Duty of Care

All players, coaches, officials, facility operators and competition organisers have a shared duty to participate in environments that are as safe as practically possible for everyone involved. This duty is referred to, in the eyes of the law, as the ‘duty of care’.

As with all sports and physical activities, being involved with netball activity as a participant, coach, official or spectator, carries a degree of risk. The risks vary depending on the type of session, fixture, or event, where it is taking place and who is taking part.

All players, coaches, officials, facility operators and competition organisers have a shared duty to participate in environments that are as safe as practically possible for everyone involved. This duty is referred to, in the eyes of the law, as the ‘duty of care’.

The law tends to view that the people in a supervising or managing capacity owe a greater duty of care than players, spectators, and passers-by. Coaches, umpires, and tournament organisers are included in this group of supervisors or managers.

Due to the inherent nature of sport and recreation, injuries and potentially death can occur, and if those affected by such events believe it to be avoidable or not dealt with correctly, will seek some form of compensation or redress from those responsible.

Consider the following examples, which although are rare occurrences, are incidents that have previously happened:

• Player slips on a football goal post net in the run-off area behind the goal line, falls and breaks their wrist.

• Goal ring falls on a child, hitting their head.

• Elderly spectator suffers a heart attack while attending an event.