The operation of a sport and recreation club or association, as with any business, involves risk. It's unavoidable. Un-identified and un-addressed risk has the potential to create serious operational and financial issues for your club or organisation. The board or committee has a responsibility to determine and address the variety of risks inherent in the day to day operations.

The Australian Womensport & Recreation Association (AWRA) wants to encourage the active participation of women in the administration of sport and recreation organisations. Committees and boards need members/directors who, as well as being appropriately knowledgeable, can bring some balance in gender representation and gender considerations to the board table

This Speedlearn will provide an outline of what risk is, who is responsible for assessing it, the different types and how to deal with them. It will also cover key terms and topics relevant to implementing and managing a risk assessment process in a local or regional Not for Profit (NFP) sport or recreation club or association.

The key components in undertaking an effective risk assessment process include:

1. Being aware of the various types of risk, what risk assessment actually is and who should be doing it;
2. Understanding why and when to assess risk;
3. Understanding the key terms and definitions related to risk assessment;
4. Being aware of the importance of an ongoing monitoring and review process in relation to risk assessment.

Everyone has their own unique needs, circumstances and preferences. Accordingly, SpeedLearns have been designed to be flexible so they can be used in various ways. Consider the following suggestions and use the one that best fits your particular needs:

• For immediate access to useful workplace-relevant tools such as templates and exemplars, go straight to them via the Useful Tools menu items found on the left;
• If you need information only about main topics, use the contents menu found above left; or
• If you need to learn as much as you can about this topic, read through the product from start to finish. To navigate through this product simply click on the relevant content items which appear in red in numbered order under the Main Topics item found in the upper left corner.

In addition, make sure that you check the definitions provided in the glossary. We will use a standard terminology to avoid confusion and you need to be clear about the meanings of particular terms to get the most out of this Speedlearn.