AFL Statement

The AFL has today appointed a four-person panel led by senior lawyer Bernard Quinn KC to head up the independent investigation of allegations of racism referred to the AFL by the Hawthorn Football Club.

The AFL has commissioned the independent investigation into allegations of bullying, misconduct and/or other inappropriate conduct by the Hawthorn Football Club (including by its coaches, football operations staff, independent contractors, management and/or board) towards some players on its playing list between 2008 and 2016 and in particular towards First Nations players, their families and/or their intimate partners.

The panel is due to report back in December 2022 and it is expected that the report, including findings and recommendations, will be made public.

Bernard Quinn KC is a leading Victorian silk practicing in commercial, public law and product liability law, appearing predominantly in superior courts at both trial and appellate levels and has extensive experience with class actions involving a wide range of subject matters and areas of law.

He also has Royal Commission (Black Saturday bushfire) and coronial inquest experience and was previously an Associate to Justice Michael Kirby of the High Court of Australia. Mr Quinn also holds an Asian Studies degree, speaks Bahasa Indonesia, and has spent time in Indonesia teaching law and advocacy to Indonesian lawyers as part of an AusAid program. He most recently undertook an independent review of allegations of plagiarism and other conduct of former AFL concussion adviser Associate Professor Paul McCrory which is due shortly to be finalised and publicly released.

Mr Quinn will be joined on the independent panel by:

  • Ms Jacqualyn Turfrey: Barrister with extensive experience practising across multiple areas in commercial litigation and practises across all areas of criminal law, including in the Appellate jurisdiction, Koori Courts and the Children's Court. Additionally, Ms Turfrey practises Family Law in the Children's Court. Ms Turfrey is also an accredited Mediator and has experience across a broad range of areas, including workplace disputes, community disputes, commercial disputes, and children's matters. Ms Turfrey is a proud Palawa woman (Tasmania).
  • Mr Tim Goodwin; Barrister practising primarily in commercial and public law with experience ranging across commercial law, administrative law, government advice work, regulatory actions and native title and land rights work. Mr Goodwin was previously a solicitor at Allens and an Associate to Justices North and Bromberg of the Federal Court of Australia. Mr Goodwin serves on a number of boards, including the Human Rights Law Centre. Mr Goodwin is a member of the Yuin people of the South East Coast of New South Wales.

  • Ms Julie Buxton; Barrister practising in commercial, public and administrative law, and criminal law, with a diversity of legal, commercial and policy experience gained across the private, government and not-for-profit sectors. Having commenced her career in commercial litigation and then in property, planning and environmental law, Ms Buxton has an extensive human rights practice, having been the human rights and youth justice adviser to Victoria's Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People, a senior advisor of the Koori Justice Unit within Victoria's Department of Justice, and has worked with the United Nations Serious Crimes Unit in Timor-Leste. Ms Buxton was the recipient of the 2016 Churchill Fellowship to study international models of truth-telling and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples.

AFL General Counsel Andrew Dillon welcomed the appointment of the panel members and said it was important, given the serious nature of the allegations, that the investigation panel members had a strong and diverse mix of experience and skillset as well as First Nations representation.

"These are very serious allegations, and it is important that we have an independent panel that is able to hear the perspectives of all involved and to provide natural justice to those making the claims and those who have had claims made against them," Mr Dillon said

"It is also vitally important that the panel is able to complete its work independently of the AFL.

"Bernard Quinn KC, the chair of the independent investigation and panel members Jacqualyn Turfrey, Julie Buxton and Tim Goodwin are all eminently qualified barristers that will be able to provide their intellect and significant expertise to the process.

"The four-person panel, with their diverse backgrounds including in respect of Ms Turfrey and Mr Goodwin as First Nations persons will also have the ability to bring in additional outside expertise, whether that be in cultural safety, football administration or any other area the panel believes extra resource is needed."

He said the investigation would specifically look at the period covering 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2016 inclusive and would run independently of the AFL.

Mr Dillon said the external legal representatives of the AFL are this week continuing consultations with legal representatives of the parties involved in order to finalise the terms of reference. He said it was important that the final terms of reference document ensure:

  • The ability for all parties to share their perspectives, to hear the other side's perspectives and to have an opportunity to seek cross-examination of other parties on their statements.
  • An opportunity for mediation if a party seeks it during the process.
  • Confirm a projected end date for the investigation in December 2022.

He said there had been a number of suggestions over the past two weeks in regard to further inquiries or reviews across the league but said the initial priority was to investigate the information passed on from Hawthorn.

"Beyond this immediate investigation, we are open to listening to all the ideas that are being suggested however importantly for the short-term we need to run a proper independent process on these allegations, and we believe this investigation will help inform whatever we do next as an industry," Mr Dillon said.

Further the AFL wishes to provide a status update on the overall process so far:

  • The AFL does not know the identities of the persons / families who have recalled their accounts within the Hawthorn Football Club review or with the journalist who published those accounts. The AFL has repeatedly requested this information from their lawyers to assist in the good conduct of the investigation and related processes, which has been declined.

  • Proposed Terms of Reference and Process Plan for the conduct of the independent investigation were provided to the following persons on Friday, 30 September 2022: 
    • Former First Nations Hawthorn FC players and families by provision to Leon Zwier and Peter Seidel of Arnold Bloch Leibler (ABL). The AFL had previously been informed that ABL represented all five families identified under pseudonyms in the report but was informed last Friday night that one of the families had recently instructed another lawyer with whom ABL was acting collaboratively. Mr Zwier indicated he would pass on the Terms of Reference and Process Plan to the other lawyer and thereby ensure all five families were provided with the material at the same time as other named participants.
    • Hawthorn FC by provision to Chris Hartigan of Piper Alderman
    • Alastair Clarkson by provision to John Tuck of Corrs Chambers Westgarth
    • Chris Fagan by provision to Scott Sharry of Clayton Utz
    • Jason Burt by provision to Tony Hargreaves of Tony Hargreaves & Partners
    • Binmada Pty Ltd (Phil Egan)
  • The appointed independent panel, assisted by the law firm Gordon Legal, will now work with the above representatives on undertaking a culturally safe process that provides due process and natural justice to those who have made claims and those against whom allegations have been made, with the intention of providing a report in December 2022. As noted, it is expected that the report, including findings and recommendations, will be made public at the end of this process.