Major events and disasters such as bushfires, floods, catastrophic accidents and the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic can strike without little warning.
Sport’s continuity is key to its financial wellbeing. Sport is also a necessary service to the community and effectively operates in the public interest.
State Sporting Organisations (SSOs) including State Sporting Organisations for people with a Disability (SSODs) must act to protect the continuity of their operations.
Who is responsible?
The Directors of Boards or Committees of Management (COM), board secretaries, officers, and committee members of SSOs need to be aware of their legal obligations and commitment to quality and safety are critical in the current and post- COVID-19 sporting environment.
Resources
Each of the resources below contains background information on some of the learnings to date from the COVID-19 pandemic. All boards and Committee of Management of SSOs operate differently and vary in size and structure, as such the OoS strongly encourages sport boards to apply the resources in their own particular sport business context and to reflect their own particular needs.
This resource policy has been designed to assist SSOs to develop a specific disaster response to COVID-19 and future unforeseeable events aligning with the SSOs overall risk management framework.
This resource has been designed to assist SSOs respond to COVID-19 and assess the impacts, particularly long-term, of COVID-19 on SSO’s strategic objectives and their resilience to respond. It also seeks to assess designed to assist SSOs response from a risk management perspective.
SSOs are encouraged to use this resource in the management of their risk in the context of crisis and to adopt an organisational approach to risk and crisis management by encouraging affiliates and clubs to consider use of this resource.
This resource has been designed to assist SSOs to develop an organisational COVID-19 Recovery Plan (RP) and a Business Continuity Plan (BCP).
The RP will seek to explain how to develop and implement a recovery plan for the organisation. The main goal of a BCP is to protect personnel and assets, both during and after an emergency.
The resource will assist designed to assist SSOs to implement a process to develop, test and update either their current business continuity plan or, show them how to develop one.
The resources have been designed specifically for sport. They are governance documents, and your board should take ultimate responsibility for it. It should however be able to be used by volunteers and personnel alike.
Disclaimer
As with any legal documents, this does not replace obtaining legal advice on each sport’s specific requirements and it is recommended you do so.
The information provided is for your information only. The authors and the NSW Office of Sport accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information or your reliance upon it.