AUSTRALIAN athletes in all major sports could be tested for illicit drugs on non-competition days within months, as the Government pushes ahead with plans for uniform anti-drugs measures.
After revelations about the drug-taking habits of rugby league great Andrew Johns, Sports Minister George Brandis has asked the anti-doping watchdog for advice in the next fortnight about how testing for illicit drugs can be strengthened.
Cabinet is expected to consider the advice within days of receiving it, The Age believes, making it likely the Government could announce a new attack on drugs in sport before the election.
The Government has also foreshadowed the possibility of more funding to help codes introduce new testing regimes.
With drug screening costing up to $1000 a test, many sports could struggle to fund out-of-competition testing unless the Government pays.
The AFL and the NRL are the only two major sporting codes that test for illicit drugs — as opposed to performance-enhancing drugs — out of competition.
While cricket, another financially secure sport, is already developing its own policy on out-of-competition illicit drug use, others such as swimming say they could not afford it without financial assistance.
Senator Brandis made it clear yesterday that he preferred the tougher NRL model, telling The Age it was "a suitable template" for uniform rules in all sports.
Earlier this year, in the wake of the Ben Cousins affair, Senator Brandis and Minister for Ageing Christopher Pyne attacked the AFL's three-strike policy, saying it undermined the Government's tough-on-drugs message.
Under the NRL policy, a player receives a suspended fine after a first positive test, and is fined and suspended after a second positive.
Senator Brandis said the NRL policy "gives the player one chance and it sends a better message than the AFL which is three strikes, but which says after the first you're counselled, after the second one you're counselled, and after the third one you're counselled and then you may face sanctions".
Cricket Australia said it was hoping to have its own illicit drugs policy in place before the start of the domestic season next month. It has worked on the policy for almost two years.
While spokesman Peter Young declined to specify the precise model, he indicated that it would be tougher than the AFL regime.
"The policy we are talking about seems to be getting broad support," he said, including from the Federal Government. | 
