Background Although sports clubs have a responsibility to protect their players with a safe training and playing environment, little is known about actual safety policies and procedures adopted by community sports clubs. Currently, there is no definitive macro-level sport safety policy available for clubs to implement in Australia. Community sports clubs use micro-policies around issues deemed relevant to their club, which are sourced from various agencies.

Objective This presentation will describe the full range of safety resources (policy documents, guidelines, action plans, research papers, fact sheets, posters, and procedures) as developed and disseminated online by key sports safety agencies in Australia. The gaps and duplications in the set of safety resources will also be identified. Finally, a recommendation around the safety needs of community sports clubs with regards to a macro sports safety policy that covers all relevant aspects which can easily be implemented and adopted will be made.

Design Document analysis as a qualitative research method.

Sources Online sport safety documents from key sport safety agencies in Australia.

Main outcome measurements To determine the relevant sport safety resources available online to community sport clubs through key sport safety agencies.

Results A collated list of recommended sport safety policies and procedures as developed and disseminated online by key sport safety agencies in Australia, for use by community sports clubs. An analysis of the gaps in current sports safety policy is also discussed.

Conclusions Sport safety policies and procedures are currently provided in the form of micro-polices that cover single issues (SunSmart, blood rule, concussion policy etc). It is recommended that key sport safety agencies collaborate to develop a macro-level policy around sport safety that comprehensively covers the full spectrum of safety under one plan that can be easily accessed, adapted and implemented in a variety of community sports club settings.