ELTHAM, VIC. — The Basketball Victoria scandal has deepened as it’s being revealed that the schools used by the Eltham Wildcats were not informed about the club’s boss’s child sex conviction, with staff and parents only finding out from the media.
Basketball’s governing body was slammed in the fallout of Eltham Wildcats chief executive Richard Irving being found guilty of a child sex offence in May. Still, he remained in the role for 20 further days until the Wildcats announced that Irving had resigned for ‘personal reasons’.
The schools used by the Wildcats include Montmorency Secondary College headquarters and an office at Eltham High School. Neither school was informed of Irving’s conviction, leaving him with clearance to access the schools after he had been convicted of child sex offences.
Between Irving being found guilty of child sex offences and his sentencing hearing, Irving maintained access to the schools, as Basketball Victoria had not informed the schools of all the facts, despite being aware of them.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Education Department said: “Everyone in our schools is fully focused on child safety.”
“So, it beggars belief that the club and Basketball Victoria wasn’t focused on its due diligence to keep kids safe.”
Despite Basketball Victoria being fully aware of the conviction, Wildcats’ interim chief executive Steven Chadd sent an email to schools on June 11 telling them only of Irving’s resignation, without informing the schools of the real reason Irving had “resigned for ‘personal reasons’.”
“Schools and parents absolutely had a right to know,” a parent said.
“We were kept in the dark.”
Irving was hired using the wrong Working With Children Check (WWCC) as a ‘volunteer’ rather than as an ’employee’, which later prevented the Wildcats from being alerted by authorities when Irving was charged, and his WWCC was revoked.
In fact, his WWCC was cancelled the same month he started working for the club in January 2025.
On May 20, Irving was found guilty, and a whistleblower informed Basketball Victoria, but Irving denied being the same Richard Frank Irving who had just been convicted in the County Court. The Wildcats did not stand him down whilst seeking to verify the whistleblower’s claims.
Basketball Victoria contacted Basketball Australia ‘for advice’ five days after Irving was convicted.
Whilst the Wildcats are conducting an independent review, parents, teachers and volunteers are furious at how Irving remained at the club of 3000 junior players and retained access to local high schools.
State Attorneys-General will meet in Darwin today to work on ensuring that all states and territories’ Working with Children Checks are aligned, as instances have occurred where convicted offenders – such as childcare workers – move interstate, only to re-offend because their WWCC did not show up.
A fully nationalised WWCC system will only be in place under current timelines from mid-2028, two years from now.
The Eltham Wildcats work in partnership with a local provider, Elysium Psychology.
Contact Elysium at https://www.elysiumpsychology.com.au/
Phone: (03) 9069 2103
Email: admin@elysiumpsychology.com.au
Address: Suite 7, 18 Sherbourne Rd, Greensborough, 3088
