Creating a culture that embraces a welcome safe and supportive environment for all is a goal every sport and recreation organisation should aim to achieve.

Policies and procedures provide rules and guidelines to support this but every member should share the responsibility to work towards building a safe, fair and inclusive atmosphere.

Member protection is simply supporting this goal by addressing harassment, discrimination and child safety. Resources and education are available help to deal with issues and complaints as quickly as possible to enable everyone to continue to enjoy their participation.

Most clubs are bound by Member Protection Policies provided by their governing body. If you are from an affiliated club, and unsure of which policies apply to your club, you should contact your State Association. This will most certainly include codes of conduct or codes of behaviour.

If you do not have a governing body or need to develop your own resources there are templates available.

Member Protection Policies will generally also include the organisations grievance procedure which is important when lodging or dealing with a complaint.

Annual application for registration including the individual members sign off on policies and codes of conduct is recommended for clubs to promote awareness.

Resources

Club Member Protection Policy template DOC, 544 KB

State Association Member Protection Policy Template

Member Protection Information Officer and Complaint Handling Free Online Training

SA Complaints Flowchart

Play by the Rules toolkits

Codes of Behaviour template DOCX, 72.87 KB