ASADA Annual Report 2008

Management and accountability

External Security

Significant developments

Our internal procedures and policies continue to meet international standards.

In March 2009, external auditors comprehensively reviewed our procedures for compliance with ISO 9001:2008. As a result of this audit, we were re-certified as meeting the requirements of ISO 9001:2008 for a for a further three year period. Our testing, results-management and athlete whereabouts procedures all accord with WADA standards.

Decisions and reports

Judicial decisions and decisions of administrative tribunals

In 2008–09 we were involved in two contested hearings involving athletes challenging their sanction, or challenging the entry of their details onto the Register of Findings. We were successful in both matters.

In addition, during the year we appealed to the Federal Court of Australia against a judgment of the AAT that set aside our original decision and we were successful in our appeal. As a result, the athlete concerned received a two-year sanction from sport.

Auditor-General reports

There were no reports of the Auditor-General specifically on the operations of ASADA. We continue to implement recommendations (as appropriate) from reports of the Auditor-General dealing with issues relevant to all APS agencies.

Office of Privacy Commissioner report

On 2 July 2008 we received a response from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) in relation to the Own Motion Investigation the OPC had commenced in accordance with section 40(2) of the Privacy Act 1988. This investigation was instigated based on media reports that ASADA may have interfered with the privacy of a number of individuals by disclosing the personal information of athletes and support personnel to Medicare Australia.

The OPC commented that it had not received any complaints on the issue. The OPC made the three following recommendations in relation to implementation of the Information Privacy Principles in our operations:

that ASADA should, prior to any proposed disclosure of personal information, identify a specific provision in its legislation authorising it to disclose such information
ASADA should review the wording in all forms it uses to collect personal information to ensure that they appropriately reflect the obligations and responsibilities ASADA has in relation to the handling of individuals’ personal information
ASADA should review the privacy notices in its forms.

We have accepted all three recommendations and have taken action to implement them by:

reviewing the wording in our forms and removing certain wording, as identified by OPC
revising our privacy notices and providing this to OPC for comment.

In addition, we have sought formal input from OPC on a range of operational issues involving the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. The Privacy Commissioner closed the Own Motion Investigation on 22 July 2008.