Club Information

Member protection is a term widely used in the Australian sports industry to describe the practices that sporting organisations put in place to protect their members from discrimination, harassment, abuse and other inappropriate behaviour. Member protection is important for any member-based club – both being proactive and reactive. It allows members to take part in activities in a positive and safe environment.

Each year, all SLS members sign the SLSA membership form which binds them to SLS policies such as the Member Protection and Child Safe policies.

The web pages below contain links to important information for clubs on child safety and member protection, current policies and the online complaints reporting system.
They are updated annually to ensure the information is always current.

https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/members/member-protection-and-complaints

https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/member-protection-in-surf-life-saving

https://www.surflifesaving.com.au/child-safety

Cooks Hill SLSC is committed to providing a safe, supportive, enjoyable environment for children through the SLSA Safeguarding Children and Young People Program and as outlined in the SLSA Child Safe Policy. The program recognises the importance of protecting young people under the age of 18 from abuse, harm and exploitation.

Resources, webinars and online training courses are available to every club member to establish clear guidelines for appropriate behaviour when engaging with children and young people. To learn more about how you can protect our children and young members, please read the Safeguarding Children handbook.

All Cooks Hill SLSC members who work with children and young people are required to complete the Surf Life Saving Safeguarding Children and Young People Awareness Course.

To ensure you are recognised for completing the course, please login to the Members Portal first. Access to the course can be found in Memberships > Courses > Login to ELearning > Training Library >  SLS > Safety and Wellbeing (View Courses) > Safeguarding Children and Young People Awareness.

Play by the Rules also offer a free Child Protection online course that provides a certificate of completion.

Social media offers the opportunity for Cooks Hill SLSC members and the broader community to gather in online groups of shared interest and create, share or consume content. As a member‐based organisation and together with Surf Life Saving Australia (SLSA), Surf Life Saving NSW (SLSNSW), Cooks Hill SLSC recognises the benefits of social media as an important tool of engagement and enrichment for our members.

We ask that you read and familiarise yourself with the included Social Media Policy.

• Respect the rights, dignity and worth of others
• Be fair, considerate and honest in all dealings with others, and be a positive role model
• Make a commitment to providing quality service
• Be aware of, and maintain an uncompromising adhesion to SLSA’s standards, rules, regulations and policies
• Demonstrate a high degree of individual responsibility especially when dealing with persons under 18 years of age
• Contribute to the provision of a safe environment to the conduct of all activities within surf lifesaving.

Surf Life Saving Team Leaders, Team Managers, Age Managers, Coaches, Officials, Athletes, Administrators/Directors/Officers and Parents/Guardians are also bound by additional Codes of Conduct depending on their roles within the organisation.