“In the interests of transparency we shared the ASC letter with our members ahead of the SGM attached to the agenda for the meeting,” a spokesperson for Equestrian Australia said.
Roy, who parted ways with Cricket Australia only two months after the swift ball-tampering investigation in South Africa, was engaged by the Australian Sports Commission in July to examine Equestrian Australia’s governance and integrity practices.
His report is expected to be delivered by the end of the year.
Among the integrity issues gripping the organisation has been a scoring feud centred on last year’s Australian Dressage Championships in Sydney.
Victorian owner Vivien Lipshut alleged her horse and its rider were wrongly denied the prestigious grand champion title and alleged she faced intimidation from Equestrian Australia’s then-integrity complaints manager Paul Williams.
Equestrian Australia rejected her claims that the scoring system was changed and resisted her efforts to have the dispute resolved by the National Sports Tribunal.
However, the government-established sports umpire decided to hear the matter, which is due to begin next week.
Equestrian Australia has also featured in a sexual harassment case brought by a young rider against a showjumping coach which concluded in the Federal Court in Adelaide last month.
Kate Crauford was awarded $21,000 in general and aggravated damages from Anthony Thomas after a judge found he had sexually harassed her with a series of Facebook messages in 2020. They included messages in which he told her he described her to his friend as being “the hottest chick at the show” and as having “legs to die for”, and in which he called her “the hot bar chick all the lads chat up”.
She was 19 at the time, and he was 45.
It was revealed in the Federal Court that Equestrian Australia and Equestrian South Australia had entered into a deed of settlement with Crauford and her mother Sophie in 2023.
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They were paid an undisclosed sum by the equestrian bodies in relation to the “alleged action, or inaction, of Equestrian SA and Equestrian Australia in response to the conduct of Mr Thomas”, according to the judgment.
Crauford and her mother had made various complaints to Equestrian Australia about Thomas, as well as to the Australian Human Rights Commission, before going to court.
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