Is any violence in our community ever acceptable? What acts of violence should we stop and which ones do we ignore? Or should we take an equal stance on all violence, no matter the victim or the offender?
There has been so much media coverage in recent times, particularly covering violence against women. This is, of course, a huge issue which everyone agrees must be stopped.
But surely to make the biggest difference, we need to take a stand on ALL violence in our communities – not just acts against a certain group?
Footballers Behaving Badly
A recent event has me asking these questions, given the response from one of Australia’s largest sporting bodies, the Australian Football League.
An AFL Richmond player, Noah Balta, physically assaulted someone in January this year, in public. The act was quite violent and shocking, especially when it was the result of an argument over a pizza! The ABC News covers the details here.
But what is perhaps the most shocking has been the manner in which it was handled, both by the player’s team and the AFL.
Unfortunately for Balta, everything was caught on camera – as is the case these days. So we all get to see his actions play out and can witness firsthand how bad the incident was.
And it was bad! It was an incredibly violent act.
Balta firstly ran at speed and shoved another person flying. Then when they lay stunned and defenceless on the ground, he leant over them and landed several punches to their head. His friends had to pull him off the victim, otherwise the assault may have continued.
It doesn’t get much more violent and damning than this.
So I need to ask, which forms of violence are we willing to accept?
Is Violence Ever OK?
Balta was suspended by his club for four games at the start of the 2025 season, after he had been charged by police. Now because of that, there is an element of, he’s done his time so let’s all move on – almost like ‘nothing more to see here’.
But is this enough? Balta was charged, subsequently found guilty, and while awaiting sentencing was still allowed to play by the AFL! Even now, after sentencing, he is allowed to keep playing while serving an 18-month community corrections order. Richmond is even trying to work around his sentence restrictions so he can keep playing.
This is a terrible look for the Richmond club and the whole AFL. Especially when you look at other similar, relatable AFL events.
Firstly, a Hawthorn player was suspended in round 6, 2025, for carelessly throwing his arm while attempting to tackle his opponent, hitting him in the face. It wasn’t a punch, but a careless blow to his opponent’s head that resulted in a four-week suspension from the AFL.
So I’m not sure how a careless on-field act deserves the same suspension as a vicious violent act on a member of the public?
Then there is Tarryn Thomas, who was suspended for the entire 2024 season for sending offensive threatening texts. Not for any physical assault, but for simply threatening violence to the member of the public. The big difference here was that the threats were made to a female.
I can understand the severity of both examples above in their own context, especially the Thomas case, and I agree with the punishment. But surely it sheds a strange light on the Balta case?
Given the video evidence of how vicious and violent the incident was, should Balta have been stood down longer? And why was he allowed to continue playing once found guilty, before sentencing?
Shouldn’t We Remove ALL Violence?
Surely if we want to remove violence from our society then all forms need to be dealt with – not just some. We talk about stopping domestic violence, or ‘gender-based’ violence, which really only refers to a female victim.
So now imagine that the person Balta hit was a woman. I think we all know the outcome would have been completely different. The social condemnation would have been deafening.
Even the AFL would have taken a different position. The sheer weight of public opinion would have forced it.
And right there is the issue – we view the act of violence differently depending on who the victim is. Why is that?
A white man hitting another white man is viewed differently, by everyone, than if the victim was female, or perhaps a member of a minority group. Even if the offender was another ethnicity, we would have seen it differently.
So why do we look at it differently simply because it is a white male that was the victim? Shouldn’t all acts of violence be condemned equally? Shouldn’t we treat all similar acts the same regardless of who the offender or the victim is?
Lieutenant-General David Morrison said, ”The standard you walk past is the standard you accept”. Or in this case, the behaviour we ignore is the behaviour we accept.
We either take a stand against violence or we don’t.
From an AFL perspective, we have just said to our young boys and girls that it’s okay to be violent out on the streets, as long as you pick your target carefully.
The standard you walk past is the standard you accept
When to Speak Up
When it comes to taking a stance on social issues, the AFL has already opened Pandora’s Box.
There is an argument that sporting clubs should remain completely neutral with respect to issues outside the club. They should follow and support the law, but not get involved with social issues outside the club and the league.
Then there is the other side that says, because they have so much ‘reach’ and influence into the community, they should take a stand on issues that affect our community.
For quite some time now, the latter view has been the case. The AFL promoted the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which was a very political position to take. Given it was a referendum of the people, there is an argument that it was an issue they should have stayed well away from. But instead, they jumped in boots and all.
They have also been very vocal about violence against women and domestic violence. The AFL CEO, Andrew Dillion, has said, “When it comes to violence against women, the only acceptable figure is zero.” In the 2024 season, a whole round of AFL games were dedicated to the cause, to stop all violence against women.
But this approach is a double-edged sword. When you take a stand on certain issues but are silent on another, it speaks volumes. You are not just being ‘silent’, you are accepting that behaviour!
Time to Take a Stand
When it comes to violence, men experience a higher rate of violence than women. If we are truly trying to stop violence against women, then we must also focus on the broader issues of violence in general.
If we are really trying to take a stand on violence and remove it from our society, then shouldn’t we be doing it for everyone? How can we say, hit a woman and you are sanctioned, but hitting a bloke is okay?
So I do think the AFL should have done better here. Not only that, I think as a society we need to be more outraged that they didn’t.
I have a daughter and a son, so you can imagine the conversations around this issue. If my daughter is assaulted, it will be treated differently socially than if my son is assaulted. How do you explain that?
But more importantly, we are teaching BOTH my children that it is NOT okay to be violent to ANYONE.
It is all still violence, and it all matters just as much! That is the message we should be sharing with our young men and women! It doesn’t matter who the victim is, it is all equally wrong and should be equally condemned.
For me, no act of unprovoked violence is okay, no matter who the perpetrators are or who the victim is. We can’t just focus on violence against one group. We need to call out all violence to stop it for everyone.
I would love to know your thoughts below!
Until next time….
Leave a Reply