2 August 2023
Eve Hyslop
By email:
[FYI request #23410 email]
Official Information Act 1982 request – Complaints made to the Sport and Recreation
Complaint and Mediation Service
Dear Eve
This letter responds to your Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) request received by Sport New
Zealand (Sport NZ) on 6 July 2023 requesting the below information:
I have noticed in Sport New Zealand’s most recent Annual Report, it was mentioned that:
“In the first year of the service (February 2021 – February 2022), the SRCMS received 131
enquiries, complaints and disputes, of which 89 had been closed and the remaining 42
were at various stages of Immediation’s process”.
Of these complaints, inquiries and disputes, I wish to know how many have been made in
each NZ region this year, last year and in 2021. I also wish that these numbers be split into
complaints, inquiries and disputes. I also wish that these numbers are also split into what
kind of complaints are made, as described on your website:
• a complaint about on or off-field behaviour of a coach, volunteer, parent or
sportsperson;
• a dispute about selection for a particular team or event;
• a complaint about club management, culture, or a policy;
• a complaint of wrongdoing by a volunteer, coach, individual team member or their
parent;
• complaints of bullying, harassment, or discrimination;
• a dispute about inappropriate use of social media in a sporting setting.
I also request to know how many of these complaints have been upheld or not. For
clarification, I request numbers from this year so far, all of 2022 and all of 2021 from
February beginning SRCMS’s service.
The Sport and Recreation Complaint and Mediation Services (SRCMS) is operated by online
dispute resolution company, Immediation New Zealand and was launched in February 2021.
SCRMS allows anyone engaged in sport and active recreation to lodge a complaint, issue or
P +64 4 472 8058 Level 1, Harbour City Centre, 29 Brandon Street, Wellington 6011
PO Box 2251 Wellington 6140, New Zealand
sportnz.org.nz
2
dispute and have it resolved in a timely manner. The service provides triage, early facilitation, and
independent investigations.
Since SCRMS launch in February 2021 until 30 June 2023, SRCMS has received a total of 428
enquiries, of which 391 of those matters are now closed.
The SRCMS does not categorise matters per region as not all the disputes are regionalised, i.e. it
is common for a matter to be a national sporting organisation issue.
You have also requested to know how many of these complaints have been upheld or not. It is not
the role of the SCRMS to ‘uphold’ complaints. If through the triage process it is ascertained that
there is a complaint to be heard, it will either:
• be referred to the relevant sporting body to go through their own complaints and disciplinary
procedures; or
• be resolved through facilitation; or
• be dealt with through a formal mediation process; or
• under certain criteria, the relevant parties to a complaint will agree to initiate an
investigation. At the conclusion of an investigation, the investigation report is referred to the
relevant sporting body who the manages the complaint through their disciplinary process
that is relevant.
Therefore, the parts of your request for a regional breakdown and whether the complaint was
upheld are refused under section 18(g) of the OIA as the information requested is not held by Sport
NZ, and we have no grounds for believing that it is held by another agency or more closely related
to the functions of another agency.
Please refer to the below table for a breakdown of the overall themes since SRCMS was
established. Please note that each matter can contain several themes. Note that all information in
this response are as of 30 June 2023.
Percentage of
Category
total complaints
Health and safety
16%
Athlete wellbeing
27%
Behaviour/culture within a sporting organisation or
sport
34%
Complaint about behaviour of a coach
21%
Complaint about behaviour of another individual
12%
Conflict of interest
10%
Discrimination - Disability
3%
Discrimination - Sexual harassment
2%
Discrimination - Human rights
6%
Fairness of or application of organisational rules
or policy
26%
3
Inadequate committee/board management
10%
Inadequate complaints handling
32%
Governance
10%
Selection
10%
Please refer to the below table for a summary of the status of enquiries.
Summary
Total
Number of enquiries/complaints
428
Number of notifications and/or referrals to other agencies
(E.g., Police)
11
Disputes/complaints related to disability
13
Description
Total
Initial enquiry 1(a)
Enquiry: triage not required
41
Enquiry and complainant has not to date pursued through
1(b)
SRCMS OR complaint has confirmed won't be proceeding
34
1(c)
Triaged and determined enquiry out of scope
9
Made enquiry and then resolved against backdrop of the
1(d)
Service
37
Triage
2(a)
Complex triage in progress
5
2(b)
Complex triage completed and with complainant to action
38
Complex triage completed and complainant is taking other
2(c)
steps outside the service or has been referred to other avenue
46
Early facilitation 3(a)
Early facilitation in progress
14
Early facilitation undertaken; however, Party B would not
3(b)
agree to a facilitated dialogue
25
3(c)
Early facilitation undertaken but matter not resolved
7
Early facilitation - notwithstanding did not fully resolve, issue’s
3(d)
part resolved or other positive outcome(s) from the process
28
3(e)
Matter resolved through early resolution
32
Early facilitation undertaken, referred back to sport, and
3(f)
parties progressing through organisation’s procedures
34
Mediation 4(a)
Going to mediation shortly
6
4(b)
Mediation took place - didn't resolve
1
Mediation took place - notwithstanding did not fully resolve,
issue’s part resolved or other positive outcome(s) from the
4(c)
process
12
4(d)
Matter resolved by mediation
42
Investigation
4
Number -
Number -
Total
community/complex
High
Performance
/ Elite
5(a) Low risk/impact investigations
pending
0
0
0
Medium risk/impact investigations
pending
0
0
0
High risk/impact investigations
pending
0
0
0
5(b) Low risk/impact investigations
ongoing
0
0
0
Medium risk/impact investigations
ongoing
2
0
2
High risk/impact investigations
ongoing
2
1
3
5(c) Low risk/impact investigations
completed
0
0
0
Medium risk/impact investigations
completed
1
1
2
High risk/impact investigations
completed
7
3
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Please note that if you are not satisfied with this response, you have the right to make a complaint
to the Ombudsman under section 28(3) of the OIA. Information about how to contact the
Ombudsman is available at www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or you can phone 0800 802 602.
Kind regards,
Nicki Ablitt Group Policy Manager
Sport NZ Ihi Aotearoa
