Edition 8/2000
IEA is pleased to present the November edition of the IEA
Sport Monthly Update. This
monthly publication will address topical issues specific to the
management of sport. For
free subscription to this newsletter please join our mailing list
(refer home page of website, www.ieasport.com.au).
The newsletter will be delivered via Email only.
We welcome questions from subscribers which will be
addressed in future editions of the Monthly Update.
Protecting
Volunteers Via Legislation - A Legal Necessity???
It
is an accepted fact that the number of legal actions in recent years
for breach of duty of care has increased dramatically. To fully
explore the affect this has had on our society would be an extensive
project, however there are some obvious repercussions in regard to the
sports industry.
Australian
sport is very much dependent on the thousands of volunteers who give
freely of their time to provide a quality sporting experience for all
participants. Recruitment and retention of these volunteers has
always been a challenge, but never more so than applies today. Various
reasons, such as demands on time, can be identified as to why this is
the case, but there is undoubtedly one significant reason, the
threat of litigation to the volunteer for any alleged wrongdoing.
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In
return for their valuable time, knowledge, experience and dedication
the personal assets of the volunteer are potentially on the line
should they innocently slip up in some way. Surely this is not
fair justice.
Responsible
sporting organisations take out appropriate liability insurance to
protect all within their sport, including volunteers. In fact
IEA has been working with sporting organisations since 1978 to ensure
that insurance specifically tailored to address the inherent risks of
sport is in place. This is a specialist field and many
organisations have paid the price of purchasing an off the shelf
product only to find when the crunch comes in the event of a claim
that their policy does not provide the cover they require.
Over
an extended period of time the Australian insurance industry has not
enjoyed satisfactory underwriting results. Shareholders are not
prepared to accept the level of return they have been receiving on
their investment. The industry's response is to try and improve
the results on their insurance business, which generally means more
selective underwriting criteria and increased premiums. During
this year rate increases have been greater than the industry has
witnessed for many years.
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