76002 Sports Law¹

Sport is a prominent feature of our national culture. In the past, law seemingly had little to do with sport, however, with the growth of sporting professionalism, the internationalisation of sport, media influences, sporting sponsorship and high-profile sporting cases, no longer can sport claim to be quarantined from the impact of the law. In this subject, students examine, to varying depths, such broad topics as: drugs in sport, crime and personal injury in sport, the sporting contract, marketing and sponsorship, employment and industrial relations, discrimination in sport, dispute settlement and sporting tribunals, insurance and risk management, sport and taxation, anti-competitive practices in sport, and business and organisational structures in sport.

Any sporting event may potentially generate a number of legal concerns, including: what rights of appeal exist for non-selected athletes, to whom does a team doctor owe their duty of care, are athletes illegally exploited by major sporting organisations, when can an athlete be criminally charged for violent acts, do sporting disciplinary tribunals function legally, how should the sporting organisation deal with claims of discrimination (for example, on the basis of pregnancy), are coaches and clubs legally liable for the actions of their athletes, is it legal to exclude an athlete or member of the public from a sporting venue, and when is a referee legally liable in tort.

We consider the law as it relates to sport in Australia and, in addition, several areas of international interest.

Footnote(s)

1. LLB students require a minimum weighted average mark (WAM) of 65 per cent to undertake this subject, calculated as SUM (credit points x mark)/total credit points. This requirement may be reviewed in future. If a student enrols with a WAM of less than 65 per cent they will be withdrawn from the subject after the last date to add subjects and consequently will not be able to enrol in an alternative subject in that semester.