The Softball Australia Constitution gives the Directors the powers to make and amend policies (by-laws). These policies are supplemented by guidelines. Together they support the responsible and professional governance and management of Softball and are essential tools in our risk management strategy and compliance regime.

• Anti-Doping Policy
• Australian Championship Regulations
• Australian Team Policy
• Clearance and Permits Policy
• eCommunications Policy
• Hot Weather Guidelines
• Lightning Strikes Guidelines
• Member Protection Policy
• Member Recognition Policy
• Pregnancy Guidelines
• Privacy Policy
• Risk Management Guidelines
• Tours and Tournament Policy
• Website Terms of Use

Anti-Doping Policy

Softball Australia is a signatory to the ASADA policies on drugs. We condemn doping as fundamentally contrary to the spirit of sport. The purpose of this Policy is to protect athletes’ fundamental rights to participate in doping-free sport and to ensure harmonised, coordinated and effective anti-doping programs at the international and national level with regard to the detection, deterrence and prevention of doping. Softball Australia's Anti-Doping Policy is aligned with the World Anti-Doping Code 2009. See also the World Anti-Doping Authority 2011 Prohitibited List. This List is updated annually.

Australian Championship Regulations

These Regulations cover the conduct of Australian championships, including:

• Host selection
• Event dates, venues, duration and draw
• Representative teams and uniforms
• Player qualifications and draft
• Handling of complaints and disputes
• Appointment of the chief statistician and Softball Australia representative
• Technical and team manager meetings
• Financial and insurance arrangements
• Rules for the championships

[Back to top]

Australian Teams Policy

This Policy governs the selection, management and conduct of Australian representative squads and teams, including:

• Appointment of selection panels
• Appointment of team staff
• Selection and removal of players
• Uniforms
• Financial arrangements

[Back to top]

Clearances and Permits Policy

This Policy governs Softball Australia's clearance and permits system. A clearance is an unconditional transfer of a member from one Member State to another. A permit is a conditional transfer of a member from one Member State to another.

[Back to top]

eCommunications Policy

The purpose of this Policy is to maximise the effectiveness and minimise the risks associated with electronic communications (eCommunications) by ensuring Softball Australia and our Member States, Associations and Clubs:

• Do not breach spam, privacy and copyright legislation
• Do not send inappropriate and unwanted ecommunications to members and non‑members
• Comply with best practice in regard to all ecommunications
• Get the best possible results from their ecommunications
• Use up-to-date member contact information when distributing ecommunications in order to minimise bounce-backs (non-delivery)
• Do not send multiple ecommunications to the same member on the same day from different senders
• Do not send ecommunications that might cause technical difficulties for recipients
• Do not put their technology systems at risk from viruses

This Policy defines the minimum standards for the administration and use of electronic communication technologies provided by or in use by Softball Australia. It follows best practice principles and has been established to comply with Softball Australia's Member Protection Policy and the following legislation:

• Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act)
• Spam Act 2003 (Cth) (Spam Act)
• Copyright Act 1968 (Copyright Act)

[Back to top]

Hot Weather Guidelines

Softball is a summer sport and as such it is inevitable that at times, games will be scheduled for play during extreme heat conditions. All officials, coaches, managers, captains and umpires owe a duty of care to players and officials and should take all reasonable steps to minimise foreseeable risks which may result in injury or damage. To assist organisations, officials, coaches and administrators when considering their duty of care responsibilities, Sports Medicine Australia – South Australia (SMA SA) has produced a set of guidelines and a checklist for reference, which Softball Australia has used to develop the Hot Weather Guidelines.

[Back to top]

Member Protection Policy

The safety and well-being of every member in the Australian Softball community is integral to the future of our sport. We must have practices and procedures that create safe, welcoming and enjoyable environments. We must meet legislative requirements, such as anti-discrimination and child protection laws. We must have processes to identify the potential for any incidents relating to harassment and abuse of our members and develop strategies to reduce the likelihood or severity of its occurrence.

Member protection involves:

• Protecting members from all forms of harassment, bullying, vilification, abuse and other forms of inappropriate behaviour
• Ensuring there no discrimination on the basis of gender, pregnancy, sexual preference, religion, ethnicity or disability
• Protecting the welfare and safety of children
• Ensuring the right people are involved in our organisation and in the sport
• Establishing codes of conduct for all softball participants including coaches, officials, players, administrators, parents, guardians and spectators
• Ensuring the appropriate disciplinary, complaint handling, investigative and appeals processes are in place

Softball Australia's Member Protection Policy has been developed in conjunction with the ASC. The cooperation of Member States, associations and clubs to effectively communicate and implement this Policy across all members is critical. Softball Australia takes all matters in relation to member protection seriously and will educate, enforce and assist with its delivery and implementation.

Member Protection Information Officers (MPIO) are appointed in each Member State to deal with complaints. MPIOs are trained to be the first point of contact for a person reporting a complaint under, or a breach of the Policy.

If you have a complaint, please refer to the list of MPIOs in Attachment E (page 60) of the Policy.

[Back to top]

Member Recognition Policy

Softball Australia recognises the outstanding contributions its members make to Softball through the presentation of awards and nomination for Australian and international awards, including:

• Softball Australia Life Membership
• Softball Australia Hall of Fame
• Softball Australia Awards of Excellence
• Softball Australia Service Awards
• Australian Honours
• ISF Hall of Fame

The Member Recognition Policy setsout the criteria and procedure for making these Awards.

[Back to top]

Pregnancy Guidelines

Softball Australia’s Pregnancy Guidelines have been prepared to assist in managing issues involving pregnancy amongst Softball players and officials. These Guidelines are based on the ASC's Pregnancy Guidelines which supports the position that the person in question should be given the opportunity to decide for herself, in consultation with her medical advisers, whether or not to participate in sport whilst pregnant.

[Back to top]

Privacy Policy

The purpose of the Privacy Policy is to communicate clearly how Softball Australia and our Member States, Associations and Clubs manage personal information. We are bound by the National Privacy Principles set out in Schedule 3 of the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and we view the proper management of personal information as a priority. We are strongly committed to protecting the privacy of all members and non-members who interact with us and access our website content, products and services.

[Back to top]

Risk Management Guidelines

These general guidelines examine how risk management can be applied to an organisation and its activities. In all cases a risk management plan must be specific to the particular Member States, Association or Club.

Risk management is a procedure to reduce potential legal liability. It is a proactive system which attempts to identify and address potential problem areas before they actually lead to reactively defending legal proceedings. The aim is a safer environment and "legally safer" operational procedures. Education of all people involved, their acceptance of the importance of risk management, and open communication of ideas is vital to a risk management plan’s success.

[Back to top]

Tours and Tournament Policy

TouTourTours and TournamentsTouInternational, overseas or interstate tours may only be arranged on terms and conditions specified by Softball Australia. The purpose of this policy is to provide a framework for:

• Inbound tours by international teams
• Outbound tours by Australian representative teams

[Back to top]

Website Terms of Use

The purpose of this document is to communicate clearly the terms and conditions under which the Softball Australia website is made available to visitors to our website. A person’s use of the website constitutes their agreement to all such terms.

The website is owned and operated by Softball Australia. Its use and the use of any data, images, services, tools, facilities and other information (material) regarding various programs, products, services and activities that are made available on the website is governed by the law of the State of Victoria. Material on the website is made available on the understanding that users will exercise caution with respect to its use. Before relying on material found on the website, users should carefully evaluate the accuracy, completeness and relevance of the information.

[Back to top]

Updated 27 February 2013