General Manager - Victoria Monthly Update February 2024

The latest updates from Australian Sailing's General Manager – Victoria – Meaghan Densley 

Please click this link to find a copy of all past Victoria General Managers Updates. 

This Month’s Update: FEBRUARY 2024

•    Farwell Nadine
•    Club Survey
•    Events 
•    Youth Sail
•    Victorian Sailing Calendar
•    She Sails – International Women’s Day 
•    Child Safety – Model 2 – let's do this together! 
•    Club Grants
•    Useful Resources 
 

Farewell Nadine 

Australian Sailing and the Victorian Team would like to inform you that Nadine Tabak will leave after just over 2 years in the role. Nadine had decided to pursue her love for event management and will be starting a role at the Royal Melbourne show.  Nadine has been an invaluable team member, bringing her energy and enthusiasm to the sport and sharing her event management talents. She will be greatly missed.

The Good news is that Nadine will still be involved with the Sailing Community. She has put her hat in the ring for a number of Race officer positions and is a keen sailor entering in several upcoming regattas. 

While we're sad to see Nadine go, we wish her all the best in her future endeavours.

Club Satisfaction Survey

Australian Sailing has launched our annual Club Satisfaction Survey. 

All key club contacts in your club revSPORT portal should have received an email with a link to the survey. We encourage you to discuss this with the relevant key personnel at your club before responding. 

The survey is open now and will close at 5pm AEST on Sunday, 31st March 2024.  

If you have not received a link – please email Meaghan.densley@sailing.org.au 

SheSails Internation Women's Day 8th March

#InspireInclusion is the theme for this years' International Women’s Day on 8th March.

Australian Sailing in conjunction with SheSails Ambassador, Nic Douglass, is holding an online event on 7th March for International Women's Day. Come and hear from other Club Commodores and last year’s SheSails Award winners on how they are inspiring inclusion at their clubs. 
This online event is free and open to everyone; however, registrations are required via the link below.
 
Register here for the SheSails IWD networking event

Register Now 

2024 Zhik Youth Championships 4-7th April Sorrento Sailing Couta Boat Club  

Victorian Sailing Summit - Royal Brighton Yacht Club -June 1st 2024

Training in Focus - Live (Instructor conference)- Royal Brighton Yacht Club - 7th September

Victorian Sailing Awards - Sandringham Yacht Club - 20th September

Are you looking for events? Want to advertise your event? Add it to the Victorian Sailing Calendar!
 

Upcoming Courses

Anyone interested in doing a course not listed here should complete this Expression of Interest so we can let you know when a course is added 

Click here to view the full calendar is available online

Child safety standards

Child safety is an essential part of your club’s culture. Even if you are not running a “tackers program”, it is vital that your club has implemented the 11 child safety standards. 
To Assist clubs, each month, we will be going through a standard at a time to assist you in becoming compliant. 
Resources to use. 
Vic Sport has created an eLearning platform to help explain each standard and numerous other resources: https://vicsport.com.au/child-safe-sport. Please check them out. 
 
Child Safety Standard 2 – Child Safety and Well-being is embedded in organisational leadership, governance, and culture.

Clubs should focus on:
1.    The organization makes a public commitment to child safety. (website, newsletters, membership forms etc) 
2.    A child-safe culture is championed and modeled at all levels of the organization from the top down and bottom up. (standard item on club agendas, posters around the club, communicated at club briefings, learn to sail inductions etc) 
3.    Governance arrangements facilitate the implementation of the Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy at all levels.
4.    A Code of Conduct provides guidelines for staff and volunteers on expected behavioral standards and responsibilities.
5.    Risk management strategies focus on preventing, identifying, and mitigating risks to children and young people.
6.    Staff and volunteers understand their obligations on information sharing and record keeping. (are inducted and sign to say they have read code of conducts, polices etc) 

Documents required for compliance:
•    Public commitment to child safety is available and on display for public access.
•    Child safety and wellbeing policy that set outs the Club’s expectations and practices about each of the standards.
•    The code of conduct sets out the expectations regarding the behavior of staff and volunteers with children.
•    Code of conduct that promotes and maintains child safety and wellbeing.

Actions required for compliance:
•    All involved in the organization must make sure to model a child safe culture. (committee, volunteers, Staff) 
•    Express support for keeping children safe, act when they have concerns about children’s safety, and priorities the safety of children as part of everyday practice.
•    Leaders of the organization set clear expectations around child safety and ensure the child safety and wellbeing policy is implemented by staff and volunteers.
•    Leaders promote a culture of reporting that has a top-down effect throughout the business. (standard agenda items) 
•    Regular reviews of the Club’s performance in delivering child safety and well-being.
•    All in the organization understand what is required when acting in the delivery of child safety and wellbeing. (staff, Volunteers, committee are inducted) 
•    The Club’s governance supervises whether risk assessment and management in the organization is actively focused on identifying, preventing, and reducing the risk of child abuse and harm.
•    All are involved in the organization under their information-sharing and record-keeping obligations.
•    The code of conduct is communicated to all involved in the organization and how to uphold and comply with it is transparently communicated. (shared in newsletters, spoken at briefings, apart of induction sessions, is available on websites, notice boards, membership packs etc) 
 
Does your club have these critical documents in place? 
•    Yes, my club has these documents. 
•    not checked 
•    No, my club does not have these documents. 
•    not checked 
•    My club has some of these documents in place. 
 
Remember, there’s no need to reinvent the wheel. 
Have a look at what other clubs and sports are doing. Talk with them and share information and ideas. 
We are looking for great examples to highlight, if you think your club might be happy to share your learnings, please let me know.
 

Grants

The Boatshed

At Albert Park Lake, a successful summer of holiday sailing programs has come to an end, with lots of young people having taken part in Tackers programs as well as Teen Learn to Sail and Better Sailing for Teens.  Many of our participants showed interest in joining local clubs and we are encouraging them to keep sailing by finding a club that can meet their needs.  We also successfully trialed Fun Sailing Sessions over the summer, making use of our Hansa fleet to introduce people of all ages to the joys of sailing.   
 
Coming into March, the lake continues to be busy.  Our School sailing programs are now up and running for term 1, along with an expanded Sailability program, with groups running on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.  On the weekends, School Teams Sailing continues to make use of our boats and facilities, ensuring the lake is never a boring place to be!  Further afield, five of our most experienced Boatshed instructors headed off to Cowes this week to support regional school sailing programs.  
 
We are also busy working with Special Olympics Victoria to introduce sailing to their program, starting with a come-and-try day in mid-March.  Sailing is a sport that can be made accessible to all, and working with organisations like Sailability Victoria and Special Olympics, the Boatshed is in a unique position to provide an access point for sailing for people of all ages and abilities. 
 
If you are looking to grow your Training Center at your clubs, Ruth and our CSO team are available to chat with your club and instructors to create a program that achieves your club goals. 

Useful Resources

Find My AS number - https://www.sailing.org.au/member-finder/ 
REVSPORT help - https://www.sailingresources.org.au/system-support/ 
Victoria Calendar - Team Up -   https://bit.ly/vic_calendar