Running a Club Event

Most of what a club runs isn't a normal Tuesday on the lawn. It's a working bee, an open day, a social afternoon, or a club tournament. None of that needs a lawyer in the room. It does need a committee that has thought about three things before the day arrives: who is coming, what happens if someone gets hurt, and who else needs to know it's on.

Come & Try sessions are their own thing, with their own booking system and their own guide. See how Come & Try works. This page is about everything else: the working bee, the open day, the Christmas function, the club championship.

You're already protected, here's how

A committee member organising a genuine club event, acting in good faith and in the club's interest, is protected from personal civil liability under s.39 of the Civil Liability Act 2003 (Qld). If a decision about the event turns out badly, the claim runs against the club rather than against you personally, provided you were acting honestly, not recklessly, and through the club's normal process.

That protection is backed by CAQ's V-Insurance policy. Public liability cover applies when a guest, someone who isn't a financial member, such as an open-day visitor or a tournament spectator, is injured on club grounds or by a club activity. It does not cover members' own playing injuries, which sit under personal accident cover instead.

Before the day: a short checklist

Nothing here is complicated, but skipping a step is how a good event turns into an awkward one.

1. Put it on the calendar early. Clubs that run a steady program of events generally have one person or a small subcommittee planning a year ahead, so members get real notice rather than a last-minute notice on the board.
2. Know roughly who's coming. A simple RSVP or sign-up sheet, on a noticeboard or in your club's booking system, whatever you already use, tells you how much to cater, how many volunteers you need on the day, and who to contact if the event changes.
3. Think through what could go wrong. A working bee with ladders and power tools carries different risks to a social afternoon tea. CAQ's Event Risk Assessment Template exists for exactly this. It doesn't need to be long, just honest about the actual hazards of the actual event.
4. Tell people who need to know. That might be your insurer if the event is out of the ordinary, your council if you're using outdoor space differently, or simply the rest of the committee, so a decision on the day isn't one person acting alone.
5. Collect any fees properly. If money changes hands, entry fees, a raffle, catering costs, run it through the club's normal financial process rather than a cash tin nobody reconciles.

If something does go wrong

Notify first, gather details second. If a guest is injured, or anything happens that could turn into a claim, call V-Insurance straight away rather than waiting to see how serious it looks. The number is on the Insurance page. Write down what happened while it's fresh: who was there, what occurred, what was done about it. That record is also what proves the good-faith protection above actually applies to you.

The part that isn't paperwork

Committees that run this well tend to share the load rather than leaving it to whoever volunteered first. A small group works out the year's events, someone owns each one on the day, and the rest of the committee knows enough to help if it's needed. The paperwork above takes an hour. The welcome someone gets when they turn up is the part that actually brings them back.