The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) and Sport Australia welcome the release by National Cabinet of the National Principles for the Resumption of Sport and Recreation Activities, which provides the pathway for a safe return to sport.

The AIS played a central role in the development of these Principles and they align with the launch of The AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment.

The AIS team, led by Chief Medical Officer, Dr David Hughes, developed this Framework in collaboration with sport CMOs around Australia and in consultation with the Federal Government’s CMOs.  The Framework underpins the Principles, and has been adopted by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) and National Cabinet as the guide for the reintroduction of sport and recreation in Australia following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The AIS and Sport Australia will continue to work with the National Institute Network and National Sporting Organisations in implementing a safe return to training and competition activities. All sport and recreation resumption decisions should be based on State and Territory COVID-19 public health advice.

Find out more about ‘the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment’ by reviewing the linked documents below.

Sport Australia, in partnership with the State and Territory Agencies for Sport and Recreation have compiled a list of websites with the most up to date information to help sporting organisations undertake competitions and programs in a safe, responsible, and low risk manner.

COVID SAFE SPORT

Sports Trainers play a pivotal role in the health and safety of participants in all levels of sport, particularly at a community level.

In community sport settings, an Accredited Sports Trainer may be the highest trained individual available to attend to onsite athlete health and wellbeing and as such, may also be suitable to play the role of a COVID-19 safety coordinator. Suitable engagement of Accredited Sports Trainers will be essential in the safe return to sport in our current environment.

To successfully perform the role of Sports Trainer in a COVIDSAFE Australia, it is recommended that all Australian Sports Trainers follow a simple 4-step process. This is to ensure the safety of all athletes, support staff and community members.

It is very important that sporting organisations planning high performance camps have an appropriate COVIDSafe Plan to guide the behaviours of all team members, including athletes and officials.

These documents have been created by a working group including representatives from AIS, AOC, Paralympics Australia, Swimming Australia, QAS and Queensland Government. The documents provide guidance about the type of information that should be included in a COVIDSafe Plan for a high performance camp and/or for international travel.

The associated template documents allow sporting organisations to create their own, team-specific COVIDSafe Plan, utilising the guidance from the information documents. The content can be modified in the template, to suit the specific sport and the specific environment.

Evidence-based information on the Coronavirus (COVID-19) and high performance sport.

The following information outlines what athletes can expect now that  "JobKeeper" payments are now ending.  It also provides information on "JobSeeker" and other ways athletes and staff can access support.

The “JobKeeper” program ended on 28 March 2021. It had been operating since 9 April 2020 and provided government subsidies to businesses to help them retain employees throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. The government expects that by now most businesses will have recovered from the worst effects of COVID-19, and that employees should be able to return to working as they were before COVID-19, or close to it.

In summary: if you are an employee receiving “JobKeeper” benefits then those benefits and any JobKeeper related conditions (such as a requirement to work reduced hours) cease on 29 March 2021. If you have lost your job or your hours have been reduced so that you are earning little income, you may still be eligible to receive “JobSeeker” benefits.

Individuals are able to travel internationally, but the rules for other countries are ever changing in the pandemic environment. It is recommended that all athletes and other sport organisation personnel review the Australian government regulations for international travel requirements regularly prior to departing and whilst overseas. The federal government provides guidance on any restrictions in relation to international travel on the australia.gov.au website.

State and Territory governments have varying quarantine or isolation requirements for returning international travellers. All athletes and teams need to be aware of the state requirements before making travel arrangements and be aware that these are subject to change rapidly.

Based on their individual circumstances, sports should take prudent steps with regard to test events, international competitions and training camps. The Smart Traveller web page provides advice regarding the current travel advice for Australians. This will include an overall recommendation and specific note of COVID-19 contribution if this is applicable.

There are four levels of advice:

• Do not travel
• Reconsider your need to travel
• Exercise a high degree of caution
• Exercise normal safety precautions

The Smart Traveller site also has explanations of what this means for the general public.

Current advice is that fully vaccinated Australian citizens, permanent residents and eligible visa holders can travel to and from Australia without needing to apply for a travel exemption.

This is subject to rapidly change dependent on the country of origin and the determined risk of COVID-19 transmission from arrivals of that country (i.e. new variants of COVID-19).