Australian Sailing Affiliation for Clubs: Responsibilities

Australian Sailing affiliation is an organisational relationship between a sailing club and the national sport framework. It is not a quality award or a guarantee of specific facilities.

Australian Sailing states that affiliated clubs receive a Club Support Officer and access to support across governance, integrity, risk management, membership, events, learn-to-sail programs, instructor/coach development, officials training and grant support.

Member framework#

Australian Sailing also states that members and officials of affiliated clubs receive personal accident insurance cover while participating in club-sanctioned activities under the applicable arrangements, and that club members participate within the national membership and regulatory framework.

Insurance terms can change and should be checked at the official source.

National Integrity Framework#

Affiliated clubs participate in the National Integrity Framework covering areas such as member protection and child safeguarding.

Racing framework#

Australian Sailing maintains national prescriptions, appeals and Special Regulations and supports officials and equipment auditors.

Systems#

Affiliated clubs can use revSPORT for membership, events, finance, communications, website and governance functions.

Discover Sailing access#

Affiliation gives clubs access to learn-to-sail and participation resources, but specific branded programs still need to be delivered under their relevant requirements.

What affiliation does not mean#

It does not prove:

• Discover Sailing Centre accreditation
• a junior program
• public training
• marina facilities
• racing of any specific class
• hospitality
• current activity level

Each remains separate.

Official source#

• https://www.sailingresources.org.au/clubsclasses/club-affiliation/

Checking current club information#

Before relying on this page for a real decision, identify the one club-specific fact that matters most and confirm it from a current primary source. If that field is unavailable, leave it unresolved rather than inferring the answer. Report club-data corrections through YouSail.

What affiliation involves in practice#

Affiliation is an annual relationship between a club, its state association and the national body, renewed each year with a membership return and a fee.

What it brings is mostly infrastructure a club could not economically build alone: insurance arrangements covering the club, its officials and its members while participating; access to accredited instructor, coach and official training; eligibility to run sanctioned racing and to have results count toward state and national series; safeguarding and integrity frameworks; and participation in national programs with recognised names.

What it costs is the affiliation fee, usually calculated per member, plus the administrative work of maintaining an accurate membership register. For small clubs this is a real consideration, and the per-member structure means it scales with the club.

The most common misunderstanding is treating affiliation as accreditation of quality. It is a structural relationship, not an inspection. Affiliated clubs range from excellent to struggling, and some very good community organisations operate outside it entirely.

The second misunderstanding is assuming affiliation means every program a club runs carries a nationally recognised name. Branded programs have their own requirements, and a club can be affiliated without delivering them.

Related sailing club management guides#

How to tell a functioning club process from a struggling one, how these things drift over time, and what a prospective member can reasonably ask are set out once in what a well-run sailing club looks like.