By CroquetClaude · 3 min read
Do members need to sign in?
No. Members don't need to sign in, for insurance or any CAQ reason. Visitors who aren't members must be recorded before they play.
No. Members do not need to sign in, for insurance or for any CAQ reason. That covers anyone registered with an Australian croquet club, in any state. If your club keeps a sign-in book, members sign it only if they want to.
Visitors who are not members are different. Write them down before they play.
Why members are covered
Your club's insurance is Croquet Australia's national program, arranged by V-Insurance Group. Its Individuals Summary of Cover covers all registered members during sanctioned croquet activities. On a personal accident claim form, the club confirms the person was a registered member and the activity was sanctioned. No V-Insurance summary or claim form says a member must be signed in.
The CAQ management committee agreed on 24 March 2026 that "members are covered regardless, when engaged in croquet activities". When CAQ asked V-Insurance again in September, the broker replied that the questions were "best addressed by Croquet Australia" because they "relate more to CA internal procedures/requirements than insurance". The only written rule we found about recording anyone is Croquet Australia's, and it is about visitors.
More on the cover: What your insurance covers.
Visitors: record them before they play
A visitor nobody wrote down loses their own accident cover. All that is left is the club's public liability, which only pays if the club is at fault. Croquet Australia's Temporary Member Policy sets the rules, and the CAQ Club Administration Handbook 2026, s.12 asks clubs to follow it.
- Who: Come & Try visitors, beginners at lessons, guests at a club hire who play, and players from overseas.
- What: full name, club, date, email or phone, and the type of session. Leaders of school and corporate groups give their details too.
- When: at the start of their first session, by Croquet Australia's QR code or by hand. For a club hire, a guest list from the organiser is fine.
- How often: up to 6 visits in a calendar year. After that they need to join.
- Keep it: for at least a year, somewhere safe. Send hand-kept records to Croquet Australia each quarter. You don't need to send QR code records.
How Come & Try works walks through a session from sign-up to play.
The law
No Queensland law makes members sign in.
| Law | What it asks for |
|---|---|
| Associations Incorporation Act 1981 (Qld) s.69A(1)(d) and Model Rules, rule 13 | A register of members: names, addresses, dates joined and left. Not attendance. |
| CAQ Constitution, cl 7(14)-(15) | A register of clubs and registered players. Not attendance. |
| Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (Qld) s.5(7)-(8) | A volunteer association with no paid staff is not a business or undertaking under the Act. |
| Building Fire Safety Regulation 2008 (Qld) ss.45, 46, 55 | Records of evacuation drills and fire safety maintenance. Not a list of who is on site. |
| Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) ss.6C, 6D | Most clubs are too small to be covered ($3 million turnover or less), unless they provide a health service. |
| COVID-19 check-in | Ended on 31 October 2022. |
Liquor licences
The Liquor Act 1992 (Qld) only matters if your club has a liquor licence or permit. It is about the bar, not insurance.
- Community club licence: a visitor who comes to play, with the committee's OK and after paying any usual fee, counts as a member for the day (s.77(6)). So they do not go in the guest register (s.79(4)). That register is not being enforced until 31 March 2027 (Office of Liquor and Gaming Regulation).
- Restricted liquor permit: the guest register (s.103M(1)(d)) has no exception for visiting players (s.103M(3A)), and the 2027 pause does not cover permits.