Celebrating 22 years in Legal Practice
Stay connected with Navado:

Abuse and Harassment within a sporting club can have long lasting effects not only on the individual involved, but also for the sporting club. The effects of abuse and harassment can be low team morale, high turnover of members and volunteers, damage to the clubs reputation and image and legal liability for harm that may have been caused.

What is harassment?

In general terms, harassment can be behaviour by a person or organisation which:

  • Is abusive, belittling, threatening or offensive;
  • The behaviour is directed at another person or a group or people; or
  • The behaviour refers to a particular characteristic of a person or group of people.

Importantly, it is the point of view of the person who is the subject of the harassment that is relevant when determining whether the other person’s action or behaviour is considered to be harassment. The harassing behaviour is to be assessed objectively, meaning that it must be the type of behaviour that a reasonable person would find harassing.

What is Discrimination?

Broadly speaking, discrimination is treating a person less favourably than someone else in certain areas on the basis of an attribute or personal characteristic that the person has. These attributes and characteristics can include: 

  • Race;
  • Pregnancy;
  • Marital status;
  • Age;
  • Sex or gender;
  • Parental/carer status;
  • Political belief/activity;
  • Physical features;
  • Disability;
  • Sexual orientation;
  • Religious belief/activity; and
  • Transgender orientation.

The main activities where discrimination can occur in clubs are:

  • Provision of goods and services;
  • Selection of any person for a competition or team;
  • Entry of any player or other person to any competition;
  • Obtaining or retaining membership (including the rights and privileges of membership); and
  • Employment (including unpaid employment).

Navado’s experienced Sydney Sports Lawyers, Sydney Associations Lawyers and Sydney Charities Lawyers can provide you with legal advice if you have been the subject of behaviour that constitutes bullying or is harassing in nature; or if you have been discriminated against within your club. If you have been accused of harassing another person within your club it is important that you seek legal advice so that you are aware of your legal position.

At Navado, we have been providing high quality legal advice to our sporting and association clients for over a decade. You can meet with one of our sports lawyers or association lawyers in one of our offices located across the Sydney metropolitan area. If you would like to make an appointment with one of our experienced association lawyers or sport lawyers, do not hesitate to contact our firm on (02) 9233 4048 or email us at info@navado.com.au.

Bookmark and Share

This webpage (and any material or wording appearing on this webpage) is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute any Legal Advice. It does not take into account your objectives, your instructions or all of the relevant facts and/or circumstances. Navado accepts no responsibility to any person who relies on the information provided on this website. We further refer you to our Disclaimer.

Sorry, but no Articles are available at this time.

Sorry, but no FAQs are available at this time.

If you require assistance with a matter, you should make an appointment to see one of our Lawyers in one of the following locations:

  • Sydney

Our Locations

  • Associations Lawyer Sydney
  • Sports Lawyer Sydney
  • Charities Lawyer Sydney
  • Associations Lawyer Parramatta
  • Sports Lawyer Parramatta
  • Charities Lawyer Parramatta
  • Associations Lawyer North Sydney
  • Sports Lawyer North Sydney
  • Charities Lawyer North Sydney
  • Associations Lawyer Rockdale
  • Sports Lawyer Rockdale
  • Charities Lawyer Rockdale
  • Associations Lawyer Liverpool
  • Sports Lawyer Liverpool
  • Charities Lawyer Liverpool
  • Associations Lawyer Gordon
  • Sports Lawyer Gordon
  • Charities Lawyer Gordon
  • Associations Lawyer Baulkham Hills
  • Sports Lawyer Baulkham Hills
  • Charities Lawyer Baulkham Hills
  • Associations Lawyer Campbelltown
  • Sports Lawyer Campbelltown
  • Charities Lawyer Campbelltown
  • Associations Lawyer Bondi Junction
  • Sports Lawyer Bondi Junction
  • Charities Lawyer Bondi Junction
  • Associations Lawyer Chatswood
  • Sports Lawyer Chatswood
  • Charities Lawyer Chatswood
  • Associations Lawyer Miranda
  • Sports Lawyer Miranda
  • Charities Lawyer Miranda
  • Associations Lawyer Bella Vista
  • Sports Lawyer Bella Vista
  • Charities Lawyer Bella Vista
  • Associations Lawyer Erina
  • Sports Lawyer Erina
  • Charities Lawyer Erina
Quick enquiry
  • Request an appointment
Stay connected
Ask an expert