Last updated 25 October 2021

To minimise exposure from breaches of duties of care, public liability insurance is essential. Other essential insurances necessary to the wellbeing of any sporting organisation include players’ medical insurance, insurance covering the premises and contents of buildings, and vehicle insurance.

Whether or not a sporting organisation can or should have insurance is a matter for the management committee to decide, but it must explain to the members at each annual general meeting if it decides not to take out public liability insurance, why it feels it is unnecessary and advise the members that the association’s assets might be at risk if there was a successful claim against the association ( s 70 Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld) (Associations Incorporation Act)). The management committee must also inform potential members (or potential management committee members) whether the association has public liability insurance and, if it does, the amount of coverage. If it is an owner or lessee of land or a trustee of trust land, public liability insurance must be taken out (s 70A Associations Incorporation Act).

For professional athletes, their employer may provide health insurance as part of the employment agreement. Statutory workers compensation schemes could apply (WorkCover in Queensland). Administrators of smaller social sport organisations might build in some basic insurance cover into the participants’ membership fees, in which case players should consider their own more extensive insurance (which includes income protection for adult players). For further information on the law of insurance see the Insurance chapter.