Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Deputy Manager of Opposition Business in the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In 2006 a group of mates in Nana Glen decided to play some touch football on the town’s new oval. They put up a notice at the general store and started to play during the daylight saving hours. A local community member, Andrew Palmer, would bring along some markers and a football and the group would play for as long as they liked. It proved to be a great way to meet other people and build community spirit. There had never previously been any organised games. There was no fee to play and there was no requirement that you turn up every week. After more and more people began to play, the issue of insurance was raised. According to a local council, the football players are not covered by the council’s casual use insurance because they use the facility more than 12 times a year. The group was told to speak with the local touch football association about insurance, but of course this would have meant formalising the games with registration fees, and that was going to defeat the purpose of the afternoon get-together.

Mr Palmer contacted me about the situation and I contacted the Minister for Youth and Minister for Sport on his behalf. Unfortunately, the minister did little other than to suggest that Mr Palmer should contact the official touch football association—which would have meant, of course, a formal competition and paying fees et cetera—or perhaps linking up with a local church or charity. Friends and families should be able to use public facilities for social purposes without fear of being sued. The whole point of this type of arrangement is the community getting together to have fun without fear of legal obligation and without being obliged to attend and become part of some formalised competition. In these games that are carried on at Nana Glen, no-one really cares about the score or who wins or loses. Everyone is having a good time, everyone is getting some exercise, everyone wins, but at no cost. That is the thing: in regional and rural areas, where people are doing it tough, to have affordable entertainment is certainly something that should be pursued—and free is certainly as affordable as you can get.

This situation is not isolated. There are similar situations occurring right across the nation—this sort of social interaction is being denied because of a lack of insurance. It really raises the question: if a mother takes her child to a playground once a week—that is far more than 12 times a year—is there some form of legal liability starting to accrue in this case? I think it is important that the government investigate ways to facilitate such sorts of informal gatherings without the need for formal registration, without the need for fees to be paid so that the community can get together on a social basis without fear of being sued and without having to pay money for the privilege of doing so. I certainly congratulate Andrew Palmer on his efforts in starting what was a great local community movement. I regret that the rigidities of the insurance system are making it so hard for the Nana Glen community.