What is livestreaming?
Livestreaming is the real‑time broadcast of a sport or recreation event over the internet. Advances in mobile devices, apps, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) mean livestreaming is now easy, inexpensive and increasingly common in community sport.
Many sporting bodies encourage livestreaming to promote participation and connect communities. However, livestreaming also introduces new safety, privacy and integrity risks that clubs and volunteers need to manage.
Clubs should:
- Prioritise child safety and wellbeing
- Minimise unnecessary collection and sharing of footage
- Be transparent about livestreaming practices, e.g. venue signage
- Respond quickly to harmful behaviour or complaints
- Regularly review whether livestreaming remains appropriate and safe
Benefits of livestreaming
Livestreaming can offer many benefits for local clubs and associations, including:
- Increased accessibility for family, friends and supporters who can’t attend in person
- Opportunities to drive revenue or sponsorship exposure
- Access to footage for coaching, performance analysis and umpire development
- Stronger community connection, particularly for regional or remote clubs
- Improved visibility for talented athletes
Play by the Rules does not recommend specific providers. Many services are available, including those supported by governing bodies and those targeting grassroots sport.
Risks of livestreaming
Livestreaming, especially when children and young people are involved, creates risks that clubs need to understand and actively manage. These risks fall into several categories:
- Privacy and consent risks
Livestreaming can unintentionally share:
- Personal information (names, uniforms, club locations)
- Identifiable images of people who have not consented
- Audio of private conversations near recording equipment
This may lead to harms like unwanted contact, privacy breaches, exposure of children’s location, doxxing (malicious release of personal data), or use of images without permission.
- Safety and wellbeing risks
Livestreams can potentially amplify:
- Mocking, teasing or criticism of young players
- Bullying or harassment in comments
- Discriminatory remarks (racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia)
- Contact from adults seeking to groom or exploit children
- Circulation of harmful moments (e.g. injuries, violent conduct, heated disputes)
- Abuse or harassment directed at participants, including from viewers linked to betting activity
This may lead to harms like emotional distress, humiliation, online abuse, or child safety risks.
- Content, reputational and community risks
Livestreams may capture:
- Offensive language or inappropriate conduct
- Sensitive or traumatic incidents (injury, fights)
- Controversial decisions (e.g. refereeing calls) that later get reshared
- Footage that can be manipulated, including through deepfakes
This may lead to harms like reputational damage, conflict within the club, or conflict escalation on social media.
- Integrity and corruption risks
Easily accessible livestreams can:
- Support the creation and expansion of betting markets
- Increase interest from unregulated international betting markets
- Increase visibility of matches, including lower-level competitions, which may be targeted for betting or other improper purposes
- Provide opportunities for people to approach participants for match manipulation
This may lead to harms such as reputational damage, integrity concerns and criminal activity affecting community sport.
Top tip!
We recommend you first check in with your national or state peak body. Some sport organisations in Australia have livestreaming guidance for community clubs. This may include platforms and rules of use.
Laws and rules – what you need to know before getting started
Before livestreaming, it’s important for your committee to understand the legal, policy and platform requirements that apply to your club or association. You don’t need to be a legal expert — but you do need to be aware of the basics.
Laws and platform requirements
Surveillance device laws
Filming without venue permission or recording and publishing private audio or conversations without consent, may breach surveillance device legislation in your state or territory.
Privacy laws and your organisation’s policy
Personal information must be collected and used in line with Australian privacy laws and your organisation’s privacy policy. Images and audio may constitute personal information under privacy laws.
Copyright laws
Footage featuring copyrighted music, logos or images without permission may breach copyright law or the platform’s terms of use. This can lead to your livestream being flagged or your channel being shut down.
Platform terms and conditions
Platforms may remove content or suspend accounts if livestreams contain offensive, defamatory or inappropriate material. Clubs may also face complaints or legal action if harmful content is broadcast or left unmoderated.
Sport policies
Most National Sporting Organisations adopt the National Integrity Framework, which includes policies that apply directly to livestreaming:
- Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy
- Participant or Member Protection Policy
- Competition Manipulation and Sports Betting Policy
- Improper Use of Drugs and Medicine Policy
- Complaints, Disputes and Discipline Policy
These policies set out conduct expectations for everyone involved in sport and apply to both in‑person and online environments
What this means for your club is that:
- Livestreaming activities must comply with your sport’s safeguarding, conduct and integrity requirements
- Issues such as online abuse, discrimination, bullying or suspicious behaviour may trigger a policy response
- Clubs should know who to contact in their sport for guidance, reporting or issues escalation
