Australia has established a fund to make up for athletes who were harmed or subjected to abuse while attending the top sports training facility in the country.
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) on Wednesday announced the creation of a fund that will provide rewards to athletes who received scholarships at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra between 1981 and 2013 of up to A$50,000 ($34,500).
ASC chair Josephine Sukkar said in a statement that “over 9,000 athletes had AIS scholarships between 1981 and 2013 and while we know many people had a wonderful experience, unfortunately some athletes were handled unfairly.”
After 2013, the AIS ceased to provide scholarships.
The fund’s declaration comes more than a year after the ASC made a general apology to the athletes who had experienced mistreatment at the AIS in the past.
Several former gymnasts who claim they were mistreated while training there are suing the AIS.
Following an investigation into charges of physical and mental abuse by the nation’s human rights authority, the Australian Gymnastics Federation issued an apology to the athletes.
Kieren Perkins, CEO of the ASC, asked athletes who experienced injury as a result of their time at the AIS to get in touch with the “Restorative Program” of the ASC.
For afflicted athletes, the program also provides counseling and “support services.”
Perkins, a former Olympic champion swimmer, stated that abuse of any kind had no place in Australian sport.
