Position and Consensus Statements
Evidence-based position statements on new and complex topics in sports medicine.
Evidence-based position statements on new and complex topics in sports medicine.
- Concussion and Brain Health Position Statement (November 2024), Australian Institute of Sport, Sports Medicine Australia, Australian Physiotherapy Association, Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians, (November 2024). Brings together the most contemporary evidence-based information in a format that is appropriate for all stakeholders. The Position Statement is intended to ensure that participant safety and welfare is paramount when dealing with concussion in sport.
- Australian Concussion Guidelines for Youth and Community Sport (June 2024), Australian Institute of Sport, Australasian College of Sport & Exercise Physicians, Sports Medicine Australia, Australian Physiotherapy Association, (June 2024). Designed to provide clear and consistent guidance on concussion for parents, teachers, coaches, sideline staff and others involved in youth and community sport. These guidelines provide information on how to recognise and manage concussion from the time of injury through to a safe return to education, work and playing sport.
- Sun Safe Sports Position Statement (2023), Nirmala K Panagodage Perera, Elizabeth King, Emily M Partridge, et al., Australian Institute of Sport, Cancer Council, Paddle Australia, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, Melanoma Institute Australia, (December 2023). The goal of this position statement is to assist sporting organisations to recognise the inherent risk of UV radiation exposure in their sport and provide guidance on how to implement sun safe practices. It should not be interpreted as a guideline for clinical practice or legal standard. Recommendations will evolve to reflect evidence and advances in science.
- Exercise in Bushfire Smoke for High Performance Athletes (2023), Mathew Mooney, Nirmala Panagodage Perera, Richard Saw, et al. Australian Institute of Sport, (January 2023). Endorsed by the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians (ACSEP) and Sport Medicine Australia (SMA), this position statement aims to provide practical advice to high performance athletes and coaches needing to train or compete in environments impacted by short term bushfire smoke conditions. Long-term consequences of bushfire smoke exposure, and other sources of air pollution, are beyond the scope of current advice.
- Iron supplement best practice guidelines (2022), Australian Institute of Sport, (August 2022). This document is intended for sport physicians, sports dietitians and physiologists in the Australian high performance sport system. It outlines best practice for managing iron deficiency (ID) in athletes.
- Disordered Eating in High Performance Sport Position Statement (2021), Kimberley Wells, Nikki Jeacocke, Renee Appaneal, et al., Australian Institute of Sport (AIS), National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC), (2021). Contains guidelines for athletes, coaches, support staff, clinicians and sporting organisations to support the prevention and early identification of disordered eating, and promote timely intervention to optimise nutrition for performance in a safe, supported, purposeful and individualised manner. The practical recommendations should guide the clinical management of disordered eating in high performance sport.
- Australian Institute of Sport Disordered Eating Prevention and Management Policy and Best Practice Principles (2021), Australian Institute of Sport, (November 2021). To be read in conjunction with the AIS and National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) Disordered Eating in High Performance Sport Position Statement, this document outlines priority actions and principles the AIS has developed to assist in reducing eating disorder prevalence within high performance athletes that interact with the AIS and also provides guidance for the high performance system to adapt recommendations provided to their own context and environment.
- Extreme Heat Policy, opens in a new tab, Sports Medicine Australia, (February 2021). The aim of this policy is to provide evidence-based guidance for protecting the health of those participating in sport and physical activity from the potentially ill effects of extreme heat in the summer, while ensuring that play is not unnecessarily interrupted. As new research findings emerge, the policy will be updated accordingly.
- Intravenous fluids and their use in sport: A position statement from the Australian Institute of Sport, (2019). This position statement seeks to assist clinicians by providing evidence-based and ethically justified guidelines for the use of IV fluids in emergency situations in elite sport.
- Ethics of genetic testing and research in sport: a position statement from the Australian Institute of Sport, opens in a new tab, Nicole Vlahovich, Peter Fricker, Matthew Brown, et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 51(1), pp.5-11, (2017). Developed to address the implications of recent advances in the field of genetics and the ramifications for the health and well-being of athletes. Genetic research is only to be conducted after careful consideration of a range of ethical concerns which include the provision of adequate informed consent.
- Australian Institute of Sport and the Australian Paralympic Committee position statement: urinary tract infection in spinal cord injured athletes, opens in a new tab, British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 49(19), pp.1236-1240, (2015). This position statement represents a set of recommendations intended to provide clinical guidelines for sport and exercise medicine physicians and other healthcare providers for the prevention and treatment of urinary tract infection in spinal cord injured athletes. It has been endorsed by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC).
- Evidence-based position statements and best practice guidelines, Australian Sports Commission, (accessed 10 September 2025). A full list of Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) evidence-based position statements on new and complex topics in sports science and sports medicine, providing guidance and leadership for the Australian high-performance sports system.
- International Federation of Sports Medicine (FIMS) Position Statements, opens in a new tab. The Scientific Commission of FIMS prepares the FIMS Position Statements, which are intended to provide practical guidelines to practitioners in areas of Sports Medicine where there is controversy or a lack of clarity.
- Consensus statement on concussion in sport: the 6th international conference on concussion in sport held in Amsterdam, October 2022,, opens in a new tab Patricios JS, Schneider KJ, Dvorak J, et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 57(11), pp.695-711, (2023). This Statement is developed for the healthcare professional (HCP) involved in the care of athletes at risk of SRC or who have sustained a suspected SRC at any level of sport (ie, recreational to professional). It provides recommendations that can be adapted for different sport, clinical and cultural environments and is not meant to be used as a prescriptive guideline. The Amsterdam Statement reflects the state of the evidence at the time of the Consensus Conference and will need to be updated as new scientific information emerges. Although this Statement provides recommendations and is a summary of the consensus process, it should be read in combination with the 10 systematic reviews and methodology papers that informed the consensus process and outcomes.
- Genetic testing for exercise prescription and injury prevention: AIS-Athlome consortium-FIMS joint statement, opens in a new tab, Nicole Vlahovich, David C. Hughes, Lyn R. Griffiths, et al., BMC Genomics, Volume 18, article 818, (2017). Based on current knowledge, there is no current clinical application for genetic testing in the area of exercise prescription and injury prevention, however the necessary steps are outlined for the development of evidence-based clinical applications involving genetic testing.
- Monitoring Athlete Training Loads: Consensus Statement, opens in a new tab, Pitre C. Bourdon, Marco Cardinale, Andrew Murray, et.al., International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, Volume 12, S2-161-S2-170, (2017). This consensus statement brings provides a shared conceptual framework for use by coaches, sport science and medicine staff, and other related professionals who have an interest in monitoring athlete training loads and serves to provide an outline on what athlete-load monitoring is and how it is being applied in research and practice, why load monitoring is important and what the underlying rationale and prospective goals of monitoring are, and where athlete-load monitoring is heading in the future.
- International criteria for electrocardiographic interpretation in athletes: consensus statement, opens in a new tab, Drezner JA, Sharma S, Baggish A, et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, Volume 51(9), pp.704-731, (2017). This statement represents an international consensus for ECG interpretation in athletes and provides expert opinion-based recommendations linking specific ECG abnormalities and the secondary evaluation for conditions associated with Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD).
- Consensus Statements,, opens in a new tab (accessed 25 August 2025). Provides a full list of IOC Consensus statements on various topics, as well as additional resources where available.
- Canadian Academy of Sport and Exercise Medicine Position Statements, opens in a new tab. Provides sport medicine information on a range of sport medicine topics.
- American College of Sports Medicine Position Stands, opens in a new tab. Official statements of ACSM on topics related to sports medicine and exercise science. All current ACSM Position Stands and Joint Position Statements are free to the public online.
- American Medical Society of Sports Medicine Position Statements, opens in a new tab. Official statements and publications of AMSSM on topics related to sports medicine and exercise science. Most Position Statements are published in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine and/or the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
