Licensing Transparency in Australian Grassroots Motorsport

STATEMENT: LICENSING TRANSPARENCY IN AUSTRALIAN GRASSROOTS MOTORSPORT

Nomad Dirt Culture

Independent media plays a significant role in documenting Australian grassroots motorsport, covering regional venues, local competitors and stories that don't always reach mainstream sports coverage.

As part of that work, Nomad Dirt Culture has recently looked closely at how licensing and media access products are sold and described to independent operators across the sport and at how disciplinary processes are applied once a licence is issued.

What Nomad Dirt Culture actually does

Since launching in December 2025, Nomad Dirt Culture has given the Australian grassroots motorsport community over 10.1 million organic impressions: free racer coverage, junior rider/driver mentorship, event promotion and storytelling for tracks and competitors who don't otherwise get media attention.

To do that work at Speedway Australia sanctioned venues, especially infield of the track, we were told a Speedway Australia licence was required to access tracks as media. Journalist Jocelyn Dare applied for and paid $30 for that licence.

What we've done

Jocelyn Dare has lodged a report with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (reference REF4771553) and a complaint with the Queensland Office of Fair Trading, raising questions about licensing representations and consumer transparency in this space.

One example: a Speedway Australia licence number is a required field on at least one affiliated venue's own media accreditation application form, despite Speedway Australia's own position, confirmed to us in writing, that the licence itself provides no formal media accreditation.

Neither regulator has made any finding at this stage. A report being lodged and acknowledged does not mean any wrongdoing has been established; it means the matter has been raised for the relevant regulator to consider and we will let that process run its course.

A governance gap worth noting

In written correspondence to Nomad Dirt Culture, Speedway Australia has confirmed that it "has not formally adopted" a Member Protection Policy. This is not our characterisation; it is Speedway Australia's own statement, in its own letter, in response to a formal complaint raised by Jocelyn Dare.

We think that's a fact worth putting on the public record. Member Protection Policies are a standard governance tool used across Australian sport to set out how complaints of harassment, bullying and unsafe conduct are handled. Whether one is in place and what happens to complaints in its absence, is a reasonable question for anyone involved in a sport, at any level, to be able to ask.

Questions we think are worth asking publicly

• When a licence or access product is described one way at the point of sale and differently later, what should consumers reasonably be able to rely on?

• When a governing body issues a compliance notice, what response timeframe and penalty scale should apply, and should that be consistent with the body's own published rules for that category of conduct?

• How should independent media, regional competitors and small operators be treated when raising concerns about access or accreditation?

These are genuine, open questions, not allegations against any specific finding of fact, and not a claim that any particular outcome is certain or has occurred.

Our position

Nomad Dirt Culture will continue reporting on Australian grassroots motorsport, including on governance, track closures, and access issues, in the same way it always has: covering what's publicly known, disclosing our own involvement where relevant, and drawing a clear line between fact and opinion.

We'll provide updates if and when there's something substantive to report.

— Nomad Dirt Culture

Disclosure

Nomad Dirt Culture is dedicated to bringing transparency and integrity to Australian motorsport and across the globe. Championing racers, supporting independent operators and keeping the sport's rich legacy alive. The regulatory filings referenced above were lodged directly by Jocelyn Dare and Speedway Australia has been formally served with legal correspondence regarding these matters.

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