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Member protection for clubs

Member protection for clubs. A Department of Sport and Recreation audio guide.

Protecting your club’s members is about more than just making sure players take to the field with helmets or proper padding. You need to ensure that your club or organisation provides a safe environment for everyone involved, both on and off the field.

When it comes to the Australian sport and recreation industry, member protection is the term used when talking about the practices and procedures that protect club members, both individuals such as players, coaches and officials, and the member organisations such as clubs, state associations and the national body.

Member protection involves protecting members from harassment, abuse, discrimination and other forms of inappropriate behaviour.

It means adopting appropriate measures to ensure that the right people are involved in an organisation, particularly when it comes to those involved with juniors.

It also means providing education, and promoting and modelling positive behaviour.

Member protection can be a daunting and overwhelming area but your club can put in place some measures to ensure your members are protected.

The Department of Sport and Recreation has a whole locker room of resources to help you with Member Protection, and all other aspects of running your organisation.

Over the next few minutes we’ll examine the elements that your club’s member protection policy and procedures need to include in more detail. 

Stay listening, and head to the department website dsr.wa.gov.au

What is a Member Protection Policy?

Your Member Protection Policy is your organisation’s statement of its commitment to provide a safe environment. An environment that is fair and respectful, and free from harassment, abuse or discrimination for everyone involved in the club, including children.  Many clubs adopt their State Associations Member Protection Policy, or adapt a template you can download from ausport.gov.au

Why do we need a member protection policy?

A Member Protection Policy is required for your club to comply with legislation.

The policy helps clarify responsibilities and expectations of members, parents and spectators as well as raising awareness of fun, safe and fair play. The Member Protection Policy should also outline complaint-handling procedures.

A well-developed policy includes codes of conduct and responsibilities covering the organisation and its players, administrators, coaches, officials, parents and guardians, and spectators. It should outline the steps to take in the event that the policies of the club are not adhered to. The Play by the Rules website at playbytherules.net.au can help with this information.

It should also contain complaints procedures dealing with policy breaches, complaints, victimisation, mediation, tribunals, and forms of discipline and reporting documents.

Policies should cover anti-discrimination and harassment on any ground, child protection from abuse and neglect, screening policy including Working with Children and police checks. Other relevant policies such as dealing with sexual relationships, pregnancy, privacy, risk management, and health related policies including dealing with blood, illicit drugs and anti-doping rules.

This is Diane Eldridge, secretary, registrar and coach at the Tuart Hill Junior Soccer Club on the types of harassment or inappropriate behaviour that member protection policies can be about.

Now let’s take a look at these areas in more detail.

Harassment

Harassment takes many forms.  Some of these are lawful and others are not, but regardless of the type, all harassment is undesirable, and will certainly breach codes of conduct and policies.

Harassment is any type of behaviour that is not wanted, is not asked for and is not returned. It’s behaviour that a reasonable person would recognise as being unwelcome and likely to cause the recipient to feel offended, humiliated or intimidated. It may be a single incident or repeated, explicit or implicit, and verbal or non-verbal.

Discrimination

Discrimination is about making choices about how we treat other people. Those choices can be made using real and relevant information, or they can be based on prejudice, bias and stereotypes.

Sexual harassment and racial discrimination are unlawful.

Equal opportunity laws make it illegal to discriminate on various grounds including race, sex, age, disability, pregnancy, sexuality, and marital status.

All discrimination is undesirable if it leads to unfair treatment of players, members or other participants in recreation and sport.

Club members with disabilities needn’t cause a problem for the club and Diane Eldridge from the Tuart Hill Junior Soccer Club says, communication amongst a team and a club can be crucial to protect everyone from discrimination.

Child Protection

Child protection is about creating safe and fair environments for children.  The aim of this is to try and keep children and young people safe from abuse, discrimination and harassment, and protect them from people who are unsuitable to work with children.

Child protection is a legal requirement, an ethical obligation, and it’s a vital consideration in your club meeting duty of care obligations.

Child abuse can be when someone does something harmful, or doesn’t provide for or protect a child or young person. Child abuse can cause long-lasting emotional, physical and behavioural damage.

There are four main types of child abuse.

Sexual abuse or misconduct is any sexual act or sexual threat imposed on a child or young person, including suggestive behaviour and inappropriate behaviour.

Physical abuse is non-accidental injury or trauma to a child or young person caused by any other person including an older child.

Emotional abuse includes behaviours that may psychologically harm a child or young person including verbal abuse, threats, bullying harassment or excessive and unreasonable demands.

The fourth type of abuse is neglect, which covers failing to provide a child or young person with basic physical and emotional necessities, harming them or putting them at risk of harm.

Vigilance counts when it comes to Member Protection as Diane Eldrige says here, which can be as simple as keeping a friendly eye out on spectators, coaches and players alike.

Child Protection in Western Australia.

The sport and recreation industry plays a pivotal role in our children’s development, so it is vital for the industry to create safe environments for children. 

There are various strategies and practices that help make an environment safe and welcoming for children. Organisations and clubs should take a comprehensive approach to child protection and creating child safe environments. 

Responsible organisations should ensure that employees or volunteers undergo criminal record screening and background checking. Your club should also have in place a range of other risk management strategies that protect children.

The Working with Children (Criminal Record Checking) Act 2004 began in Western Australia in January 2006. The aim of this act is to deter and prevent people who may harm children from obtaining positions of trust within organisations.  The legislation requires people working with children in certain categories of employment or volunteer work to have a Working with Children Check.  This is a compulsory national criminal record check for people carrying out child related work in Western Australia.

You can apply for a check at any Australia Post Office.

The working with Children website can provide more information at checkwwc.wa.gov.au.  You can also learn more about this in the Safe Clubs 4 Kids manual at the Department of Sport and Recreation website. dsr.wa.gov.au

Remember, child protection is everyone’s business.

Member Screening

This section deals with the member screening processes your club can put in place to help identify people who may be unsuitable to work in your organisation. You can go through the following steps with all potential and existing employees and volunteers in your club.

Interviews

An interview is a good opportunity to ask questions about the position and observe the behaviour of the applicant.

Reference Checks.

These are useful to gain information from previous employers on the applicant’s work performance and character.

Criminal Record Screening

As mentioned earlier, a Working with Children check is a compulsory national criminal record check for people carrying out child-related work in Western Australia.  For people who are exempt under the Working with Children legislation, or who are not working with children, there are other forms of criminal record checking. These include National Police Checks or National Police Checks for volunteers.

Other relevant Policies

There are other policies your club may like to include in its member protection policy including issues such as sexual relationships, pregnancy, gender identity, privacy, risk management, anti-doping and blood rules.

Your club should think about adopting and adapting the policy of your state organisation. If there is no policy at this state level, you can download a member protection policy framework template from the Australian Sports Commission website at ausport.gov.au

Who is responsible for member protection?

Everyone is responsible for making sure that all members are treated fairly and with respect.

What are the responsibilities of agencies and individuals in the sport and recreation industry?

There are multiple tiers of responsibility when it comes to member protection.

Federal government provides a framework for member protection. State government adopts this national framework and adapts it to make it relevant for the state. It also creates awareness, and assists sport and recreation organisations with education, policy and procedures.

Peak bodies and associations establish policy and procedures, as well as creating awareness and providing support and training to clubs. They will also respond to incidents.

Sport and recreation clubs adopt and adapt policy and procedures from their relevant peak body, and action these. Clubs should also create awareness amongst members through the use of websites, club manuals, posters, code of conducts, club evenings and word of mouth, and liaise with peak bodies when incidents occur.          

Individuals such as coaches, players, parents and guardians, and spectators need to be aware of their club’s member protection policies, and abide by these policies and procedures.

What is a Member Protection Information Officer or MPIO?

It is recommended that each State Sporting Association has an MPIO, who should be the first point of call for any enquiries, concerns or complaints about harassment, discrimination and abuse. They should provide confidential information and moral support to any person with a concern, or who is alleging harassment. Clubs are also recommended to have a contact person or child-safe officer to enable any concerns at a club to be communicated.  The club based MPIO or child-safe officer can work closely with the State level MPIO to work through any issues.

What is the role of the Member Protection Information Officer?

The MPIO’s role has several different facets. First is to listen, and provide support without taking over. They should also provide information and options about what a person might do, without offering advice. They should support the claimant in taking the matter further if that is what the person wants, and the MPIO feels able to do so.

The MPIO needs to keep up-to-date with information on harassment, discrimination and other forms of inappropriate behaviour, and understand their sport’s policies and procedures in relation to harassment and discrimination.

They need to be accessible and approachable, and able to maintain confidentiality. An MPIO may also be able to operate across a region by being available to other sports in the region.

To become a Member protection officer, a person is nominated by their club or sporting association and then completes an Australian Sports Commission approved course.

What does your club need to do to ensure your members are protected?

There are four steps your club or organisation needs to take to protect members.

First, your club should begin by incorporating a member protection policy into your organisation by contacting your State Sporting Association.  If your State Sporting Association does not have a policy you can obtain a policy template from ausport.gov.au, and adapt it to suit your club’s requirements.

Second, once your policy has been adopted you need to ensure everyone involved in the organisation is aware of the policy, and is provided with a copy of a summary of the policy. The policy should also be easy to access via club noticeboards or websites and widely promoted. The Department of Sport and Recreation can help access member protection promotional material to assist

Your club can incorporate member protection information when holding education sessions for members.  This will ensure that member protection, its requirements, and the consequences for breaching the policy are explained.

Look at the playbytherules.net.au website for online tutorials, useful resources, complaint handling tips and lots more about fun, safe and fair play.

The third step is to appoint a contact person or child-safe officer to enable any concerns at a club to be communicated.  The club based Member Protection Information Officer or child-safe officer can work closely with the State level MPIO to work through any issues.

Finally, your club needs to make sure that all persons legally required to get a Working With Children Check obtain one, and that adequate and accurate records are kept.  See the checkwwc.wa.gov.au and dsr.wa.gov.au websites for more information.

 

This podcast is part of the Club Development Scheme, which provides assistance to Western Australian sport and recreation clubs and organisations to become better managed, more sustainable and to provide good quality services to their members and participants.