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 – the 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
*Anti-Discrimination NSW
Play by the Rules