One of the women to have made sickening accusations against senior figures at the Hawthorn Football Club has announced she will not co-operate with the AFL’s investigation into the scandal.
But the AFL stands by its process, releasing a statement on Wednesday afternoon stating it can “only investigate the matter under AFL Rules” due to its jurisdiction.
The woman, referred to as “Amy” to protect her identity and partner of ex-Hawks player “Ian,” alleged they were forced to terminate a pregnancy led by key Hawthorn staffers, has been identified in the statement released by Marque Lawyers on Wednesday.
The statement claims the AFL ignored the woman when establishing the framework for the investigation, leaving her with no option but to walk away.
Marque Lawyers claim the AFL gave “Amy” just two days to address the terms of reference before they were established.
But the AFL has defended the way the Terms of Reference for the investigation was pulled together.
“As part of the detailed consultation process preceding the commencement of the investigation, proposed terms of reference were sent to the lawyers representing the potential participants and we took into consideration all their comments and concerns. Ultimately there needs to be balance of considerations (including cultural safety and fairness) and different perspectives and no individual had all their requests met,” the statement read.
“While the AFL still has not been informed of the identities of the persons/families who have recalled their accounts as part of the Hawthorn Football Club review, or with the journalist who published those accounts, the independent panel will continue to work with the legal representatives each of the parties has retained.”
The AFL last month announced the terms of reference for its investigation into the bombshell accusations included in a report that followed an external review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s experiences with the Hawks.
The AFL a month ago announced Bernard Quinn KC would lead the investigation into allegations of “racist behaviour, bullying and other inappropriate conduct” by Hawthorn employees — particularly towards First Nations players — between 2008 to 2016. Quinn will be joined by fellow panellists Jacqualyn Turfrey, Tim Goodwin and Julie Buxton.
It has for weeks been reported that several people to have made the accusations against the football club had concerns about being involved in the investigation process because of the clear conflict of interest for the AFL.
Despite the league’s insistence the investigation would be entirely independent, one of the women has now announced she will be taking a stand by refusing to participate.
In a statement released by Marque Lawyers, the legal team acting for one of the accusers, a women referred to as “Amy” says: “I could either stay numb and silent, or I could find my voice and play my part in the struggle to try and create safety and protection for our young ones who would inevitably face these systems”.
The woman referred to as “Amy” by the ABC after Hawthorn’s external report was leaked in September, made troubling accusations against the football club, premiership-winning coach Alastair Clarkson and now-Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan.
The ABC reported Amy’s partner, referred to as “Ian”, was told to get rid of his unborn child and partner by figures at the football club. The footballer also told the ABC he was “manipulated” into changing his SIM card “so there was no further contact between my family and me”.
Clarkson, who now coaches North Melbourne, and Fagan have been cleared to resume work with their football clubs.
The statement released by Marque Lawyers also revealed the further trauma “Amy” has relived since the bombshell report first made headlines, while calling the AFL “disingenuous” and says claims the process will be independent are “a lie”.
“Amy has had to work through the guilt she feels at having stayed silent back then; that perhaps, had she said something, she could have prevented it happening to others,” the legal team says in the statement.
“Although, as she says, “it’s a little hard to speak up when it feels like your voice box has been pulled out of your throat”.”
It’s believed Amy is the second alleged victim to walk away from the AFL probe.
The statement says the investigation report “will be the property of the AFL”.
“The process which the AFL has determined to pursue is not independent of it,” the statement claims.
“While we cast no aspersions on the nominated investigation panel members, the entire process will be conducted under the control of the AFL and for the AFL’s purposes.
“If the AFL is genuinely concerned to unearth and expose the full depth of racist mistreatment of First Nations players and their families by one or more of its clubs, then it should engage an external body with appropriate expertise, operating completely independently of the AFL, to conduct a wide-ranging inquiry into the systemic racist abuses that the revelations regarding Hawthorn have exposed.
“Instead, the AFL’s own lawyers are assisting the investigation panel and corresponding with parties on its behalf.”
The AFL maintains it wants those involved to have the “opportunity to bring their experiences direct to the Independent Review”.
“We acknowledge the pain, trauma and grief of the experience from “Amy” in the statement and it reinforces how serious these allegations are, and how important it is that the AFL treat them appropriately while ensuring a formal process that provides the opportunity to bring their experiences direct to the Independent Review in a supportive and respectful process to those impacted, and natural justice to those people against whom allegations of misconduct have been made,” the statement read.
“Our process doesn’t stop any impacted person from taking separate legal action or seeking redress in another forum or jurisdiction.”
