others would not suffer in the way that they had,” Senator Price said on Tuesday night. “I thank these athletes and their families for sharing their stories with us.

“The committee’s view was that there is clear evidence of a causal link between repeated head trauma and concussions and CTE, and our report states that while important research questions remain regarding the degree of causation and the nature of long-term impacts, these questions should not be used to undermine the fundamental nature of that link.”

A number of footballers diagnosed with CTE post mortem took their own lives, including former Richmond player Tuck, St Kilda great Frawley and rugby league star Paul Green. The most recent case was that of ­Adelaide AFLW player Heather Anderson, who was 28 when she took her own life.

Dr Gardner and professor Chris Levi are the NRL’s main concussion advisers, and both have publicly disputed the mainstream science around head injuries and degenerative brain disease.

Rowena Mobbs, a leading Sydney neurologist welcomed the recommendations, describing them as “fresh, robust and clear in their messaging for the government to now create a safer Australian sporting landscape”.

Alan Pearce, a research manager at the Australian Sports Brain Bank, who gave evidence at the inquiry, said the report could have been “tougher” but there were some positive recommendations.

“It’s good they’ve acknowledge the brain disease CTE. Unlike other groups, I am glad they ­acknowledge the link between ­repetitive head trauma and CTE,” Professor Pearce said.