Every club, from the smallest rural bowls organisation to SANFL giants, are being asked to appoint a “responsible officer” to deal with occupational health and safety.

This officer will take on personal responsibility for the club and can be criminally liable if something goes wrong. However, if the club can’t find someone willing to take on the role, the whole “body corporate” can be prosecuted for not making an appointment.

“Our concern is that the legislation might be onerous on volunteers and that maybe people won’t put their hands up for roles if they have to comply,” said Ben Scales, general manager of Bowls SA.

Many clubs run solely by volunteers previously believed they didn’t need a responsible officer, but SafeWork SA recently clarified the requirement. Any club which engages in a business activity, such as renting out grounds or operating a bar, must make someone accountable.

“The public policy objective behind such a step is to ensure that responsibility for safety can be attributed to a natural person, rather than just to a legal entity,” states the SafeWork SA website.

Clubs, particularly those in rural areas run by volunteers, are worried their members won’t want to make themselves vulnerable to criminal prosecution. The cost of training is also an issue for smaller associations.

“We believe everyone should work toward having a safe place to work – that’s a good thing. But there’s no reason it should have to cost them hundreds of dollars,” said the CEO of Sports SA, Jan Sutherland.

“There must be another way to make workplaces and sports clubs safer without charging hundreds of dollars.”

Sports SA will be lobbying the Government to cover the cost of training for community clubs in the run-up to the election, but there is no prospect of amendments to protect volunteers from criminal liability.

Many of the small sporting clubs which keep rural communities alive are staring down a conundrum: sacrifice one volunteer or put the whole club in jeopardy.