Jeff Kennett this year.Credit:AFL Photos/ Getty Images
Kennett called for a quick solution to benefit everyone concerned.
“All parties should be prepared to work towards a solution because not to do so will impact heavily on all involved.
“Hopefully all parties will see fit to work with the AFL inquiry to bring this matter to a conclusion.”
AFL Players Association boss Paul Marsh also said the inquiry into historic racism allegations at Hawthorn should be independent of the league,as the PA released a survey reporting “concerning” incidences of racial vilification from people within the football industry among players’ experiences of racism.
Hawthorn’s review contained testimonies from former Indigenous players and their partners about their time at the club between 2010 and 2016,alleging they were forced to separate from each other. One Indigenous player alleged he was told that his partner had to terminate her pregnancy.
“I don’t know if there can be an AFL process,” Marsh said on Thursday,highlighting the conflict of interest that faced the AFL. “I don’t know how the AFL sits in judgement on this.”
Marsh did not offer an alternative to an AFL inquiry.
Marsh pointed out that,for example,the AFL inquiry would involve an AFL commissioner in Andrew Newbold,who was Hawthorn president from 2012 to early 2016 and who is mentioned in relation to an emailin the cultural safety review of the Hawks.
The PA’s Insights and Impact report,released on Thursday,canvassed AFL players about racism,and only 17 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or people of colour surveyed said they felt that racism they had experienced while listed as AFL players was dealt with satisfactorily.
Another 21 per cent were “somewhat or partially satisfied” and 62 per cent were not satisfied at all.
Racism is still widely reported in the AFL among players.Credit:Getty Images
A third of players who identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander or as a person of colour also reported having experienced racism while listed as an AFL player,with 15 players,out of a total of 92 players who identified as Indigenous or as a person of colour,saying instances occurred within the past 12 months.
Players reported the most common instances of racism as occurring on social media,however,the AFLPA said there were also “concerning” incidences of vilification from people within the industry.
A majority of players surveyed for the report said they would welcome more educational tools,including support,tools and/or education to equip them in confidently responding to racist incidents when they occur. This was despite high levels of confidence on how to recognise and respond to racism reported.
Marsh said there was work to do across the football industry when it comes to claims of racism being experienced by players.
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“Ultimately,this is an issue about people and people,from our perspective,the players should be in the middle of every decision that’s being made … they have a right to have a safe workplace,whether that be physically or culturally or in a mental health perspective,” he said.
Marsh said a key theme when it comes to racism is,while stressing he wasn’t talking about any single club,was a “culture of silence that’s born out of control and born out of competitive outcomes”,such as the concern that “if you talk up,you’re potentially speaking out against the whole team”.
Marsh added it was important to have a framework to build trust for players to be able to speak up and remove the fear of what teammates and coaches will think,and whether they’d be humiliated in the media.
“They’re all the things we’ve got to work though to get trust in the system,not just us,but the whole system,” he said.
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The questions on racism posed by the AFLPA were optional and some players who reported experiencing racism did not provide detail on the source.
Four players said they had been vilified by media,three by players or staff from other clubs,two by the AFL,two by teammates and one by club staff.
Thirteen players said they had been vilified by spectators at games.
As recommended in the report,the AFLPA will launch a Human Rights Framework and advocate for similar frameworks to be adopted by the AFL and clubs.
It was also recommended the industry review and refine its case management approach to individual vilification issues,as well as education and support tools for all players,industry stakeholders and broader football public.
With AAP