Australian Sports Commission releases guidelines for transgender athletes in high-performance

Reminding governing bodies of their commitment to promoting a 'spirit of inclusion' and the need to abide by Australian law, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) has released guidelines for the inclusion of transgender and gender diverse athletes in high performance sport.

Advocating an ‘inclusion-first’ approach, the guidelines, in line with those of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), suggest that exemptions determined on a case-by-case basis.

Speaking to the ABC’s The Ticket about the guidelines, Australian Sports Commission Chief Executive, Kieren Perkins said they were developed to offer the clarity domestic sports asked for.

He explained “in modern society… there is a need for us to provide far more diverse and safe opportunities for people to compete and be involved in sport.

"Community sport is one area where obviously inclusion is unquestioned and absolutely needs to be open and safe for all, but when you start moving into high performance sport, it does require a more nuanced conversation.

"What we've been able to do … working with medical professionals, people involved in sport - both cisgender and trans athletes, as well as the LGBTQ+ community and others … to actually find the Australian context and come up with guidelines that allow for a pragmatic approach."

The guidelines note that Australian sport must comply with the Sex Discrimination Act, which makes it unlawful to discriminate, harass, or victimise on the basis of sex or gender identity.

However, they advise that exemptions are allowed in sport where unfair advantage or safety risks can be objectively proven.

Nonetheless, Australian governing bodies that adopt the ASC guidelines may well then be at odds with their international federations, while if they follow their international federation policies, they risk breaking Australian law.

Sports such as World Athletics, World Aquatics and World Rugby have each opted for a blanket ban on transgender women who experienced male puberty, ignoring the IOC guidelines.

Aware of criticisms that trivialise individual’s transgender experience, Perkins told The Ticket “one of the things I guess I've been educated on … is I am yet to meet a transgender person who could ever reflect that their journey … as (being) simple.

"This idea that someone just wakes up one morning and goes boom, here I go, I'm off to take over the world in another gender's sport isn't really reflective of the truth of the personal, emotional and physical journey that someone goes on.

"However, setting that aside, the science behind the guidelines and the way that we would recommend that sport view this is an acknowledgement that actually, if someone is going to go through gender reassignment … then there is a timeframe.

"They must be able to show that they're going through that process, that it's leading to the physiological changes that come with wanting to move to their accepted gender.

"And that that's held over an extended period of time to remove those concerns and ensure the equity that is appropriate for somebody who is transgender that wants to compete in their gendered sport."

Some of the characteristics sports policies should be built on include:

• Being fair and maintaining meaningful competition in the female category

• Providing opportunities for inclusion in an athlete's preferred category where possible

• Continuing to effect meaningful action on gender equality

• For transwomen to compete in a high-performance women's category, it is recommended:

• Athletes be made aware of differences between national governing bodies and international governing bodies which could affect national team selection

• Sports may exclude an athlete on 'reasonable and justifiable grounds'

• Defined eligibility and fairness factors to include objective measures, hormone suppression and clear avenues for raising concerns (for both trans athletes, and other athletes affected by inclusion or exclusion)

Perkins went on to say that Basketball Australia’s recent appointment of an expert panel to determine whether a transgender woman could compete in the sport's semi-professional league was reflective of how the ASC guidelines could work.

Click here to view the guidelines document.

Images: Australian Sports Commission Chief Executive Kieren Perkins making an annoucement on the National Generation 2032 (Gen32) Coach Program in April (top, credit: Australian Sports Commission) and a trans player, whom Australasian Leisure Management has chosen not to identify, competing during a Football NSW’s League One Womens match this season (below).