Juju Mason: Autistic athlete denied assistance during Australian Athletics Championships

A mother is taking legal action against Australia’s peak athletics body after her autistic daughter was denied help from a carer during some of her qualified events at the Australian Athletics Championships a week ago. Juliette Mason was ready to compete at two of her qualified events — the long jump and the 400m — during the competition held in Perth last week. But as renowned athletes like Gout Gout and Rhiannon Clarke were cheered across the finish line, Juliette’s chance to shine was sidelined after, her mum claims, a carer was not allowed to help her onto the track and to guide her to the start line. “It was really confusing for her . . . she thought she’d done something wrong,” Mandy Mason said. “She just had to stand there while everybody celebrated, and watching her training partners compete in the events she was supposed to be doing. “She didn’t understand what was going on . . . but neither did I”. Juliette, better known as Juju, was diagnosed with severe autism at the age of two, and has been working tirelessly for more than 15 years to learn to speak, make friends, go to school and to take care of herself. It’s led to incredible things for the now 21-year-old, including opening her own cafe in Claremont called Good Juju as well as amassing a fan base of nearly 15,000 on social media. And when she isn’t serving up coffees and cupcakes to Claremont locals, Juju is often on the athletics track where she trains alongside teammates including two-time Paralympian Clarke. Last weekend’s championships weren’t Juju’s first foray at top-level competition. She also competed at the 2023 Athletics Australia national championships in Brisbane, where she was allowed assistance from her carer who walked her onto the track and helped with verbal instructions. “There’s special consideration in the world para-rules to allow a carer to assist in special circumstances,” Mrs Mason said. “Juju is a special circumstance. She is profoundly impacted by autism and an intellectual disability. She has extremely high needs, both level three autism and an intellectual disability.” But in Perth, Mrs Mason’s initial request for her carer to assist Juju during last Thursday’s competition was not approved. “(Your) assistant may meet with referee and explain needs but not proceed to the field of play,” a response to their request read. After her daughter missed both Thursday events, Mrs Mason took to Juju’s social media to air their disappointment ahead of Juju’s final event, the 200m, on Sunday. One of the shared videos was taken after Thursday’s events had transpired. Mrs Mason asked her daughter how she was feeling after finding out she wouldn’t be competing, to which Juju replied, “sad”. Over the week, a series of posts received a huge outpouring of support, with #letjujurun catching the attention of former Matildas captain Melissa Barbieri and recently-elected Liberal MP Sandra Brewer who both claimed to have reached out to Athletics Australia boss Simon Hollingsworth personally. “The public just came out in full support, Mrs Mason said. “People started to share the post around the world, I got messages from America and the UK.” Eventually, Australian Athletics told Mrs Mason on Saturday— the day before Juju’s 200m race — that her assistant coach would be allowed to assist Juju to the track on Sunday, on the condition that her coach would act as an assistant to all other para-athletes on the day. “I was told that Juju’s coach would be allowed to assist her, but only if she acted as a carer to all other para-athletes and their events on the same day,” Mrs Mason said. “But none of the other athletes need assistance in that race . . . many of the other para-athletes like Rhiannon Clarke are high-functioning elite athletes.” Mrs Mason has since lodged a claim with the Human Rights Commission. “The outcome going forward is to first admit that in the end they gave her the support that she should have had anyway. And second, how do we resolve this going forward so this doesn’t happen again,” she said. “What’s needed is an education process for officials to understand the different types of intellectual disability. That’s what I’m going to be calling for, is more training.” Athletics Australia was awarded a $2 million Federal grant in December specifically for improving accessibility and “breaking down barriers” for athletes with disabilities. “On the one hand, they talk about inclusion, but on the other hand, when it comes to tiny levels of support, which I believe are afforded under the rules, they dig their heels in instead of trying to consult and find a way forward,” Mrs Mason said. Mrs Mason takes heart from a previous discrimination case involving the family and Methodist Ladies’ College, which impacted Juju attending kindergarten and pre-primary classes at MLC. “The outcome from that discrimination case was amazing . . . MLC got new board members, they changed the landscape for disability in that school,” she said. “It’s been extraordinary what they did, and that’s what I’m hoping for this time round — that the same education and accountability can happen again.” The anger, confusion and upset that was felt amongst her family and supporters over the past week was all put on pause for a brief moment on Sunday as Juju crossed the finish line during her one and only event, backed by the cheer of the crowd. Almost a week on, Juju is back training with her teammates as Mrs Mason prepares for the battle ahead. “There’s hundreds of cases like Juju’s out there,” Mrs Mason said. “The amount of outpouring from para-athletics that I got over the week, saying ‘we live with this all the time, but nobody speaks up about it’. “That’s why it is so important to keep up the fight to make sure that the education continues and inclusion is supported.” Australian Athletics declined to comment.