Sport and the Law (Australia)
A CONTEMPORARY LAW REFORM ISSUE:
SPORT AND THE LAW
(Word Count: 1012)
Sport is an important part of Australian culture with a long history dating back to the 1800’s. We have progressed immensely since then and we now have numerous of professional sporting leagues in Australia for example; the A-League, Rugby League and AFL. Sport has always been Australia’s pride and passion as we have competed in many international levels including the Olympics and the Commonwealth games.
‘Sport law’ is there to promote safety, provide medical attention to the injured, to assess the behaviour of players on and off the field and to make sure there is equality and fairness amongst individuals. But with Sport there has to be Law Reform. Law Reform is the process of examining existing laws with the objective of enhancing justice by implementing changes to keep up with the ever changing society. As sport is constantly changing, Law Reform has to be in place to enforce balance within these changes. In this Contemporary Law Reform Issue we look at the conditions, agencies, mechanisms and the effectiveness of Law Reform in sport.
Conditions
A breach of contract is one condition that gives rise to law reform. Athletes who are considered ‘employees’ are needed to sign contracts that legally bind their services to a club and a competition as this refrains them from playing for more than one club. Sonny Bill Williams is an example of a person breaking a contract in the sporting world. He was earning $450 000 per year from the Canterbury Bulldogs but in 2008 he left them and then moved to France to play Rugby Union. Since most contracts contain ‘get out’ clauses just in case the players get injured or they perform badly, in this case there was no ‘get out’ clause so legally he wasn’t permitted to play for France. The Bulldogs and the NRL then obtained an injunction which prevented Sonny from playing overseas. A settlement was eventually reached between Williams and the
SPORT AND THE LAW
(Word Count: 1012)
Sport is an important part of Australian culture with a long history dating back to the 1800’s. We have progressed immensely since then and we now have numerous of professional sporting leagues in Australia for example; the A-League, Rugby League and AFL. Sport has always been Australia’s pride and passion as we have competed in many international levels including the Olympics and the Commonwealth games.
‘Sport law’ is there to promote safety, provide medical attention to the injured, to assess the behaviour of players on and off the field and to make sure there is equality and fairness amongst individuals. But with Sport there has to be Law Reform. Law Reform is the process of examining existing laws with the objective of enhancing justice by implementing changes to keep up with the ever changing society. As sport is constantly changing, Law Reform has to be in place to enforce balance within these changes. In this Contemporary Law Reform Issue we look at the conditions, agencies, mechanisms and the effectiveness of Law Reform in sport.
Conditions
A breach of contract is one condition that gives rise to law reform. Athletes who are considered ‘employees’ are needed to sign contracts that legally bind their services to a club and a competition as this refrains them from playing for more than one club. Sonny Bill Williams is an example of a person breaking a contract in the sporting world. He was earning $450 000 per year from the Canterbury Bulldogs but in 2008 he left them and then moved to France to play Rugby Union. Since most contracts contain ‘get out’ clauses just in case the players get injured or they perform badly, in this case there was no ‘get out’ clause so legally he wasn’t permitted to play for France. The Bulldogs and the NRL then obtained an injunction which prevented Sonny from playing overseas. A settlement was eventually reached between Williams and the