totally agree - but BSA tend not to enforce such options - coaches passes / pay if not got pass that was abused /
unregistered equals unregistered player simple

Anon,
there is no cost associated with a police clearance certificate for volunteers. SAPOL allocates all volunteer organisations a code which is put on the form and signed by BSA. They present the form to the local Cop Shop, prove who they are and so the only "cost" is their time.

993,
That is so true. Police checks are not the be all and end all and there would be a number of nasties who have been clever enough not to get caught. However, it is the current, recognised way of doing things at the moment. While it sounds a little box tickish, it is a way that organisations have to prove due dilligence.

Totally agree JT.

Every team and therefore their club should also look to have an additional "registered" assistant coach/parent for each team should the nominated coach not be able to do so for any various number of reasons.

I might also add though, the main concerns about coaches centre more around the training sessions rather than the games. At games you are likely to have a number of parents around as well, whereas at training usually the parents drop their kids off and are not seen again until it is time to pick them up.

It's not a case about forcing coaches and therefore the clubs to comply - you either comply, or you have no team due to the laws in this country surrounding working with children.

In Victoria, it goes one step further, coaches have to complete a "Working with children" check that incorporates a police check. Without it, you cannot work with children either in a paid or volunteer capacity at all - this includes coaches of sporting teams across all sports. If you don't have it done, you don;t get to coach or work with kids...

Clubs and the sport of basketball in general need to limit their liability, because if something bad happens (heaven forbid), the club affected will go down very quickly for allowing it to happen.

In South Australia this is what is required:

"Under the Children's Protection Act (Section 8B) people in SA who work in jobs which require regular contact with children are required to obtain police clearance before they commence employment."

To clarify further, if a club appoints a coach - whether in a volunteer capacity or not - the law will deem it as 'employment' (whether paid or not).

Care for Kids link (highlights requirements for each satte of Australia): http://linky.com.au/3w8su

025,
Parents are responsible for their kids, but when you have custody of their kids in an official capacity you are in loco parentus.

I believe that there is a leniency period (first 5 weeks?), but after that there is a fine of $50 per coach not registered. This should make some clubs react.

056,
forget about the political correctness and the rest. The issue is that there is a process in place and whether the process is correct is not the issue.
The issue is that the process is not followed. If you aren't going to follow through with something, then don't do it.

If Coaches are supposed to go through a registration process and they don't, why have the process in the first place?

If you're an unregistered player and play, you cost your team a forfeit. If you are an unregistered coach, there is no consequence and this just makes a mockery of the process.

These days I am involved in teaching karate and the conditions are no different. i have recently renewed my National Police Certificate and as part of completing a Community Coaching Certificate have also received a Clearance from the Catholic Police Check Unit. Neither cost me anything except filling in the NPC form and visiting the local Police station with the required ID items, including photo ID. The State Government covered the fees as a volunteer community organisation, exactly as mentioned above.

What are they worth - well as the NPC states "In the absence of fingerprints being supplied for positive identification, the following details are supplied on a name check basis only."

The Catholic check states "Please note that other screening processes such as reference checks may also be required and that this police check clearance is only one part of the screening process and does not guarantee automatic clearance for employment or acceptance as a volunteer."

What both do is provide a starting point and at least give a level of security to the organisation that is following the laid down procedures.

If a Club is not making the effort to ensure that these FREE checks are being made, than they are not providing a duty of care to their youngsters and their parents. There is no excuse for Clubs, basketball or any other junior organisation, from following these simple processes - woe be the committee who does not do this and then has an incident. It is on their heads.

That would make kids go play other sports Jack.

What would happen if Centrals had 4 teams who at the start of the season didn't have registered coaches?

4 teams worth of kids quitting the sport.

Sure fine the club, but give them 5 weeks and then give them an incentive if they comply quickly.

But stopping kids from playing basketball because of beaurocracy that wont actually have any effect of stopping the people from coaching that it is designed too, is just plain dumb.

That said I would expect something that dumb to be implemented by BSA.

Because of people like you.

Yeah, yeah Triton I am an ar&$hole - we all are. You miss my point. If there is a system and rules in place they need to be enforced. If they are not enforced, don't have them.

292092 - a little bit of time and effort yes at some financial cost to a club, but to ensure a club is as compliant as they possibly can be according to current legislation, and to minimise the risk of something happening to a child. Will it stamp of child abuse completely - no of course not - but then again, nothing will. Nobody can preictc what someone may do in the future. Nobody truly knows ones intentions except for the person themself. We only have past history to go on. But what is the cost of not doing anything? Are you willing to do nothing and risk the life and wellbeing of a child, and also the long-term financial viability fo your club? Because if something were to happen and due diligence was not taken, the club leaves themselves open to litigation as well.

It's nmot a big assumption to suggest the process improves child safety. By completing a police check as part of the process, at least you are immediately ruling out anyone that has a previous criminal conviction relevant and/or serious enough that that should preclude them from working with children. this is a pretty big step IMO at improving a child's safety and limited a club's risk. Take this checking away and it allows the opportunity for previous offenders with criminal histories to work with children.

And who said the sport has been ruined because of this requirement? In Victoria alone, basketball continues to go from strength to strength at grass roots junior level. EVERY junior sport and activity is impacted by these requirements - it is not just limited to basketball!

Since you have chimed in, what do you propose should happen then? What is your suggested solution since you feel so strongly about it?

IMHO checks are an absolute necessity. So too is the leniency period and some common sense. In my experience, getting clearances can be fairly quick but also can be much delayed depending on the time of year you apply and the type of clearance you are applying for. It is conceivable, for example, that a coach is appointed at the beginning of a season and has not previously had a police check and so immediately applies for one. It is quite possible that he/she could still be waiting for said clearance five weeks later. Would it be fair to punish this coach and his/her team?

So what policies are in place for club administrators to report sexual abuse of a junior player at a club? Warn the coach that people are talking about him and dont have anymore sleepovers, or PICK UP THE PHONE AND NOTIFY THE POLICE THAT THIS COACH SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED.
Get your head out of the sand and wake up!
A certain club was warned by numerous parents about a coach yet he was still allowed to coach juniors. They should have stopped him 2 years before something was done, saving at least 1 young person from the abuse. At least these kids had the intelligence to speak out and save potential future abuse victims.
1 less predator involved in this great sport who gets to spend the next 10 years in gaol thinking about his disgraceful behaviour.

But stoping kids from playing because at game 1 a coach hasn't completed their "play by the rules" would be stupid overkill.

No one is saying police checks shouldn't occur. Just that they wont stop the issue.

What is being said is that stopping kids from playing is not necessary and people who think it is, should take a long hard look at themselves.

Triton - I think you'll find that police checks are a legal requirement for anyone working with kids. Certainly that's been the case whenever I've had to go interstate with representative teams.

The issue has been raised frequently in the context of activities like Little Athletics, where parents have to supervise groups of children. That activity can't function without this parental involvement and there have been a number of articles in the press about the impracticability of ensuring every parent has a police check before they are allowed to help. It would kill Little Athletics overnight.

I expect basketball is required to comply in the same way as Little Aths and all other organised children's activities requiring adult supervision. The issue for sporting bodies like BSA and clubs is whether they are rigorous in administering the requirement or not. So far, many sports and clubs, like Little Aths, have been less than rigorous except at the elite or professional levels (i.e., paid administrators, scorers and coaches; and volunteer officials with representative teams).

The crunch will come if there is ever a case where a person without a police check is proven to have abused a child in their care and the parents (or child in their later years perhaps), decide to sue the organisation that allowed the person to work with the child. Given the foresee-ability of the risk and the availability of the police check process, there's little doubt the organisation would be found liable.

On that front, directors (i.e., board or managing committee members) of clubs and BSA probably would be seen as not fulfilling their role with the due care and diligence required under the Associations and Incorporations Act if they didn't implement these child protection policies.

BTW Triton - my previous post should not be taken as support for the effectiveness of police checks as a preventive measure in relation to child abuse. I don't know whether it's effective or not. From my experiences, it does add considerably to administrative burden and makes it harder to recruit volunteers to help in children's activities, as stated by a previous poster. It is one of many layers of additional bureaucratic procedures and requirement that have evolved over the last 30 years in organised sport, many of which mean significant financial burden if you want to volunteer. These have discourages and frustrated volunteer recruitment. Quite a few stem from the Australian Sports Commission's bureaucracy and focus on high performance. I believe that body has a lot to do with why volunteer involvement in Australian sport has fallen since the early 1990s.

What is all the fuss about. Any decent run Club (that may be a big ask) should include the requirements for a Police Check in their Coaches Application pack as a pre-requirement for applying for the position in the first place. Alternatively, it should be stated that the submission of a Police check should be a requirement before the Coach takes up their position.

In South Australia, it is FREE for registered organisations, the imposition on the applicant is to fill in the form, take their birth certificate, drivers licence, a Medicare card or similar items to cover the 100 points to their local Police Station and the NPC certificate is returned usually between 7-10 days. The 30 minutes of my life that this simple task took is hardly an imposition, especially as over half of that 30 minutes was driving to and from the local station. The clearance lasts for 3 years. As previously stated by another poster, people under 18 usually do not have to provide a clearance.

As far as protection goes, it doesn't if people have changed their names or haven't been caught or reported. The chances of this happening are slim as most people involved in junior coaching have their own children participating.

Unfortunately we do not live in a perfect world where every one is safe and free to do what they want. We also live in a world where the American way of sue first and think afterwards is starting to come to Australia. The incorporation rules on any body, especially volunteer based, place a big resposibility on their elected officials. Would you pt your house at risk just because you are not prepared to follow and enforce a few simple requirements.

Police check is one way. Yet we have all witnessed coaches talk to the young players in a way that if it was done in the shopping centre they would arrested for child abuse.
This does not stop that.
But when you see presidents of clubs that coach in this matter to young players (like at southern), this then is just the acceptable standard set for basketball.
And basketball would be wrong, this is not acceptable to young players at anytime.

It's a box that needs to be ticked!

As part of teacher's registration, each teacher pays for a police clearance.