A federal parliamentary committee will examine concussions and repetitive head trauma in contact sports, following unanimous support for research when it was tabled by Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe on Thursday.
The push has raised concerns about chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a neurodegenerative disease linked to repeated head trauma and concussions that have been associated with contact and collision sports.
There are also questions about the effect of concussions in the Sports Group, an international body of experts who provide key sports around the world, including the AFL and NRL, with blueprints on how to manage head injuries.
The study will examine concussions and sustained head trauma in contact sports at all levels, for all genders and age groups.
“Repeated head trauma creates lifelong scars,” Thorpe said.
“Sports at all levels should be informed about concussion symptoms and encouraged to speak up, without being penalized. Sports organizations should be transparent about the evidence that informs their concussion policies. Research will investigate practices that undermine the recovery period and the disclosure of potential risks.
In their 2016 consensus statement, the Concussion in Sport Group said there is no proven cause-and-effect relationship between concussions and degenerative brain diseases like CTE, although respected neurologists and neurologists say there is a link. The condition can only be definitively diagnosed via autopsy.
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In March former AFL concussion doctor Paul McCrory stood down as chair of the Concussion at Sports Group after allegations of plagiarism. With McCrory as its adviser, the AFL is under increasing pressure to recognize the risk of CTE in players and act to prevent it by better protecting players from concussions.
But McCrory has been accused of downplaying the risk of CTE. This year the AFL began a comprehensive and independent review of McCrory’s concussion work after the league was unable to answer questions from Guardian Australia about its investigation.
The findings of the review, published in October, found a massive AFL study that promised to make “groundbreaking” findings about concussions resulted in no published research and “confusion” about what happened to the tests performed on players experiencing cognitive problems, causing the AFL to apologize to the players involved .
But former players and health experts expressed concern that the review did not go far enough.
Thorpe said the research will examine what physical and financial support is available, including compensation mechanisms for players affected by the long-term impact of concussions.
“The man Graham Farmer was one of the greatest players in the history of the AFL,” he said. “Unfortunately, he is also the first AFL player to be diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy. We need to make sure we don’t have a new generation of athletes with similar injuries.
The committee will report by the end of June 2023 and former athletes and sports officials may be called to give evidence.
The neurophysiologist Prof. Alan Pearce, who previously admitted that McCrory and the AFL hindered their own research into concussions and CTE in players, said he hoped the research would be supported.
“This should be treated as a serious occupational health issue,” Pearce said. “Hopefully, this hearing will examine what needs to happen to provide greater funding for research into concussions and CTE so that we no longer have a group of people associated with sports driving the research agenda.”
Guardian Australia has made several attempts to contact McCrory for comment but he has not responded. He was quoted as apologizing for the first case of plagiarism, giving a statement to Retraction Watch that said his failure to attribute the work was a mistake and “neither intentional nor intentional”.
