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Departure of Kitty Chiller as Gymnastics Australia chief executive prompts praise, anger

Kitty Chiller will step down as CEO of Gymnastics Australia in March. (AAP: Dan Himbrechts)

The chief executive of Gymnastics Australia will leave the organisation less than a year after the sport established a process to investigate allegations of abuse. 

Some in the sports industry have praised her work but others, who are not satisfied with the outcome of complaints, have expressed frustration and anger.

Kitty Chiller, former Olympian and Rio Games Chef de Mission, has been the head of gymnastics in Australia since 2017 but will depart in March.

"It has been a great privilege to be involved in gymnastics over the last four years," she said in a statement.

Gymnastics Australia president Ben Heap praised Ms Chiller.

"Kitty's commitment to a culture of transparency and trust and the empowerment of the athlete voice through implementing policies and behaviours as part of a transformational cultural change project will have a positive effect on the sport for decades to come."

The Gymnastics Australia statement does not say whether Ms Chiller resigned or was sacked, only that she "will be leaving Gymnastics Australia to take on a new opportunity in sports leadership".

Ms Chiller has overseen a tumultuous period in gymnastics.

In the wake of the Larry Nassar revelations around abuse in American gymnastics, the sport in Australia moved slowly to address concerns.

In April 2018, Ms Chiller said the sport would be "formalising practices that have already been in place" as it announced new child safety guidelines.

"There's never been any evidence or complaints that anyone's been unhappy within the Gymnastics Australia environment," Ms Chiller said at the time.

Later in 2018, Ms Chiller ended an investigation into the National Centre of Excellence in Melbourne, telling parents the majority of allegations listed in the interim report were found to be "incomplete".

It was not until August 2020 that Gymnastics Australia engaged the Australian Human Rights Commission to conduct an independent review of culture and practice at all levels of the sport of gymnastics in Australia.

The report came out in May this year, finding the sport had enabled a culture of physical, emotional and sexual abuse which many participants described as toxic.

In the wake of the review, a complaints process overseen by Sport Integrity Australia was established, but some involved have not been happy with the outcome.

Of the 35 complaints received, seven were assessed by officials as worthy of an investigation.

Four of those were returned with a finding of "neither substantiated or unsubstantiated".

Range of reaction

Australian Olympics Committee president John Coates praised Ms Chiller, saying she "met the challenges faced by the sport with great candour and insight, commissioning the Australian Human Rights Commission Report into the sport's culture and practices then acting on the report's recommendations."

Sport Integrity Australia echoed the sentiment on a social media post.

"Thank you Kitty for your leadership and contribution to sport integrity.

"We wish you all the best for the future, and look forward to continuing to work on a national integrity approach with Gymnastics Australia."

But others are critical of Ms Chiller and want more information about the circumstances around her departure.

Stieve and Trinity de Lance say compaints they've made about the treatment Trinity received while training have fallen on deaf ears. (ABC News: Marty McCarthy)

Stieve de Lance's complaint to Sport Integrity Australia received a finding of "neither substantiated or unsubstantiated".

"She's left a lot of questions to answer about the Human Rights Commission report and her role in the aftermath, in which no one was disciplined and no one was fired," Ms de Lance said.

Donna Louise Wilson, another whose complaint was found to be "neither substantiated or unsubstantiated", posted a comment on Gymnastics Australia's Facebook post announcing Ms Chiller's departure.

"You can delete my posts but you can not delete the abuse and the lack of accountability and inaction to the abuse claims lodged with Gymnastics Australia.

The ABC sought more information from Gymnastics Australia about Ms Chiller's departure but was redirected to its public statement.

In it, Ms Chiller said: "With our operating and governance framework running well, our strategic and high-performance plans embedded, and with the implementation of the Change the Routine project plan and adoption of the National Integrity Framework, Gymnastics Australia is in very good shape for the next era.”

Ms Chiller's final day in the job will be March 4th.

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