Many people have grave concerns at how ASADA behaves and its views on the legal rights of Australia’s athletes. Dr Ben Koh, a sports medicine expert, revealed that in 2011 ASADA attempted “to access confidentially held medical information” held by Medicare. “In that programme, athletes' medical records were cross checked for evidence that they were using WADA banned substances. “The scheme was abandoned when the Office of the Privacy Commissioner and the Australian Government Solicitor deemed the programme illegal and that ASADA did not have legal authority to conduct the programme.” Source: ‘Anti-Doping and Medical Privacy’, 19 July 2013, LawInSport. But if anything, ASADA is persistent. Was it a coincidence that the day before the infamous “blackest day” press conference on 7 February 2013, legislation was introduced to expand ASADA's powers? Luckily, The Greens were able to insert an amendment that stopped ASADA stripping away athletes' right to silence. A copy of The Greens Senators Dissenting Report 2013 can be viewed here: http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/legislation/amend/s902_amend_da4b1a3c-7250-4046-bc9a-c799c7277a46/upload_pdf/7368_ASADA%20Bill%202013_AG.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf Again in the following year, The Greens Senators Dissenting Report dealt with the ‘ASADA Amendment Bill of 2014’. They raised the following concerns about proposed changes: - Mr Ian Predergast, AFL Players Association, said that the Bill’s penalties “are not compatible with Australian employment law. - Mr Nolan [QC] submitted that ASADA were asking for increased powers even though they had not demonstrated an ability to investigate and prosecute cases in a timely and reasonable manner. The Inquiry heard evidence of 14 and 18 month waits for cases to be prosecuted.” - Mr Redman from the Law Institute of Victoria pointed out that in other countries cases are heard within a few days, whereas in Australia they can take months.” - Mr Garnsey (Australian Athletes’ Alliance) outlined concerns about how the media were able to accurately report on confidential ASADA investigations. “We got a blow-by-blow description of what was happening in that [Essendon] investigation through the daily media. Information was in the possession of the media before players’ lawyers knew. It should never have been open to the media to have access to that sort of information—and it was also reported as fact what was about to happen in the investigation, which subsequently proved to be quite accurate down the track.” Senator Di Natale added that athletes, some just young kids, were not familiar with legal processes, and if ASADA wanted to question them, they had to have the same rights if they were questioned by the police or other legal jurisdictions. The Australian Athletes' Alliance (AAA) General Secretary Ian Prendergast said athletes should not give up fundamental rights taken for granted by others in society. A copy of The Greens Senators Dissenting Report 2014 can be viewed here: http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Community_Affairs/ASADA/Report/d01 Further, Tracey Holmes’ The Ticket, 29 November 2015, backs up this Greens Senators Dissenting Report. In her interview, Barrister Anthony Crocker stated: “ASADA was acting outside its mandate by compelling athletes to give up their common law right to silence.” He claimed ASADA was using a loophole by inserting a new harsh provision into the anti-doping regulations of National Sporting Organisations, which athletes are compelled to sign. "The common law privileges against self-incrimination ... are abrogated by this Article," the provision reads. Listen to Tracey Holmes, The Ticket, plus Anthony Crocker from 18’40” onwards: http://www.abc.net.au/newsradio/content/s4362015.htm This is just not fair. We know ASADA cannot be trusted. Therefore, why should ASADA be permitted, through a private contractual arrangement, to make an athlete hand over the very protections Parliament says ought to be retained? Read Tracey Holmes’ article here: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-11-29/asada-stripping-legal-right-to-silence-lawyer-says/6984008 Please support this petition which requests a Senate Inquiry to sort this mess out. Kindly read, consider, and sign this petition. If you have already signed, please ‘share’ and then ‘like’ this petition using any of the links below and/or your own social media platform. Thank you sincerely for your support.