NSW Office Of Sport Update Wednesday 20 October, 2021
The NSW Government has released the Public Health (COVID-19 General) Amendment Order (No 3) 2021. This amendment relates to outdoor community sport and recreation activities.
- Clause 2.12 (1) (b1) enables a COVID-19 safe outdoor public gathering for a community sporting activity to be the lesser of 1,000 persons or 1 person per 2 square metres.
- All people attending the gathering must be:
- Fully vaccinated; or
- under 16 years of age; or
- have been issued with a medical contraindication certificate compliant with the Order
- The activity organiser must have a 'community sport' COVID-19 Safety Plan. Please note the Office understands this is a new category of plan which will be uploaded in the NSW Government COVID-19 Safety Plan webpage.
This amendment acknowledges the need for a larger gathering size to enable some community sport activities to recommence, while taking into account the significant number of children that participate in community sport and are not yet fully vaccinated. It is anticipated this gathering limit will remain in place until at least 1 December 2021.
New COVID-19 Safety Plan for outdoor community sport
In line with the amendment, the Office has been advised a new COVID-19 Safety Plan for outdoor community sport will be released.
This plan will reflect the outdoor gathering size being changed to 1,000 persons or 1 per 2 square metres, and will also have language which better reflects the nature of community sport, including the role of volunteers. The plan is available via the NSW Government COVID-19 Safety Plan webpage and the Office of Sport will make a link available on its COVID-19 webpage once published.