The Weiss Report into the sexual offending of Senior Sergeant Paul Reynolds revealed that most of the 52 boys he targeted were young players involved in AFL clubs across Northern Tasmania, but also some basketball associations.

The Weiss report also alluded to an alleged failure of the then Northern Tasmania Football Association (NTFA) Board to act on complaints against the then President Paul Reynolds. There seems to be no public acknowledgement of the safeguarding failures by the NTFA.

The current NTFA Board, under the new President and ex-Premier Peter Gutwein is yet to respond to requests that he confirms that all participating clubs in the NTFA competition will ensure that all player officials will have a Working with Vulnerable People (WWVP) clearance in the lead up to the 2025 season. The requirement for all player officials to have a WWVP clearance is a legislative requirement, but there is no mechanism for enforcement. This means that the WWVP requirement is only monitored in the breach, after victims emerge!

Given the revelations of the Weiss Inquiry it is not unreasonable that the NTFA Board would remediate the past failures which saw young players predated by Police Officer Reynolds and his associates.

Until this happens, parents should conclude that AFL is not a safe sporting code for their children.