THE UPWEY TECOMA FOOTBALL AND NETBALL CLUB
RACIAL AND RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE POLICY
Section 1
Commitment
1.1. The UTFNC is committed to an environment which
promotes racial and religious tolerance by prohibiting certain conduct and
providing a means of redress for victims of racial and religious vilification
and/or racial discrimination.
1.2. The Club is bound by the relevant state legislation
and the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth). This Policy is consistent with the Australian
Football League's own Racial and Religious Tolerance Policy. This Policy is not in substitution of the
legislation.
1.3 The Club will ensure that this Policy is
communicated to spectators and participants of the Club. It will also ensure that participants of the
Club receive anti-racial and religious vilification and racial discrimination
training on an annual basis.
1.4 Nothing in this Policy prevents a person lodging a
complaint in relation to racial and religious vilification and/or racial
discrimination under the legislation. In the event a complaint is made under
this policy the Club shall ensure that the parties are informed of their
rights.
Section 2
Definitions
In this Policy-
"complaints process" means
the procedure outlined in sections 6, 7 and 8 of this Policy.
"Club"
means the Upwey
Tecoma Football & Netball Club
“engage
in conduct” includes use of the internet or email to publish
or transmit statements or other material.
"League"
means the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football & Netball League.
"detriment" includes
humiliation and denigration.
"discrimination" means
for the purpose of this Policy, conduct based on a person's race, religion,
colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. Discrimination may be direct or
indirect. Direct discrimination means
treating or proposing to treat another person less favourably on the basis of a
person’s race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin. Indirect discrimination means imposing or intending
to impose a requirement that a person of a particular race, religion, colour,
descent or national or ethnic origin cannot comply with, but which a higher
proportion of people without that attribute (or with a different attribute)
can, when it is not reasonable in the circumstances to do so.
"participant"
includes a player, director, officer, employee, volunteer to and agent
of a Football Club that participates in the League.
"spectator"
is a person that attends a football game or event conducted by a Club or
the League.
Section
3 Prohibited Conduct
3.1 Racial and Religious
Vilification
No person in his/her capacity as a spectator or participant in the
League in the course of carrying out his/her duties or functions as or
incidental to being a participant in the League shall engage in conduct that
offends, humiliates, intimidates, contempts, ridicules, incites, threatens,
disparages, vilifies or insults another person on the basis of that person's
race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.
3.2 Serious
Racial and Religious Vilification
No person in his/her capacity as a spectator or
participant in the Club in the course of carrying out his/her duties of
functions as or incidental to being a participant in the Club shall
intentionally engage in conduct that he/she knows Is likely to incite hatred
against another person, or threaten physical harm or incite hatred in others to
cause physical harm to a person or to a person's property because of that
person's race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.
3.3 Racial and Religious discrimination
No person in his/her capacity as a spectator or participant in the Club
in the course of carrying out his/her duties or functions as or incidental to
being a participant in the Club shall engage in conduct that discriminates,
directly or indirectly against another person on the basis of that person's
race, religion, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin.
3.4 Victimisation
3.4.1 No person in his/her capacity as a
spectator or participant in the Club in the course of carrying out his/her
duties or functions as or incidental to being a participant in the Club shall
victimise another person.
3.4.2 A person will victimise another person
(the victim) if:
(a) the person subjects or threatens to
subject the victim to any detriment because the victim (or a person associated
with the victim) intends to or has lodged a complaint in contravention of this
Policy; or
(b) the person assists, requests, induces,
encourages or authorises another person to subject the victim to any detriment
because the victim (or a person associated with the victim) intends to or has
lodged a complaint in contravention of this Policy.
Section 4
Authorised Persons
4.1 The Club will appoint a Complaints
Officer to ensure that any breach of this Policy is responded to in an
equitable and prompt manner.
4.2 The President of the Club is the senior
decision-maker in the Club's Complaints Process. Therefore, should the President be absent for
a significant period, he/she must nominate a person to act on his/her behalf
should the process need to be enacted.
4.3 Section 5
Confidentiality and Records
5.1 Confidentiality must be maintained throughout the
complaints process. All parties to a complaint, the President (or Delegate),
the Club’s Complaints Officer, any witnesses and the Conciliator must all
agree, in writing, to the maintenance of confidentiality. No person involved in the complaints process
shall publicly comment on any aspect of the complaints process without the
prior written agreement of all parties.
5.2 The Club shall ensure that any
documents relating to a complaint shall remain confidential and be retained for
7 years from the date that the complaint is made.
Section 6 Inter club Breach of the Policy
In the event that it is
alleged that a spectator or participant from another Club has contravened this
Policy:
6.1 an Umpire, spectator or participant of
the Club may by 5.00pm on the first working day following the day on which the
contravention is alleged to have occurred, lodge a complaint in writing with
Complaint’s Officer of the Club;
6.2 the
Complaint's Officer of the Club where the complaint was made shall, by 5.00pm
on the next working day following the day that the complaint was lodged with
the Club, lodge the complaint with the League's Complaints Officer;
6.3 the
Club's Complaints Officer will take no further action once the complaint has
been lodged with the League unless otherwise instructed by the League's
Complaints Officer.
Section 7
Intra Club Breach of the Policy
In the event that it is alleged that a participant
of the Club has contravened this Policy an umpire, spectator or participant may
by 5.00pm on the first working day following the day on which the contravention
is alleged to have occurred, lodge a complaint in writing with the Club's
Complaints Officer.
Section 8
Management of Intra Club Complaints
The Club's Complaints Officer shall:
8.1 make
every effort to ensure that:
8.1.1 confidentiality is maintained at all times during
the complaints process and that the outcome of the complaints process remains
confidential;
8.1.2 any breach of confidentiality is referred to the Yarra
Valley Football & Netball League’s Tribunal no later than 5pm on the next
working day following the day that the breach was discovered;
8.2 inform the person alleged to have
contravened the Policy of the complaint and provide the respondent with an
opportunity to respond to it;
8.3 inform
only the President of the Club or Nominee, that a Complaint has been received
by the Complaints Officer;
8.4 obtain
written statements from any witnesses identified by both parties to the
complaint;
8.5 where
available, obtain any other evidence;
8.6 arrange
for the complaint to be conciliated, by an independent conciliator agreed upon
by both parties;
8.7 take all steps necessary for the complaint to be
conciliated within 5 working days from the day on which the incident is alleged
to have occurred;
8.8 refer
the complaint to the League's Tribunal:
8.8.1 when the complainant informs the Complaints Officer that the
matter has not been resolved through conciliation. The Complaints Officer will
if requested by the complainant, take all steps necessary for the complaint to
be referred to League's Tribunal within 5 working days from when the
conciliation failed;
8.8.2 directly when a respondent has previously taken part in
conciliation as a respondent of a complaint;
8.8.3 when both the Club's Complaints Officer and President have
determined that the complaint was lacking in substance and was made
vexatiously;
8.8.4 when both the Club's Complaints Officer and President determine
that under the relevant sections of the state legislation the complaint could
be considered as "serious", he/she will take all steps necessary for
the complaint to be referred to the League's Tribunal within 5 working days
from the day on which the incident is alleged to have occurred;
8.9 ensure
that any time limit referred to in this Policy may be extended by the Club if
in the opinion of the President of the Club it is just and equitable to do so;
8.10 ensure that where a matter is resolved by
conciliation the only public statement that shall be made shall be agreed to by
both parties to the complaint and the Club's President and that the terms of
any settlement are finalised to the satisfaction of the complainant and respondent
and signed by the parties and the conciliator.
Section 9
Club's Liability
The Club may be vicariously liable for conduct
engaged in by a participant which if found to have contravened this Policy, if
the Club is unable to establish that it took reasonable precautions to prevent
the participant from engaging in that conduct.
Section
10 Monitoring and Review of the Policy
The Policy will be monitored on an ongoing basis by
the Club's General Committee.
Section 11 Policy Commencement
This Policy was passed by the Club's General.
Committee on 13/03/2009 and will take effect from 14/03/2009
