Health and wellbeing

International

• International Olympic Committee consensus-driven guidelines for athlete mental health support at sporting events, opens in a new tab, Mountjoy M, Sloan S, Ali-Zada M, et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 59(21), pp.1459-1470, (2025). This paper aims to provide consensus-driven, evidence-based recommendations to guide such a development and implementation. An 8-stage process based on the RAND-UCLA Appropriateness Method was adopted to collate and synthesise the available literature on this topic, to identify gaps in the scientific evidence and to enlist expert experience from a multidisciplinary expert panel to fill these gaps. Within such a process, the existing scientific literature was explored while experts (including athletes) were consulted to reach consensus on the recommendations. Accordingly, a robust pre-event plan is required to ensure the successful implementation of a comprehensive mental health programme during sport events, focussing on promotion, prevention, treatment and recovery. During sporting events, according to the defined pre-event plan, various activities targeting athletes, coaches, the entourage, officials or fans should be implemented: for example, educational programmes to decrease stigma, raise awareness and support help-seeking, a mental fitness area for decompression and relaxation, inperson mental health services provided by qualified mental health professionals with sport-specific as well as trauma-informed and violence-informed skills and mental health surveillance in parallel with the existing injury and illness surveillance programmes. Post event, a thorough evaluation of the implemented activities should be conducted while surveillance data should be analysed to identify areas requiring future targeted intervention(s). Also, particular attention should be given to postevent mental health support including the use of decompression interventions to support adjustment, emotional processing and reintegration.
• Mental health in elite athletes: International Olympic Committee consensus statement, opens in a new tab, Reardon CL, Hainline B, Aron CM, et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 53(11), pp.667-699, (2019). This consensus paper addresses the multifaceted aspects of mental health symptoms and disorders in elite athletes. The intended audience includes sport and exercise medicine physicians and other clinicians (including physiotherapists and athletic trainers), psychiatrists and other licensed mental health providers, other mental health and performance professionals who work with elite athletes, researchers in the fields of elite athlete mental health and clinical or institutional leaders/administrators who are stakeholders in sport.

Australian

• Activate Sports, opens in a new tab, Embrace Collective, (accessed 26 February 2026). Provides resources to help sporting clubs and organisations that work with young people to support the development of better body image in community sport. By making sporting environments more supportive, welcoming and inclusive for young people, they are more likely to keep playing the sport they love for longer.
  • Activate Dance Recommendations, opens in a new tab, (202?). Utilise these evidence-based recommendations to create an Embrace Space at your dance school or studio that can support young people to move their bodies because it’s fun and it feels good – and to stay in dance for longer.
  • Activate Playbook, opens in a new tab, (202?). Breaks down four key actions to help clubs foster build better body image, especially for children and young people.
• True Sport, opens in a new tab, Sport West, (accessed 3 March 2026). Provides education and resources for athletes, coaches and organisations, promoting fair play and fostering positive environments in sport across WA. Initiatives cover a broad range of issues including Child safeguarding, Mental health and wellbeing, Sideline behaviour, Respectful relationships, and Cultural education.
• Campaign: Sport is for Every BODY, opens in a new tab, Embrace Collective, (2025). Embrace Collective partnered with Sport Integrity Australia to launch a national campaign to challenge body shaming and encourage sporting environments that build body confidence. The Sport is for Every BODY campaign provides practical, evidence-informed tools for coaches, clubs, athletes and parents to help create safer, more inclusive sporting environments where young people can thrive.
• Body Empowerment, opens in a new tab, Swimming Australia, (accessed 3 March 2026). Everyone has an important role in supporting swimmers to feel empowered in their bodies, not only on pool deck, but also in everyday life. Together, we can recognise and understand the ways in which swimmers can be supported to feel good in their bodies, and ways to help make swimming a safer sport for everyone, in every body.
• Mental Health in Sport E-learning course, opens in a new tab, Basketball Australia and the Australian Institute of Sport, (2025). interactive program aims to build awareness, reduce stigma, and support athletes and staff across high-performance environments.

• Positive Behaviours in Sport Snapshot 2025, opens in a new tab, Sport Integrity Australia, (2025). A snapshot of results from the first 12 months of the Positive Behaviours in Sport Study that is being conducted over a period of five years between 2024-2028 to seek thoughts and feedback from coaches and participants/athletes around what they think about the fairness and safety of sport in Australia and provide insight into the current level of knowledge Australians have in relation to sport integrity issues.
  • In the previous 12 months, participants were more likely to report witnessing poor behaviour than experiencing it. Athletes most reported experiencing body shaming (7%) and verbal abuse (7%), while coaches reported experiencing more verbal abuse (17%) and bullying (11%).