❓ A WA parliamentary question addresses the death of a greyhound during a race, questioning the availability of footage, the appropriateness of marketing races as family events, and child attendance. The response defends current practices citing safety statistics and risk mitigation.
AnsweredQoN 749Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the injuries suffered by the greyhound Sandgroper whilst competing in race 3 at Cannington racetrack on Wednesday, 4 May 2022, which sadly resulted in Sandgropers death, and I ask: (a) why is the footage of that race not available; (b) if the footage is considered to be too graphic for publication; (c) why do race meets continue to be marketed as ‘family fun’ events; and (d) why are children able to attend?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
14 June 2022
Responded by
Minister for Emergency Services representing the Minister for Racing and Gaming
Response time
7 days
Racing and Wagering Western Australia (RWWA) advises:
(a) RWWA’s policy on race footage of a critical incident is based on recommendations from the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) Investigation concepts: Decency, classification, and harm and offence July 2018 report.
(b) A range of principles guide the decision on whether a race replay from a WA greyhound race meeting should appear on media platforms. They include:
It is only in very rare occasions that the race footage is removed in accordance with community standards as outlined above.
(c)-(d) In WA, 99.8% of greyhound starters race safely without sustaining a major injury.
Appropriate risk mitigation strategies as evidenced by the high rate of safe racing are in place, as are appropriate first aid measures for those rare occasion that they are required. Accordingly, consistent with many other sports or other publicly attended events where there is potential for major injury to occur, these events remain suitable for families to choose to attend and enjoy, as many do each year.
(a) RWWA’s policy on race footage of a critical incident is based on recommendations from the Australian Communications and Media Authority’s (ACMA) Investigation concepts: Decency, classification, and harm and offence July 2018 report.
(b) A range of principles guide the decision on whether a race replay from a WA greyhound race meeting should appear on media platforms. They include:
It is only in very rare occasions that the race footage is removed in accordance with community standards as outlined above.
(c)-(d) In WA, 99.8% of greyhound starters race safely without sustaining a major injury.
Appropriate risk mitigation strategies as evidenced by the high rate of safe racing are in place, as are appropriate first aid measures for those rare occasion that they are required. Accordingly, consistent with many other sports or other publicly attended events where there is potential for major injury to occur, these events remain suitable for families to choose to attend and enjoy, as many do each year.
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