Hawthorn racism allegations are harrowing, but AFL’s investigation is wide of the mark

The allegations of racism and potential abuse of young footballers at the Hawthorn Football Club are harrowing and traumatic to read. But yet again, the AFL has managed a complete governance failure with regard to the investigation process.

It is critical we separate the horrific allegations from the process itself, something that the media, in a typical rush to judgment and clicks, has again failed to do.

Earlier this year, popular Hawthorn premiership champion Cyril Rioli and his wife, Shannyn, levelled separate allegations against the club, including that “Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett commented on the designer ripped jeans of Rioli’s wife Shannyn Ah Sam-Rioli, offering loose change to help sew them up — comments Kennett claims was a joke”.

The Rioli allegations led Hawthorn to commission an investigative report into other instances of racism. This was the genesis for the current report, prepared by former Richmond footballer Phil Egan.

Egan was in many ways the ideal person to prepare the report: an Indigenous former footballer who runs a small consultancy called Binmada, which “provides research, analysis and strategic planning to help leaders make informed decisions about these and other issues facing their organisations and communities”, according to its website. Egan has previously worked with the AFL, as well as with the federal government and the Department of Human Services.

The important aspect to note is Egan is a consultant, not a lawyer, nor a judge, nor, it appears, an investigator. Egan’s role was to prepare a report into the allegations, a task he appears to have done well. The next step in the process is for experienced, preferably legally trained investigators to properly determine the veracity of the claims. This process would involve obtaining statements from the alleged perpetrators, as well as third parties who may have witnessed the events.

This will, but has not yet, occurred. As former Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson said on Wednesday: “I was not interviewed by the authors of the report commissioned by the club, and nor have I been provided with a copy of the report … I was not afforded any due process and I refute any allegation of wrongdoing or misconduct.”

While Clarkson’s comments are correct, the issue here isn’t the Egan report itself — its task was to gather the allegations. The problem is that the serious allegations raised by Egan have been leaked in forensic detail to Russell Jackson at the ABC. Jackson’s 4500-word article appeared to be close to a verbatim reporting of the Egan report.

Unsurprisingly, given the nature of the allegations and high profiles of the alleged perpetrators, there has been a rush to judgment. Crikey was certainly no exception.

While the allegations are traumatic and deeply concerning, they are also just that: allegations. Moreover, the allegations themselves relate to incidents that occurred several years ago and the victims appear to have endured significant mental anguish over that period. That doesn’t in any way mean they shouldn’t be believed (there are very legitimate reasons why the allegations have not been made sooner), but they are all factors that are considered by an independent, preferably legally trained investigator.

The concern here is that the horrific allegations have been made public at this time — before they have been properly investigated (the situation is similarly concerning to the infamous “darkest day in sport” press conference).

For the sake of both the victims and the perpetrators, the allegations should have remained completely confidential until they were properly investigated. At this stage, the Hawthorn staff at the centre of the claims don’t know the full allegations, nor who made the allegations. Shaun Burgoyne, maybe the most decorated Indigenous player ever, who was at Hawthorn during the entire period in question, said, “I had no knowledge of those instances ever happening. I was never involved. I was never asked. This is the first I’ve heard of it being involved in this process”.

It is especially concerning that the allegations appear to have been potentially released to the ABC by Egan himself (it is difficult to see how the ABC could have otherwise been so well informed). Egan also told The Age that “the report noted a range of recommendations for the club to address in relation to creating a culturally safe environment for all … these include further and immediate investigation of the findings; reparation and compensation for the affected families if the allegations are validated; and policy and structural changes to ensure cultural safety is embedded within the club.”

The Age also reported that Egan “endured his own experiences with racism in the game, [and] said he felt privileged to have been tasked with the review because of its sensitive nature”.

The process is not only disastrous to Clarkson and his former assistant Chris Fagan — who, even if exonerated, are likely to face lifelong ramifications — but also to the alleged victims, who will now be forced to endure a lengthy, and unnecessarily public, exploration of such horrific alleged events.