The partner of a former Hawthorn player who says the football club demanded that she terminate a pregnancy says she will not take part in an AFL investigation into the claims.
The Gunditjmara and Bunitj woman, known as Amy, released a statement on Wednesday morning saying that the investigation announced into claims made by First Nations players and their partners was founded on an “unsafe process”.
She said it failed on five key points: it was not independent; it continues the pattern of abuse it is supposedly addressing; it is being rushed; it is not culturally safe; and, the AFL does not have the appropriate appetite, expertise or strategy to effectively address the issues.
The AFL last month announced the investigation into claims made by players to the ABC and in a cultural safety review commissioned by Hawthorn.
“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,” Amy said in the statement.
The statement on behalf of Amy was released by Michael Bradley, the managing partner of Marque Lawyers, and Prof Chelsea Watego, from the school of public health and social work at the Queensland University of Technology.
“The findings of the Hawthorn Cultural Safety Review have forced Amy to relive her own trauma, while also revealing to her the scale of the mistreatment of other First Nations players and their families,” the statement said.
“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. 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’.”
According to the claims made during the review commissioned by Hawthorn, players were forced into separating from their partners, and one was told to tell his partner, Amy, to terminate her pregnancy.
The claims related to alleged conduct by former coach Alastair Clarkson and football department staff Chris Fagan and Jason Burt, all of whom have strongly denied any wrongdoing.
The claims were referred to the AFL integrity unit, and the panel is due to report back in December. The AFL said it expected the panel’s report, including its findings and recommendations, would be made public.
Clarkson, now the coach of North Melbourne, and Fagan, the coach of Brisbane, stood down after the claims were made, but have since returned to their roles.
On Wednesday Clarkson said he was ready to speak to investigators to defend himself and his time at Hawthorn.
“We will work through that with the AFL investigation. All we do know is that there have been three or four clubs in the competition over the last 20 years that have been really, really strong clubs, really, really successful clubs, and those clubs have had magnificent cultures, and Hawthorn has been one of those,” he said.
“So, I would be very, very surprised if we weren’t able to put a really, really strong case forward that these allegations have been reported in a different way than we saw them when we were at the club.”
