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Cricket Australia has issued an apology to survivors of child sexual abuse involved with cricket, calling on states and territories to join up to the national redress scheme.
- Cricket Australia has apologised to survivors of child sex abuse in the sport, saying it needs to do all it can to support victims
- In a statement, CA chair Dr Lachlan Henderson called on all states and territories to sign up to the national redress scheme
- A Cricket Australia spokesperson said the issue will be discussed at a meeting of the CA board this month
In the statement, CA chair Lachlan Henderson described historic sexual abuse as "an appalling issue" that society and many sports — including cricket — were grappling with.
"We can't change what happened but we need to do what we can to assist victims," Dr Henderson said.
''On behalf of CA, I want to apologise to anyone who has suffered sexual abuse while involved in Australian cricket.
"We are encouraging all states and territories to join the national redress scheme and the CA board is currently exploring other ways that Australian cricket can further help victims of abuse.
"While we now have a rigorous set of policies and procedures around child safety, we need to ensure we are supporting anyone who has experienced past abuse as best we can."
Western Australia is the only state body to have signed up to the national redress scheme in response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Cricket Australia signed up earlier this year.
A Cricket Australia spokesperson said the issue of child sexual abuse would be discussed at the next meeting of the CA board — which will be held in the first half of this month — and would also be raised at a meeting of cricket state and territory groups.