FOOTBAl.lCOMMISSION INC.

Submission to Education & Health Standing Committee

The WAFC has been asked to give eviden ce at a hearin g by th e Education and Health Standing

Committee who are conducting an Inquiry into the Ade quocy ond Appropriateness af Preve ntian and

Treatment Services for Alcohol and Illicit Drug Problems in Western Australia.

Terms of reference for WAFC response

(2) ta inquire int a the imp act on communities, and th e social costs, of alcohol and illi cit drug

probl ems in Western Aust ralia.

The Committee is interested in the WAFC's view of th e impact of th e sponsorship of sport by companies

th at produ ce alcoholic products.

WAFC Response

It is not In the WAFC's remit t o specif ically address th e broad study topi c; however, th e WAFC is able to

addre ss th e issue requested by the Committee, that is t o provide a submission of th e imp act of sport

sponsorship by alcohol companies.

The AFL and th e WAFC both have sponsorship agreements wit h Fosters Brewing. The overall impact is

th at Fosters provide signif icant funding th at is used to develop and promote th e game of Aust ralian

Football and to init iate community developm ent programs in WA.

Sponsorship Ar rangements

The WA FC sponsorship incorporates an all of football partn ership aimed at increasing Fosters market

share through th e selection of Fosters products in preference to their competi to rs.

The key elements of th e sponsorship incorporate s

• Pourage right s at Subiaco Oval

• Sponsorship of senior community football compet it ions in exchange for pourage right s

• Purchase of AFL club propertie s to enable Fosters to

o Ente rta in guests at corporate fun ction s and event s

o Display signage at Subiaco Oval

Fosters have a commit ment to th e responsible consumpt ion of alcohol through a series of targeted

campaigns and resource support . Cricket Aust ralia, Fosters and Diageo recent ly combined in a national

program launched by th e Federal Minister for Sport called "Know when to declare" , which was aimed at

th e responsible consumpt ion of alcohol.

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The WAFC's commitment to Fosters is brand awareness through the provision of the above mentioned

benef its. This awareness is targeted at adults who make lifestyle choices in relat ion to t he consumption

of alcohol.

Foot ball plays a significant role in developing appropriate att itud es to the consumption of alcohol and

can provide a positive environment to assist in the format ion of appropriate behavior pattern s and

values. Football is well placed to have a posit ive influence on the attitude of young people in order to

address the issues of inappropriate alcohol consumption and ot her healt h issues such asobesity.

As wit h society t here are time s when t here is inappropriate consumpt ion of alcohol in a footba ll

environment, however footba ll has an absolute commit ment to positive club environments and is well

placed and committed to address instances of inappropriate behavior .

The funds provided by Fosters to the WAFC are used to conduct the extensive range of community

development programs.

Sponsorship of Sport by Alcohol Companies

Alcohol is not an illegal product. It s consumption has been shown to provide some health benefits and

adds signif icantly to the social of fabr ic of Aust ralia. The issue at hand is not the use of alcohol as a legal

product, but the misuse of alcohol. Football currentl y plays a key role in addressing the misuse of

alcohol and will continu e to expand its programs in thi s regard.

Unlike cigarette usage, alcohol does not have an impact on health if used responsibly. There is no

justi f icat ion for smoking; however, responsible use of alcohol is acceptable if consumed responsibly.

Would the removal of alcohol sports sponsorship impact t he communities' att itude to alcohol? Probably

not, alcohol companies would develop other st rategies to promote their product .

On a nat ional basis, AFL research indicates the follow ing regarding the cont ribut ion of the alcohol

industry to comm unity and state league football :

On a scale of 1-S, with 1 being Unimportant and S being Very Important, t he State Footballbodies indicate that alcohol sponsorship investment in sport at t he state and community level is'Very Import ant'In some states, there is a net revenue from alcohol producer investment/ sponsorship in excessof $3 mi llion at State level, and in excess of $3 million at Community levelIn many cases, alcohol producer investment /sponsors hip accounts for close to half of overallsponsorship income at state and community level

Sport plays a significant positive role in the community . Football has many programs includ ing those that

target activ ity and health awareness (obesity and sedentary lifestyles), values form ation including

respect and responsibility, lifest yle choices, engagement in education, multicu ltural integration and

womens parti cipation at all levels of footba ll.

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If t he funds provided by alcohol companies were not available t here wo uld be a signif icant challenge for

sport ing bodies to source alternative sponsorship revenue and it is likely that some of th e programs

wo uld cease.

There is no place in football for promotions that t arget alcohol consumption at a junior level where

value formation and attit udes are developed. The WAFC believes there is a positi ve approach th at can

be taken in th ese areas th rough th e use of our syste ms and networks to convey posit ive messages.

Alcohol sponsorship is highly regulated by footb all wit h a focus on brand awareness at senior level

rathe r than prom otion and th ere is an absolute commitment to responsible consumpt ion of alcohol.

There is no targeted approach to increasing alcohol consumpti on in any of th e arrangements wit h

footba ll. The benefit provided to the alcohol compani es as a result of the sponsorship is around brand

awareness through pour age arrangements to venues th at would serve alcohol in any event. These

ente rtainment venues operate in a highly regulated environment whet her it be a licensed club venue or

Subiaco Oval.

Subiaco Oval is a family venue. A key part of our business is to ensure th at our custo mers are sat isfied

wit h th eir exper ience. It is not in our best interest s to have behavior issues, whet her it is due to alcohol,

drugs or bad att it ude.

The fee paid for th e right s to pour at Subiaco Oval results in th e sale of product at th e ground which has

st rict licensing and RSA condit ions, th e sale of mid st rength alcohol t o publi c areas, in addit ion to a

commitment t o achieve a posit ive environment for all patrons. Under t hese condit ions th e sale of

alcohol results in few incidents, as ref lected in th e number of eject ions from th e ground. As a licensed

venue wit h a capacity of 43,500 people, t he number of behavior issues associate d wit h alcohol

consumpt ion is typically between 0 -3 per game for alcohol related evicti ons (including carr iage of

alcohol into th e ground). The inform ation we have been provided is th at the se eviction levels are well

below th at of th e aggregat ion of licensed venues for th e same number of patro ns. Furthermore our

code of behavior that is promoted and the proactive approach to scrut iny at every game clearly sets th e

ton e for the quality ofthe environment we are seeking.

We do not see th at t he fund s provided for the right to pour at Subiaco Oval add to buildi ng poor

behavior, particularl y at th e suscept ible ages. In fact, given th e regulated environment and promotion

of positi ve messages at Subiaco Oval, we are seeking to have a positive influence on th e choices of

individu als.

The WAFC has an absolute commit ment to creatin g a quality club environment. One such initi at ive is th e

quality club assessment. This assessment provide s accredita t ion to clubs who create appropriate

environments and meet administ rat ive crit eria. There is a proactive approach to addressing th e issue of

alcoho l consumption.

In addressing th e Committee's quest ion of t he impact of sponsorship of sport by alcohol companies, it is

clear that many of th e programs conduct ed by footba ll which address community issues may cease if

alcohol sponsorship was wit hdrawn. What wo uld be achieved? The brand awareness activiti es by th e

alcohol companies through pour age deals in football would be replaced by ot her measures to promote

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th e product, alcohol wo uld cont inue to be served at licensed venues, while football programs may cease

or need to be scaled back. The net outcome wo uld be a negative community outcome due to football's

positi ve role in guiding community attitudes.

Rather t han banning sponsorship of sport by alcohol measures I beli eve it is more appropri ate to convey

positive messages and impl ement positi ve behavior program s to assist our yout h in making th e right

decisions.

AFL commitment to alcohol reform

The Australian Football League (AFL) has also been very proactive in addressing the issue of responsible

alcohol consumption. The AFL commissioned research in 2005/06 by Assoc Prof John Fitzgerald from

the University of Me lbourne to investigate th e drinking patte rns of AFL players.

The research recommended that th e AFL develop a policy frame work wit h suff icient sophisticat ion to

ensure that clubs wi ll create health y drinking environments. The fr amework would require an integrated

governance approach involving th e major stake holders in th e footb all policy arena to ensure healthy

drin king environments are promoted in all clubs across th e AFL.

This was th e recommendat ion in 2006. By 2009, all 16 AFL clubs had individual responsible alcohol

poli cies in place and all are committed to a range of activiti es aimed at promotin g responsible alcohol

consumpt ion wit hin th eir individu al clubs.

1. Five year plan

It is imp ortant t o emphasise t hat th e AFL's body of responsible alcohol work is we ll advanced and t he

AFL is current ly in Year 3 of a five year plan to create responsible drinkin g environments at all clubs and

across th e AFL.

Figure 1 below is a diagram th at has been used to explain th e progression of th e AFL Responsible

Alcohol initi atives fro m when th e Resea rch was completed in 2005/06 through to the current phase and

then th e remaining phases moving forwa rd.

Figure 1. Five year plan for creating responsible drinking environments across the AFL

zo

!{;:fio

Year 1: 2005-06

Year2: 2007-08

Year3: 2009-10

Year4:20U

Year5:2012

Research

Policy Development• ccncv develop ment ~ro u p formed

• cc ru utrs t tc n with industry p art ners end medica1expert!

-c fub .....crk! hopS (st=ff, ctevers. ccecnesl

Policy Implementat ion and Innovat ion

Review and Performance evaluation

Indust ry-wide behaviour change

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2. Policy Development in 2007/08

The AFL framing policy and club policies are built on four key pillars:

• Adoption of a we/fore oriented approach; which wil l facilitate and support any person dealing wit h

an alcohol relat ed issue to get suita ble counselling support through the AFL's Employee Assistance

Program or other recognised channels. The welfare-oriented approach puts th e individual as cent ral

and seeks to deal with diffi cultie s holi stically, within a harm minimization frame work , and with

expert guidance. The program will be seen to identify support pathways and resources for all st aff.

• Enhancing awareness of harms associated wi th risky drinking ; for all parti cipants (across 16 clubs

and th e participating AFL, AFLPA and AFLCA staff ) through educat ional initiatives includin g

interactive forum s1workshops and web-based 1take-home resources.

• Reduction of risky consumption afa/coho/; achieved through discussion on st rategies and tactics for

reducing consumpt ion among participants and overt considerat ion of th e mot ivation, int erest,

desire and readiness to change behaviours for staff. This inform ation wi ll be fed back to clubs and

present ed as a templ ate fo r acti on wit hin th e broader activit ies of the AFL Framing Policy.

• Creating respansib /e environments for the consumptio n ofa/coh o/; for example imparting knowl edge

of best practice around responsible service of alcohol at footb all related event s, brain storming event

alt ernat ives, verbal case-st udies on what is working or not working in oth er sett ings.

The draft fr aming policy was sent t o a group of over 40 experts and industry groups fo r comme nt and

input as part of t he consultat ion process.

3. Policy Implementation in 2008/09

Club impl ement ation workshops were held in 2008 at each of the 16 AFL clubs. Involved in each

workshop was a mixture of individuals from the club including players, staff (CEO, Football Man ager,

Piayer Developm ent Man ager, Staff HR Manager), coaches and leadership group. The workshops were a

great success because it was th e fi rst struct ured opport unity th ere had been for t ransparent

communicat ion across all levels of t he club about the place of alcohol wit hin th eir club. It was agreed

th at for such a poli cy to be successful it would need to be club-specific and player-led and clubs were of

the view th at poli cy effo rts should includ e everyone at th e club regardless of employment status

(players, staff, coaches, full time, part time, vo lunte ers, boards, etc) .

Clubs have been outsta nding in th eir commitment to the policy and thi s can be illu strated through a

number of specif ic exampl es:

• Club and player efforts in planning for end of season celebrat ions including tran sport , food , venue,

activities, sta rt tim es and communication of expectations

• Hawth orn FC having lim ited visibi lity of alcohol as part of 2008 Grand Final celebrat ions; th is

resulted from a conscious plann ing effort by th e club in th e lead-up to th e Grand Final and

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brainstorming about which appearances wou ld be required and how the y would approa ch each in

terms of alcohol visibility. Industry experts applauded Hawthorn on th eir handling of the se

sit uat ions

• Geelong FC players involvement in th e Leader newspaper "Just Think" campaign; th e Leader

newspaper group have a progr am designed to raise awareness in the community of the harms

associated wit h binge drinking and to reduce alcohol-re lated violence. Geelong foot ballers have

supported th e program in a number of ways both in the Geeiong and Melbourn e communit ies.

4. Innovation and activities underway

The range of initiatives underway to achieve policy object ives can be divided into five main categories:

1. Policy implementation

2. Club and indu stry communicat ion

3. Translating the policy for community footba ll

4. Policy evaluat ion and knowled ge transfer

5. Research

The AFL and AFL Players Associat ion (AFLPA) are being assisted with the se act ivit ies by a number of

partn ers includ ing th e Victo rian Health Promot ion Foundation (VicHealth), Aust ralian Drug Foundation

(ADF), Victorian Drug and Alcohol Prevention Council (VDAPC), Federal Government and the Victorian

Department of Justice.

Football commitment to social issues and community development

Footb all has played a lead role in addressing community issues. The AFL and th e WAFC have played an

active role in programs such as

i. Racial vilificat ion

ii . Drug education

iii. Respect and responsibilit y t o women

iv. Indigenous and multicultura l programs

v. Using football t o achieve educational outcomes

vi. Responsible consumpt ion of alcohol

vi i. Smoke free

The WAFC was a pr ime instigator of smoking reforms through the banning of smoking at Subiaco Oval.

This voluntary move was a proactive approach to a key health issue. As the first stadium to initi ate such

an acti on t he WAFC has show n a commitment to health reform. It is not unreasonable to assume the

smoke fr ee Subiaco Oval was a key driver of th e broader smoke free reform s enacted in recent years.

The WAFC does not consider th e banning of sponsorship of alcohol to be an appropri ate health reform

mea sure.

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The WAFC has established community development programs with a number of important outcomes asfoll ows:

Participatian - a dri ving object ive is to grow participation to assist in bui lding health y acti vecommunit ies. In th e past 6 years, wit h th e introduction of a Sta tewide Distri ct developm ent program,the WA Foot ball Commission w it h support from th e West Coast Eagles and Fremantle Footba ll Club hasgenerated a 91% increase in player parti cipati on . The AFL census showe d th at over 121,000 WestAustra lians played th e game during 2009 and growth is continuing at all levels. WAFL attendances nowexceed 250,000 and over one million people come through th e gates at Subiaco Oval each year. Wit h8,000 umpi res and an estimated 46,000 volunt eers, together wit h the players and the 80,000 AFL Clubmembersfootball impacts on around half a million West Australians.

Education - There are now over 9S0 footba ll ambassadors in schools throughout th e breadth of WA.Their role is to promote physical act ivity through football and init iate numeracy, lit eracy and leadershipprograms. Curricu lum materia ls have been developed by football to engage kids in school. The EaglesRock My School program has been successfully conduct ed for over 8 years and a uniqu e Subiaco Ovol ­The Ultimate Footy Clossroom proj ect uses th e st adium as an int eract ive learnin g cent re for schoolgroups.

Women's interests - Aust ralian Rules football has universal appeal with 48% of all spect ato rs attendingAFL games being fem ale. But it is not only as spect at ors that women have a critical ro le to play in thedevelopment of football. Female foot y is grow ing rapid ly (40% in 2009) to meet th e demand to play andparti cipat e in the game. The AFL national coordinat or of female footba ll is based at th e WA Footb allCommission and oversees national program development. Partnerships include the Rising St arscomp et it ion, All Gir ls Auskick initi at ive and th e Yout h Girls Carnival. A new partn ership wit h th eFremant le Footba ll Club through the Dockers Cup has enabled an extra 1300 fema les to participate inschool compet it ions th is year. Addit ionally out sta nding women are now represented on all thegovern ing Boards of football including th e WA Football Commi ssion, Fremantl e Footb all Club, the WestCoast Eagles and th e WA Country Football League.

Indigenous - Footba ll is being used to great effe ct to achieve indigenous outcomes th rough programsconducted by th e Clontarf Foundation, Swan Districts Football Club's partnership with BHP in the Pilbaraand th e WA Footba ll Commissions development activities in regiona l areas. All are using football as th emedium to achieve education and social outcomes.

Multicultural - The WA Football Commission consciously promotes footb all to our multiculturalcommunity to build bridge s and a sense of belonging. This is achieved in partnership wit h theDepartment of Sport and Recreat ion through participation program s, school exposure programs, ta lentidentificati on and cultural awareness sessions wit h local footb all clubs. In 2009, new and emergingcommunities including Islamic student s and those from Inten sive English Centres & English SecondLanguage Schools were given the opportun ity to exper ience AFL with the aim of assist ing integrat ionint o the wider community.

Club development - Best practice in administ rat ion and governance is vit al and to th at end and inpartnership wit h th e RAC th e WA Football Comm ission manages the RAC Make your Mark Club andVolunteer Development program which incorporates th e Quality Club Program, Member ProtectionPolicy, WA Foot ball Volunt eer of the Year, Quality Club Assessments and Club Development Roadshow.

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Facility development - The WA Football Commission has directly provided over $Im from itsCommun ity Development Facility Fund to commun ity and WAFL clubs over the past 3 seasons for facilityimprovements. A facility strategic plan prepared in conju nction with Department of Sport andRecreatio n and Loca l Government guides future planning and attempts to ensure that quality playingspace and support ing club facilities are available to meet the demands.

Economic development - footbal l act ivit y generates millions of dollars of income direct ly and has aneconomic flo w-on effe ct to other secto rs of Aust ralian industry, including media, health , reta iling andcatering, sport ing goods manufacture, construction, accommodation and transport. In 2007, the AFLestimated the economi c impact of footba ll in WA was $502m pa.

Summary

Sponsorship by alcoho l comp anies is targeted at brand awareness primari ly through pourage

arrangements at iicensed venues.

The fund s der ived from alcohol sponsorship are used constructively by the WAFCto deliver a substa nt ial

community benefit including qualit y club programs wh ich include responsible consumpt ion of alcohol

protocols and programs. There is further potentia l to impact att itudes t hrough positive health

promotion strategies.

The footba ll and community outcomes derived as a result of th e sponsorship far outweighs any negative

outcome that arises as a result of brand awareness by Fosters. If t he sponsorship was lost, t he outcome

would most likely result in oth er measures adopted by Fosters to promote their produ cts and a loss of

financia l support for WAFC programs. This would disadvantage football and the community in Western

Aust ralia.

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