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Office of Sport

It’s essential sports clubs work towards building a harassment-free culture and environment to ensure the enjoyment of sport by all.

Anti-discrimination law defines harassment as any form of behaviour that you do not want, offends, humiliates or intimidates you or creates a hostile environment. In NSW, it is against the law to harass a person on the basis of sex, pregnancy, breastfeeding, race, age, marital or domestic status, homosexuality, disability, transgender status or carer's responsibilities.*

What club committees can do

There are 8 key steps club committees should follow to create safe and fair clubs. These are essential foundations to preventing harassment and other issues.

Specifically, when it comes to being harassment consider:

  • Understand the law – Anti-Discrimination NSW is a comprehensive resource on harassment and the law
  • Be familiar with the existing policies your sport likely has in this area and promote them often to members eg. Member Protection Policy and/or Codes of Conduct. These are generally set by your national or state peak body.
  • Have committee, volunteers and club members complete free online training in discrimination and harassment at Play by the Rules.
  • Lead by example – create a discrimination-free culture by dealing with incidents effectively and continually educating club members on appropriate behaviour. 

Information and resources to help

Play by the Rules

Interactive scenarios

Complaints about discrimination and harassment

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