AUSTRALIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sven Burchartz and Jessica Bell, Kalus Kenny Intelex
3. Sports Events 3.1 Proprietary Rights and Event Management
• codes of conduct and integrity policies; • disciplinary frameworks; • anti-doping policies; and • athletes, officials and teams must agree to the rules of the relevant sport as a condition of partici - pation. 3.2 Duty of Care and Liability Duty of Care In Australia, a legal person may be held liable for their failure to take reasonable care to avoid causing injury or loss to another person (negligence). One of the key requirements in proving that a person has been neg - ligent is to show that the “negligent” person owed a duty of care to the person who was ultimately harmed, or who suffered a loss. Although the tort of negligence and the principle of a duty of care were traditionally developed in Australia by way of the common law, each state and territory has legislated (to varying degrees) in relation to the general concept, such as the Wrongs Act 1958 (Vic). Each Act supplements the common law by addressing the standard of care, causation and available defenc - es. In practice, sports event organisers generally owe a duty of care to participants, staff and spectators. Athletes also owe a duty of care to event attendees and can be liable if they create unnecessary risk to spectators, or engage in deliberately violent or reck - less behaviour. Limiting Liability Liability in negligence can be limited by agreement between the relevant parties, including through partic - ipant agreements, disclaimers and contractual waiv - ers for spectators, often included in ticket terms and conditions. Any agreement should explicitly identify the limitation or exclusion of certain liability, as broad wording such as “all liability is excluded” will not ordinarily be con - strued by Australian courts to apply liability limitations or exclusions to liability for negligence. Liability That Cannot Be Excluded Under Australian law, event organisers cannot exclude liability for:
The High Court of Australia in Victoria Park Racing & Recreation Grounds Co Ltd v Taylor [1937] HCA 45 found that, while event organisers may make a profit by charging entrance to a private area in which a spectacle (ie, a sporting event) is being held, no proprietary rights exist in the spectacle itself. Organisers of sporting events must then find different ways to control rights at a particular sporting event. As sporting events are generally held on private prop - erty, event organisers have the right to issue admis - sion requirements for attendees. Each state and territory in Australia has its own statu - tory regime that prohibits the unauthorised broadcast - ing of sporting events. For example, in Victoria, Sec - tions 43 and 44 of the Major Events Act 2009 (Vic) make it a crime to broadcast, telecast, videotape or record a sporting event without prior authorisation from the organisers. In addition, the Australian Con - sumer Law provides consumer protection by regu - lating misleading and deceptive conduct and unfair contract terms. Work health and safety, liquor, secu - rity and public order laws also govern large events, while privacy legislation applies to the collection and use of attendee data, including CCTV and ticketing information. Management of Sporting Events Each state and territory in Australia has legislated independently on the issue of event organisation, management and supervision. In recent years, a num - ber of legislative repeals have been enacted to better protect the interests of event organisers, including in relation to ticket sales and resales, particularly in rela - tion to ticket scalping, as outlined in 2.1 Available
Sports-Related Rights . Governing Participation
Participation in sport is governed by competition rules and regulations set by the relevant sporting body, eli - gibility criteria, qualification pathways, and compli - ance with anti–doping rules. By way of example:
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