[2][4][7] Further recognition came in 1979 as the Federation International de Gymnstique Elite pin, a recognition by the international governing body for performing at 90% or better on overall scores at a world championship or Olympic games, was awarded to Phil Cheetham, Lindsay Nylund, Kerry Bayliss and Marina Sulicich based on their performance at the 1979 World Championships.

[4][12] In 1994, Australia's national gymnastics teams competed at the Pacific Alliance in New Zealand and the Commonwealth Games in Canada to immense success.

Parkour is the newest gymsport recognised by the International Federation of Gymnastics, with athletes facing a range of obstacles including bars, ramps and boxes up to 2.5m tall across the space.

In freestyle, athletes are given 70 seconds to impress the judges with their skills on the obstacles, bars and floor, with points given for difficulty and deducted for execution errors.

[45][46] Women's artistic gymnastics is a highly competitive and visually captivating sport, featuring a range of disciplines performed by female athletes, with routines scored on execution, degree of difficulty and artistry/presentation.

It comprises four primary components:[47][48] Men's artistic gymnastics is a highly competitive and physically demanding sport, involving male athletes performing a series of routines across six different apparatuses while being scored on execution, difficulty and presentation.

In 1995, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) high-performance Women's Artistic Gymnastics program faced accusations of Coach Mark Calton being emotionally, verbally and physically abusive to athletes under his care.

[58][59][60] Within the same year, a former AIS gymnast filed a lawsuit against the Australian Sport Commission, alleging that the AGF/AIS high-performance training program had caused her to suffer from anorexia nervosa.

"[59] In July 2003, Australian gymnastics coach, Geoffery Robert Dobbs, was formally sentenced to life in jail with no prospect of parole on charges of molesting and producing child sexual abuse material of 62 girls aged from 12 months to 15 years old between 1972 and 1999.

[66] In 2021, the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) responded to enquiries by the ABC to confirm the 2013 suspension of husband and wife coaches, Sasha and Olga Belooussov, for an 18-month period for the verbal abuse of a gymnast.

[70] In response to the Larry Nassar case, Gymnastics Australia CEO Kitty Chiller made a statement regarding how the USA scandal had prompted GA to carry out an audit of their processes and policies, including an education process to empower "any young member or any member of a gymnastics association to know that they have a voice and to know where that voice will be heard.

[71] However, within the same year, parents reported to Gymnastics Australia that their children as young as eight were being regularly verbally and physically abused at the GA National Centre of Excellence (NCE) in Melbourne.

[72] ABC News confirmed 16 parents, with the majority of their children being under the age of 15 years old and spending between 20 and 33 hours a week training at the NCE.

[72] This letter also stated that "the investigation took longer than anticipated and an extension would likely increase the burden placed on all parties involved" with no fault or wrongdoing being concluded.

[73] However new information was discovered in 2022 in Senate Estimates that found that the SCMP was co-drafted by those within Kitty Chiller's office, with GA providing input into the policy's design instead of the process being fully independent.

[73] When the SCMP policy was announced in 2020, Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) and the National Sports Tribunal (NST) had released a media statement confirming they would play a key role in the SCMP policy, with SIA facilitating an independent and comprehensive assessment of individual complaints and assisting with the management and coordination of investigation in accordance with assessor recommendations while NST planned to provide mediation, conciliation and tribunal hearings as needed.

[78][79] This report was undertaken by a dedicated team of AHRC staff, led by the Sex Discrimination Commission with input from the National Children's Commissioner.

[90] However the introduction of the National Integrity Framework and its complaint policy saw controversy due to a conflict of interest held by the SIA/NST CEO, John Boultbee.

[91] Further concerns were raised in 2022 about the independent nature of this mechanism, as Kitty Chiller stepped down from her role at Gymnastics Australia as CEO to become deputy chief executive of the NST.

[94][95] Gymnastics Australia released an apology in the aftermath of the report's release also, stating Gymnastics Australia "unreservedly apologises to all athletes and family members who have experienced any form of abuse participating in the sport" as well as announcing their intention to adopt all 12 recommendations as overseen by their newly formed integrity committee.

[96][97] While the investigation had been actively underway in late 2020, Gymnastics Australia stated in their annual report that they had formally commenced the on-boarding process of signing up for the National Redress Scheme.

This scheme was designed to assist people who had experienced institutional child sexual abuse to gain access to counselling, a personal response and a redress payment.

This program aimed to provide a platform for both individuals and groups to formally convey their personal experiences that would then be used to inform changes to procedures, guidelines and behaviours within Gymnastics Australia control.

[102][103] All athletes and their families who had made a formal complaint to SIA in 2020 were invited to take part in the Restorative Engagement Program on a voluntary basis.

All athletes, parents, staff, coaches and personnel who had been a part of the WAIS Women's Artistic Gymnastics program were invited to make submissions.

[117] At that time, the WAIS board also released a public commitment that included details on how they would act in the best interests of athlete health, wellbeing and safety.

[118] As part of the ongoing SCMP investigations, Sport Integrity Australia referred an investigation to the Western Australian police, which resulted in detectives laying charges in March 2021 regarding incidents involving a former gymnastics coach between February 2019 and December 2020 as part of his coaching work at the Northern Districts Gymnastics Club.

In early 2022, the National Sports Tribunal found Liddick guilty of harassing two-time olympian gymnast, Georgia Bonora.

[122][123] Liddick denied all allegations of bullying and emotional abuse, however Bondora's complaint was supported by her former Australian teammates, Shona Morgan, Olivia Vivian, Chloe Gilliland and Ashleigh Brennan.

[122][123] As an outcome of the NST hearing, Liddick was suspended for four months and ordered to write an apology letter to Bondora which stated: "Dear Georgia, Pursuant to Order 5 of the National Sports Tribunal Determination dated 18 January 2022, as directed by the Tribunal, I apologise to you and acknowledge that I engaged in unacceptable coaching behaviours, in particular the use of negative language which was belittling, offensive and humiliating and cause great upset to you.