Nathan Cleary, Mary Fowler and Pat Cummins aren’t just some of the highest profile athletes in Australia. They’re some of the highest profile Australians - from any slice of society. That’s because they play sport (very well). And sport gets 23% of total Australian media coverage*.

It’s far and away Australia’s most covered sector.

This gives sport a sensational ability to promote itself through the media. But it also places a huge responsibility on sporting organisations to protect the young people that get dropped into the most intense of media spotlights.

And Australia’s sporting organisations are soon to receive very strong encouragement to get that balance right.

Sweeping changes to Australia's privacy laws - including increased penalties for privacy breaches - will shake up the way athletes and the media interact.

To help everyone get across what’s coming, and to be reminded of what’s already legally there, Game Legal has just published the research paper:

 

Athlete Rights & Information Privacy in Australian Sport

 

It was researched and written by Francis Awaritefe (Lawyer) and Mat Jessep (Principal Lawyer) and it outlines the major elements of the Australian privacy landscape that sporting organisations need to be aware of to manage and mitigate increasing risks.

 

Four BIG things your sporting organisation needs to know: 

The challenges of managing this space have been ramping up over the last few years as media disruption, and the rise of female athletes, have altered dynamics.

At the same time, Australian privacy regulators have been working hard to keep pace with a complex and rapidly-changing situation.

Their proposed reforms raise red flags around a number of existing athlete/media practices, including Australian sporting organisations circulating the personal contact information of athletes to provide remote media access to them.

The ‘Athlete rights’ paper highlights:

 

1. PRIVACY ACT

Reasons to read-up? The proposed reforms to Australia's Privacy Act will have significant implications for sporting organisations, athletes and the media, because the incoming laws are set to:

• grant individuals new rights
• expand the definition of "personal information"
• shift more of the burden to organisations, and
• increase penalties and enforcement powers for the privacy regulator

 

2. DUTY OF CARE

Reasons to read-up? Sporting organisations have a duty of care to ensure the wellbeing and safety of their athletes both on and off the field.

Key considerations of a duty of care include assessing what the sporting organisation is able to control and who is foreseeably at risk of suffering harm – including mental harm from disclosing personal information, such as phone numbers.

 

“Unwanted media attention and invasion of privacy can have a detrimental effect on an athlete's mental health, and it is the responsibility and well within the control of sporting organisations to protect them from this."

 

3. INFORMED CONSENT

Reasons to read-up? Informed consent is defined as the voluntary agreement of an individual after being adequately informed about the collection, use or disclosure of their personal information.

In the case of a sporting organisation disclosing an athlete’s phone number, the organisation should protect the privacy rights of their employees and ensure that they obtain informed consent before sharing any personal information. (An example of what Informed consent looks like in the athlete/media space is in the research paper).

 

“This means that individuals must be fully aware of what information is being collected, how it will be used and who it may be disclosed to."

 

4. INFORMATION HANDLING PRACTICES

Reasons to read-up? Athletes, and in many circumstances sporting bodies which collect, use and disclose personal information to third parties, may not be fully aware of the risks inherent in that entity’s information handling practices.

As a consequence of these practices and procedures, the athletes may be placed at risk of their labour, contractual, privacy, and human rights being violated - with possible flow-on effects to an athlete’s safety and mental wellbeing.

 

“These risks are heightened from a gender perspective in regard to women’s sport, as well as in regard to minors participating and competing in higher profile sport."

 

So, there’s plenty of change coming and Australian sporting organisations will need to future-proof their practices.

Both Game Legal (providers of legal advice and assistance) and Blinder (the only high-performance media interview system that respects and safeguards all parties) help elite Australian sporting organisations to do just that.

* Figures from Isentia (2022)