Risk Management
Introduction
Providing a safe environment for participants in sports is a major challenge for any
association. Risk management, while being good practice, also helps ensure that a safe
environment is achievable and sustainable. A risk management plan is all about being
aware of what may happen and taking steps to limit the chances of something going
wrong, or deciding that your Association accepts that something may occur and your
Association is prepared for the consequences.
Undertaking a structured approach to risk management demonstrates to insurers and
others that your Association has a transparent process. This shows how your Association
reached the decision to accept or not to accept certain risks. It also gives you a systematic
approach to identifying and managing risk factors so that your Association can direct your
resources towards the area where they will be most effective.
A risk management plan is a sign of good management practise, it also provides structure
and form to the decision making processes. Some good reasons to manage risks include:
 helps with strategic planning
 reduces unexpected and costly surprises
 more effective and efficient allocation of resources
 better results from projects and programs
 assists you to clearly define insurance needs
 better information for decision making
 compliance with regulatory requirements
 assists in preparation for auditing
 lessening risk encourages more people to participate in your activity
 balancing opportunity and risk
 assists you to obtain insurance cover
When to have a Risk Management Plan
It is important to have a Risk Management Plan addressing possible risks in standard, dayto-day, operations (e.g. regular court use, club maintenance, etc), as well as risks
associated with home and away competitions. Additionally, you need to make a Risk
Management Plan for any new project, event or initiative (e.g. court resurfacing,
constructions or expansions). Because of this, Risk Management is an ongoing process that
is applied to all aspects of operations. To assist in developing a Risk Management Plan, a
basic template has been provided by Netball Queensland. At the end of the document a
page for signatures is provided, this is necessary as it shows the support and approval of
the document by the committee.
Risk Response Planning
Each major risk (those identified as high or significant risks) will be assigned to a member
for monitoring purposes to ensure that the risk does not fall through the cracks, and cause
more problems down the track.
RISK MANAGEMENT
Why do we need a Risk Management Plan?
For each major risk, one of the following approaches will be selected to address it:
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avoids – eliminates the threat by eliminating the cause
mitigates – identifies ways to reduce the probability or the impact of the risk
accepts – nothing will be done
transfers – makes another party responsible for the risk (buy insurance,
outsourcing, etc)
Risk Monitoring, Controlling and reporting
The level of risk should be monitored throughout the year. It is advised that a “Top 10 Risk
list” be maintained by the committee.
Tools and Practices
RISK MANAGEMENT
The identification of risks will involve the committee and appropriate stakeholders, and
will include an evaluation of environmental factors, organisational culture and standard
practices. Careful attention will be given to deliverables, assumptions and constraints. All
the Risks identified will be assessed to identify the range of possible outcomes. This will
determine which risks are the top risks to pursue and respond to.