Rebecca Wilson & News Limited published names & images of individuals banned from the A-League. Why?
We usually let Our Photo of the Day feature speak for itself but today’s warrants special mention, not merely because the child is so cute, but because of the action yesterday by Rebecca Wilson and the News Limited tabloids to publish the names and photographs of people banned by FFA from attending matches.
We don’t condone anti-social or inappropriate behaviour at football matches or anywhere. It doesn’t advance the game in any respect, or its enjoyment.
A few points of note:
There is inadequate due process by FFA in the banning of individuals from matches, with no appeal permitted. This should be fixed.
Our understanding is that some of the people included in the banned list which Wilson and News Limited chose to publish vehemently protest their innocence on a range of grounds, but they are denied natural justice in having this tested.
While we do not suggest that FFA gave this information to Wilson, FFA nonetheless has obligations under the Privacy Act to protect the information of all individuals who are registered with it. The fact that Wilson has the ‘secret file’ is a breach of FFA’s obligations. FFA also holds significant personal information from everyone who plays, coaches, referees, is a member of an A-League club or who purchases a ticket to national team games and other matches they control. The question has to be asked if FFA’s systems and personnel can be trusted with this information.
FFA’s venue partners and long-standing security company, Hatamoto, also has obligations under the Privacy Act if their turnover exceeds $3 million. It’s safe to assume that all A-League venues and Hatamoto comfortably exceed turnover of $3 million. However, even a small business can opt-in voluntarily to privacy commitments under the Act, and in Hatamoto’s line of business they ought to do so.
Finally, some other journalists have claimed that having obtained the list, Wilson and News Limited had a “right” to publish the material as a “legitimate” news story. Really? What ‘right’ is that? Will we see similar lists of people banned from other sports? Or concert venues? How does this ‘right’ fit with News Limited’s code of conduct?
As football fans know, Rebecca Wilson has regular potshots at football. She’s been doing it for years. She’s not the only one. We suggest that the reason she does it – besides the fact that it’s clickbait - lies with the child featured in Our Photo of the Day. Fear.
Only earlier in the week, we learned of research from Roy Morgan that shows the proportion of 6-13 year olds playing football is 50% (see below). The round ball code has long outrated other football codes in children’s participation, but in recent years – particularly because of an upsurge in girls’ participation – it’s had a turbo-boost.
The best thing for football fans to do is to keep making sure their children play the game, and to keep going to A-League matches.
However, perhaps the best bit of advice out of yesterday’s events came from Kane Oosty (@kaneosaurus). We reproduce it here.
