The ethics of safe practice in rural sport

Abstract

The economic activity generated in the Australian economy by the sports and recreation industries is enormous. It matches that of the traditional major sectors such as the iron and steel industry, the printing (and services to the printing industry) and the motor vehicles and parts industry. According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics the sports sector employs over 95,000 people, around 44% of this on a full time basis. The volunteer contribution to the sport sector is conservatively valued at $1.6 billion per annum (Sport 1998). It is proposed in this paper that this industrial view, often described as the "professionalization" of sport, has changed its nature in fundamental ways. For thousands of participants, players, administrators and spectators alike, sport is no longer a part-time interest played only on weekends, or just on Saturday afternoons for re-creative or leisure purposes. It is now a full-time profession for many of the key participants who, through a combination of skill and years of dedicated training can realize huge monetary rewards. From this perspective it will be further proposed that this shift in focus has increased the necessity for all sectors of the industry to adopt behaviors and practices which have at their foundation a commitment to the highest ethical practice.