PRIVACY POLICY

1.About this Policy

Gridiron Australia Limited t/as American Football Australia (ACN 073 881 811) (AFA, we, us, our) is the national sporting organisation for American football (tackle and flag) in Australia, and is affiliated with the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). AFA is committed to protecting the privacy of personal information in accordance with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs).

This Policy explains how AFA collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information across all of its activities - including community registration and competitions, high performance programs (including the collection, use and management of athlete health, wellbeing, sport science and performance information through approved athlete management systems), talent pathways, events, marketing and integrity and safeguarding functions. This Policy applies to personal information handled by or on behalf of AFA. Member Associations and Clubs may have separate obligations and privacy policies in relation to information they collect or control independently.

This Policy should be read together with the National Integrity Framework (NIF), the AFA Constitution, AFA’s National Registration Terms and Conditions, applicable athlete agreements and high-performance program terms and, where relevant, the Australian Institute of Sport Athlete Management System (AIS AMS) User Terms and Privacy Notice.

The privacy terms of a platform provider or other organisation used by AFA to support the delivery of its services do not replace AFA’s obligations in relation to personal information that AFA collects, accesses, uses or discloses through that platform.

2.Who this Policy applies to

Players, coaches, officials, volunteers and administrators registering or participating in tackle or flag American football at community, pathway or high-performance level;
Parents and guardians of participants under 18 years of age;
High-performance and pathway athletes, representative squad members, and high-performance program personnel, including medical, physiotherapy, psychology, athlete wellbeing and engagement, sport science, coaching and performance staff;
Employees, contractors and board/committee members of AFA and Member Associations; and
Any other individual who provides personal information to AFA, a Member Association or a Club (for example, as part of an integrity complaint, sponsorship, or event registration).

3.What personal information we collect

General information

Contact and identity details - name, date of birth, address, email, phone number, emergency contact details;
Membership and registration information - club, team, competition, playing/coaching history, position, accreditation and qualification records;
Travel information - passport details, visas, travel itineraries, accommodation, uniform details and emergency contacts;
Financial information - payment details for registration fees, necessary to process transactions (typically handled by our registration and payment platform providers, not stored by AFA directly);
Images and footage - photographs, video and livestream footage captured at AFA, Member Association or Club-sanctioned events; and
Integrity and complaint information - details provided as part of a report, complaint or investigation under the NIF, including to Sport Integrity Australia or the National Sports Tribunal (NST).

Sensitive and health information

Where necessary for safe participation, treatment, injury management, return-to-play, athlete wellbeing, performance support, high-performance administration, insurance and legal or integrity obligations, AFA and its Member Associations may also collect sensitive information, including:

health and medical information - including medical history, injuries, illnesses, concussion records, medications, allergies, disabilities, medical screening and clearances, treatment and rehabilitation information, diagnostic information, return-to-play status and information relevant to emergency care or safe participation;
sport science and performance data - performance-health and athlete support information, including information recorded by medical, physiotherapy, psychology, athlete wellbeing and engagement, sport science and other authorised performance-support personnel; and
information relevant to an integrity, safeguarding or disciplinary matter, which may include details about the conduct or circumstances of the individuals involved.

AFA will collect sensitive information with the individual’s consent unless collection is otherwise permitted or required by law (for example, to protect the health or safety of a participant, or to comply with the NIF). High-performance athletes may also be required to accept the AIS AMS User Terms and Privacy Notice before information is entered into or made available through AIS AMS.

High-performance athlete information

Sensitive performance-health information about athletes participating in representative, pathway and high-performance programs is to be recorded and managed through AIS AMS where that system is available and appropriate. AIS AMS is the approved repository for AFA high-performance medical, physiotherapy, psychology, wellbeing and other sensitive performance-health records.

AFA may use a separate operational platform for managing high performance and pathway communications, calendars, scheduling, travel and logistical information, general program administration and approved non-sensitive data collection. Any such platform is not to be used as the primary storage location for medical, psychological, wellbeing or other sensitive performance-health records.

Not all personnel have access to all athlete information. Access is to be limited according to a person’s role, professional responsibilities and reasonable need to know.

4.How we collect personal information

Directly from you (or your parent/guardian, if you are under 18), when you register via AFA's registration platform, or complete forms for competitions, camps, training programs or events;
From your Member Association or Club, where they hold or forward your registration, participation or disciplinary information;
Through AIS AMS, where an individual participates in an AFA representative, pathway or high-performance program and authorised AFA or program personnel enter, review or use athlete performance-health information;
Through operational and communication platforms, where those platforms are used for messaging, calendars, travel, logistics, scheduling, general information and approved non-sensitive data collection;
Directly from you during medical screening, consultation, testing, monitoring, wellbeing support or other high-performance services;
Through AFA's integrity reporting channels or directly from a reporting person, where a concern or complaint is raised under the NIF;
Through photography, videography or livestreaming at sanctioned events; and
From publicly available sources, or from third parties such as treating health practitioners, hospitals, institutes or academies of sport and other performance-support providers, Sport Integrity Australia, the NST, insurers, or other sporting organisations, where reasonably necessary.

5.Why we collect, use and disclose personal information

AFA collects, uses and discloses personal information for purposes including:

processing and managing registration, membership and competition administration;
team and squad selection, and reporting to IFAF and its Oceania confederation for international competition purposes;
managing player safety, welfare and safeguarding obligations, including medical screening, emergency response, injury treatment, rehabilitation, concussion management, training restrictions and return-to-play decisions;
administering the NIF, including managing reports, investigations and disciplinary proceedings, and referrals to Sport Integrity Australia or the NST;
meeting anti-doping obligations under the World Anti-Doping Code and Sport Integrity Australia requirements;
obtaining and administering insurance cover for participants;
high performance program administration, including athlete monitoring, medical and allied-health support, wellbeing, sport science, performance planning, training availability and injury management;
communicating with you about AFA, Member Association or Club activities, competitions and events;
promoting AFA and American football (tackle and flag) through approved communications, images and footage, subject to applicable consents, registration terms and opt-out rights; and
meeting AFA's legal, regulatory and reporting obligations, including to the Australian Sports Commission and Sport Integrity Australia.

6.Who we disclose personal information to

Depending on the purpose, AFA may disclose personal information to:

your Member Association and Club;
Sport Integrity Australia and the National Sports Tribunal;
the Australian Sports Commission and Australian Institute of Sport (and state and territory institutes or academies of sport), including where information is entered into, accessed through or administered within AIS AMS, and government or funding partners where authorised;
IFAF and its Oceania confederation, for international team administration and selection;
service providers supporting AFA’s registration, payment, integrity reporting, communications, logistics and operational systems;
insurers and their claims administrators;
medical, sport science and allied health providers engaged by AFA or a Member Association;
law enforcement and government agencies, where required or authorised by law; and
professional advisers (legal, insurance, IT) engaged by AFA.

AFA will take reasonable steps to limit disclosure to the information reasonably necessary for the relevant purpose. Medical, psychological and other sensitive performance-health information will generally only be disclosed to personnel who require that information for the athlete’s care, safety or authorised performance support. Coaches, selectors and administrators will ordinarily receive only the practical information required for their role, such as availability, restrictions or return-to-play status.

7.Overseas disclosure

Some of AFA's service providers may store or process personal information on servers located outside Australia. Where personal information is disclosed overseas, AFA will take reasonable steps to ensure the overseas recipient handles the information consistently with the APPs, to the extent required by law.

8.Data quality and security

AFA takes reasonable steps to ensure personal information we hold is accurate, complete and up to date, and to protect it from misuse, interference, loss, and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. This includes access controls, secure storage (including with our platform providers) and staff training.

If AFA becomes aware of a data breach likely to result in serious harm, we will comply with our obligations under the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme, including notifying affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) where required.

9.Retention, destruction and de-identification

AFA retains personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required for legal, insurance, safeguarding, integrity, employment, funding, record-keeping or medico-legal purposes.

Retention of information held in AIS AMS may also be governed by the applicable AIS AMS terms, ASC/AIS requirements and professional or medico-legal record-keeping obligations.

When personal information is no longer required, AFA will take reasonable steps to securely destroy or permanently de-identify it, subject to any applicable legal or record-retention requirement.

10.Children and young people

Where a participant is under 18 years of age, AFA collects personal information about them via their parent or legal guardian as part of registration and treats that information with the care required by the Safeguarding Children and Young People Policy. Parents and guardians may exercise access and correction rights on behalf of a child.

11.Access and correction

You may request access to, or correction of, the personal information AFA holds about you by contacting the Privacy Officer using the details in section 13. We will respond within a reasonable period and may need to verify your identity before providing access. There is no charge for making a request, though reasonable charges may apply to fulfilling it.

12.Complaints

If you have a concern about how AFA has handled your personal information, please contact AFA's Privacy Officer (details below) in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with our response, you may lodge a complaint with the OAIC at www.oaic.gov.au. Complaints about integrity, safeguarding or conduct matters (rather than privacy specifically) should be made under the NIF via AFA's integrity reporting channels.

13.Contact us

Privacy Officer, American Football Australia

Email: privacy@americanfootball.org.au

Address: 48 Sunnyside Cres, Castlecrag NSW 2068

14.Changes to this Policy

The current version will be published on AFA’s website. Where a material change affects how AFA collects, uses or discloses sensitive information, AFA will take reasonable steps to notify affected individuals and obtain any consent required by law.

The current policy can be found at www.americanfootball.org.au/privacy.

V1.0 - Effective: 6 August 2026