Noah Milford v Australian Weightlifting Federation

The Athlete was not selected by the Australian Weightlifting Federation (AWF) to represent Australia at the 2025 Senior Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Ahmedabad, India.

Central to the dispute, was the adoption of new body weight classes by the International Weightlifting Federation, administered by the AWF, effective for all international competitions from 1 June 2025. As a result, the Athlete’s weight class at the 2025 Senior Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships was changed from 98 kilograms to 94 kilograms during the qualification period.

Pursuant to the AWF’s Selection Appeals Policy (Policy), the Athlete challenged his non-selection on three grounds, namely:

1. that he was not afforded a reasonable opportunity to satisfy the Policy;
2. that the decision of the AWF’s selection panel was affected by actual bias; and
3. that there was no material on which the non-selection decision by the Respondent could reasonably be based.

The application was validated on 11 June 2025, and heard in the NST General Division. After considering the evidence and submissions of both parties, the NST Member delivered his determination on 14 July 2025.  

The NST Member upheld Ground 1 of the appeal, finding that the Athlete had not been afforded a reasonable opportunity to satisfy the Policy. Grounds 2 and 3 were dismissed. As a result, the Athlete was added to the Australian Senior Commonwealth Championships team in the 94-kilogram body weight class by AWF.