Former WAIS gymnasts to be offered $15,000 for harm caused by coaching practices

The WA government has offered payments and counselling to former participants in an elite gymnastics training program two years after a report found children experienced physical, verbal and emotional abuse.

Minister for Sport and Recreation David Templeman said the $15,000 payment was an acknowledgement of the trauma and abuse experienced by girls and young women who were part of the West Australian Institute of Sport (WAIS) Women’s Artistic Gymnastics program that ran from 1988 to 2016.

“This is a payment that acknowledges what they have experienced,” Mr Templeman told Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth.

“It is a part of a process to assist them in their healing.”

Sport Integrity Australia handed down a report in 2022 that found children were subject to a “culture of fear” that included verbal and physical abuse, frequent and traumatising skin fold testing, weight shaming and being expected to train while injured.

Making abuse public

The investigation was triggered when a group of former gymnasts went public with their experiences and called for an apology and for WAIS to engage in a process of restorative justice.

Mr Templeman paid tribute to their efforts in bringing the abuse to light.

“I really want to sincerely thank them for that,” he said.

“I know it hasn’t been easy.

He said while $15,000 was not a large sum he hoped it would go some way towards healing for the several hundred gymnasts who participated in the program.

“I don’t think you can put a dollar figure [on it] because, quite frankly, it’s the person who’s experienced the trauma that knows what it’s like to have that pain and that suffering,” he said.

“But this is an acknowledgement payment and I’m hopeful that it will go a long way towards those that suffered, it is a genuine and good faith acknowledgement.”

Opportunity for closure

Former WAIS gymnast Julia Murcia welcomed the minister’s announcement, saying it was a chance to bring the long campaign for justice to close.

“We’re really appreciative … and we’re really happy to get some closure on this,” Ms Murcia said.

“It’s by no means compensation for the experiences and mental and physical harm.

“It probably won’t come anywhere near close to covering the costs we’ve incurred.

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Ms Murcia said her former teammates had suffered compound fractures as a result of being forced to train while injured. 

She said one teammate required a hip replacement at 17 and another had a “spinal fusion” after landing on her head during training.

“They were avoidable injuries from being half starved, over trained and just pushed too hard,” she said.

“That comes with a lot of costs and then of course the mental health element on top of that.”

Strengthening governance

Mr Templeman said his focus was on making sure what happened in the gymnastics program couldn’t happen again at WAIS.

Last year he appointed a new board and chair, and long-term chief executive Steve Lawrence stepped down after 22 years at the helm.

“There have been changes at the board, which I think has been very important and a reinvigorated focus on governance,” he said.

He said they included a commitment to and delivery of a child safety program and approach.

“I wanted to see embedded in the culture of WAIS that when you’re an elite performance entity dealing with young people, particularly in this case, children, you’ve got to have all of those measures in place and they must be adhered to and they must be genuinely embedded in the culture of WAIS,” he said.

Applications for the acknowledgement payment will be open until August 31.

Mornings with Nadia Mitsopoulos is live on ABC Radio Perth every weekday from 8:30-11am. Tune in on 720AM, digital radio or the ABC Listen app.