A staff update and an outline of how Integrity Matters helps encourage the integrity conversation in harness racing headline this month's report from General Manager of Integrity Brent Fisher.

Integrity team staff update

I am pleased to announce the return of Brett Day as Chief Steward after his very short stint away from Harness Racing Victoria (HRV). 

Brett and his family have decided to return to Melbourne for personal reasons and this is great news for HRV as Brett is a highly respected member of the integrity team.

We are also pleased to welcome highly respected steward Barry Delaney out of his retirement on a casual basis. Barry will play a role for HRV in coming months.

Integrity Matters objectives

Integrity Matters was established to connect directly with industry participants on matters of integrity.

The intention is to try and develop a culture that makes people feel comfortable talking about the importance of integrity within their peers.

About two years ago, I approached someone to participate in the forum and that person didn’t feel comfortable because “they didn’t want it to look like they were doing the Integrity Department a favour or be seen to be helping the stewards”.

We are all in this industry together and we all have a role to play to protect the sport.

During the last two years, we have selected people like Ginger Gleeson, Jennifer Lewis and Rod Osborne to participate in Integrity Matters articles. We have also had many others who have all talked about subjects such as mental health, race fixing and social media. We can learn a lot from listening to the views of industry role models who are committed to upholding integrity and doing the right thing all the time including when no one is watching.

Equally, I am a firm believer we can learn from those people who have erred. We have asked some of those people whose past mistakes have seen them removed from the harness racing industry for a period if they would like to tell their stories.

Taking part in an Integrity Matters column does not mean these people should be welcomed back to the industry with open arms. Nor does it mean we are condoning the actions that led to our integrity team prosecuting them.

However, if they are willing to tell our people – especially our younger participants – why they regret making the decisions that led to their removal from the sport, then we are willing to provide that platform. If it changes the way people approach their behaviour and gets them to place a higher value on their harness racing licence, then that is a positive outcome.

I hope you continue to enjoy Integrity Matters and that I have been able to outline a bit clearer why this is an important part of our education and communication strategy.