e-Bulletins

New free promotional resources now available

Play by the Rules has developed a range of new, free posters, flyers, postcards and other promotional material you may find helpful to use at your club to promote the program and safe, fair and inclusive sport. You can download the resources and print them out to display around your club, field or stadium, or hand them out to players, coaches, officials and spectators at: www.playbytherules.net.au/resources/posters-cards

Get your club into good ‘policy’ shape

Are you club policy documents a bit out of date? Or is it just time to make sure those policies and guidelines are in shape for the new season? Either way, take a look at the Play by the Rules Club Toolkit; this is where we can help you get up and running with some basic policies and guidelines your club should have, such as a Member Protection policy, Spectator Behaviour policy and Team Selection policy to name a few.

Hawks pre-season tour to Tassie

The Hawthorn Football Clubs' players and officials visited the Hobart and Launceston Sports Ability Hubs as part of a range of activities during a pre-season visit to Tasmania in the second week of February. The Sports Ability Hubs provide inclusive and adaptive games and activities that can be played at varying levels. Officials also took part in events organised by Sport and Recreation Tasmania, including The Business of Sport forums for sports administrators in Hobart, Burnie and Launceston.

ASC’s All Cultures webinars

The Australian Sports Commission will be holding a series of All Cultures webinars which will allow you to communicate with people from the sport and multicultural sector and hear practical examples of their work. The first webinar titled ‘Setting the scene and making connections’ will be held on 1 March. For information on this and upcoming webinars and to register to attend go to: www.ausport.gov.au/allcultures/webinars

New radio ads hit the airwaves

Four of Australia's top sportsmen and women have recorded a 30-second radio Community Service Announcement (CSA) for Play by the Rules to encourage community sport and recreation clubs to keep sport safe, fair and inclusive. They include: swimmer Alicia Coutts, Socceroo Brett Emerton, national cricket and football rep Elyse Perry and Aussie cricketer Usman Khawaja. Listen out for these important messages on the airwaves over the next four weeks or check them out in the ‘Our champions’ section of our website.

Give women a sporting chance

The Equal Opportunity Commission WA will celebrate International Women's Day on 8 March with Commissioner Yvonne Henderson hosting a breakfast discussion on the participation and perception of women in sport with Olympic Gold medallist for sailing, Tessa Parkinson, and campaigner against violence towards women in sport, Nina Funnell. For details and bookings go to: www.eoc.wa.gov.au/Index.aspx

Take our survey and WIN an AIS pack

We want to know what you think could help make the Play by the Rules program, website and resources more useful and relevant to you and your organisation. Simply complete our survey for your chance to win an Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) clothing pack valued at $300. The survey is open until 29 February 2012 at the Survey link on our website.

Swimming Australia committed to inclusion

Swimming Australia recently received 2011 Organisation of the Year at the Deaf Sports Awards. And as part of their commitment to disability inclusion, they have recently launched the Inclusive Club Standard program, which is being delivered under their club development brand ‘GO Club’. The program provides recognition and reward to clubs who are taking steps to create an inclusive environment and helps identify areas of strength and weakness. For information and resources see: http://swimming.org.au/customdata/index.cfm?fuseaction=CustomItem&;ItemID=5582

New smoking laws to impact on events in Tas

From 1 March 2012, The Public Health Amendment Act 2011 introduces a range of smoke free areas which will impact on outdoor areas and sporting events in Tasmania. For more information go to: www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/peh or call 1800 671 738.

Harmony Day 2012 – ‘Play, engage and inspire’

Play by the Rules is proud to be a supporter of Harmony Day on 21 March and its aim to encourage everyone, regardless of their background, to take part in a sporting activity. Sport and recreation organisations can also show their support for cultural diversity by organising Harmony Day events in their local area. Play by the Rules Co-chairs Dr Helen Szoke and Craig Martin encourage all Australians to get behind this year’s Harmony Day key message and ‘Play, engage and inspire’. For more information visit the Harmony Day website.

STARCLUB program taking off in SA

More than 500 recreation and sport clubs/individuals have now registered for the Office for Recreation and Sport SA’s STARCLUB program. Part of the STARCLUB program emphasizes that a good club is ‘Safe for All’ and that they will promote Play by the Rules online training. To date, approx. 20% of clubs registered have indicated that this is already a requirement at their club and another 20% have indicated they are currently working towards it. Find out more about STARCLUB at: www.recsport.sa.gov.au/starclub/index.php

Quick Reference Guide points you in the right direction

Sport and recreation organisations across the country regularly have to deal with a range of harassment, discrimination and child protection issues involving players, coaches, officials and spectators. To assist, Play by the Rules has produced a new Quick Reference Guide, which shows where you can find the essential information and services to help you resolve these issues. The Guide also includes links to key sporting and recreation bodies, government agencies and non-government organisations, along with a short description of the support they can provide.

FFV rewarding ‘Best Practice’

On 1 February, Football Federation Victoria launched their ‘Best Practice’ project, which aims to identify and reward best practice initiatives, on and off the field, that exist in clubland. This month they invite clubs to share their examples of ‘Best Practice’ experiences based on female participation and female player retention. At the end of the month, one entry will be chosen as the ‘best practice’ example, and win 10 Jabulani World Cup Glider footballs and an article on the FFV website promoting the club and their initiative. For information see: www.footballfedvic.com.au/index.php?id=bestpractices

WWC Check review in WA

A review of the operation and effectiveness of the Western Australian legislation that governs the Working with Children Checks is underway and is expected to be finalised by mid-2012. Public submissions are open until 29 February 2012. To make a submission go to: www.checkwwc.wa.gov.au/checkwwc/WWC+Act+Review.htm

A new website for multicultural Australia

MyLanguage (www.mylanguage.gov.au), a web portal to millions of multilingual information resources for new and emergent Australian communities was relaunched recently. The new site provides links to multilingual search engines, web directories, government websites, online dictionaries, and syndicated news headlines. It also contains translations of online government and community information relating to health, legal issues, settlement, education and public libraries.

SA Development and Inclusion Program

Funding is now available through the Sport and Recreation SA Development and Inclusion Program to assist eligible organisations to develop and implement projects that address barriers to inclusion or provide opportunities for athletes with a disability to participate in sport and recreation activities. Closing date for the program is 26 March 2012. For more information visit: www.recsport.sa.gov.au/funding-scholarships/sport-recreation-development-inclusion.html

People of Australia Ambassadors announced

Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr Helen Szoke has announced the 40 People of Australia ambassadors nominated by the Australian public, which include Ahmed Dini, Football Federation Victoria's first ever Horn of Africa Community Engagement Officer. The 40 ambassadors will provide advice to the government and the Australian Multicultural Council about effective ideas to promote inclusion and heighten diversity in Australian communities. A full list of ambassadors is available at: www.amc.gov.au/ambassadors/ambassadors-2012.htm

Events

Child Safe Officers course

The Office for Recreation and Sport SA will be holding a Child Safe Officers course on 13 March 2012. For details call phone: 08 7424 7622.

Sports administration, safety and coaching

Sport and Recreation (NSW) offers a wide range of training in sports administration, safety and coaching right across NSW. Visit www.dsr.nsw.gov.au/training/ for details.

Sport Locker Room Forum

Sport and Recreation Services Qld are holding a Sport Locker Room Forum in Brisbane in March (which will be live streamed as well). For further information see: www.communities.qld.gov.au/sportrec/community-programs/education-and-training/locker-room-forums

Building Active Community workshops

Over 30 Building Active Community workshops will be offered across Queensland in February alone, with another 34 available during March. All events are promoted at: www.communities.qld.gov.au/sportrec/news-and-events/events-calendar

Want a Play by the Rules link on your website?

If you would like a Play by the Rules link on your website, simply send a request via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. "> This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we will send you some brief text about the program and a logo to upload on your site. This will provide a direct link for your users to access a range of excellent resources and information on how to keep sport safe, fair and inclusive.

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Click on the facebook and YouTube button to find us and become a fan, for tips and hints, updates, latest news, videos and more. Pass on to your networks and help us build an informed, safe, inclusive and fair sport culture.