With over 1.8 million participants, football is Australia’s number one club-based participation sport.
At the heart of football in Australia is a love of the game and the connections created in our communities and clubs.
As well as being the biggest participation sport, we are also the most diverse with participants born in over 180 different countries.
Ensuring our sport strives to protect all our members from harm is critical for our game as we believe that everyone has the right to take part in football in a positive, safe environment. Whether you are club volunteer, referee, coach or player, your safety and welfare is paramount so that you can focus on enjoying the sport we all love.
Football Australia’s newly updated Member Protection Framework (MPF) is a suite of policies and resources that support our commitment to eliminating discrimination, harassment, child abuse and other forms of inappropriate behaviour from football.
The new MPF provides greater clarity and has addressed some of the inconsistencies in the previous Member Protection Policy document, particularly in relation to procedures for breaches of the policy.
The MPF covers:
- Safeguarding
- Bullying and Harassment
- Anti-Discrimination
- XI Standards of Respect
- Complaints Procedure
A comprehensive standalone Safeguarding Policy, which forms part of the MPF, has been developed in line with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations as endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments.
Meanwhile the updated Complaints Procedure provides clarity on how a complaint may be dealt with under the MPF and clarifies that Football Entities have the power to take disciplinary action under separate regulations, such as the National Code of Conduct and Ethics.
The MPF will be a growing source of information to support football administrators and participants alike in helping to address member protection matters in our sport. The MPF is supported by a confidential online reporting tool for any member protection matters arising at a national level to be reported to Football Australia.
We all have a responsibility to provide a positive, safe, and welcoming environment for each other in our game.
