Psychological Health and Safety - HSWA places a duty on organisations to manage risks not only to physical health, but also to psychological health.

• A poorly managed social media environment (e.g. cyberbullying, harassment, or offensive comments) can cause psychological harm to children, staff, volunteers, or parents.

• A social media policy helps to prevent such harm by setting clear standards for respectful online behaviour, reporting mechanisms, and consequences for misuse.

Duty of Care

• Under HSWA, organisers have a primary duty of care to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that no one is harmed as a result of their activities.

• This includes safeguarding children and volunteers from harm that could arise due to online exposure, such as inappropriate content sharing or the unauthorised use of images.

• A social media policy supports this duty by putting controls in place to manage how and when images, videos, or personal details are posted online.

Managing Risks

• HSWA requires persons conducting a business or undertaking (PCBUs) to identify, assess, and manage risks.

• Social media use presents reputational and safety risks – for example, if sensitive content is shared without consent, or if online comments incite conflict or distress.

• Including social media use in risk management plans is consistent with HSWA’s proactive approach to harm prevention.

Protecting Against Online Harm – The HDCA aims to deter, prevent, and mitigate harm caused by digital communications, including bullying, harassment, and the spread of harmful or offensive content online.

• Young participants, coaches, and even parents could be targets of cyberbullying or harmful posts related to performance, appearance, or behaviour.

Ten Communication Principles

• Includes not posting digital content that is threatening, offensive, misleading, or breaches a person’s privacy.

Image and Consent Management

• The HDCA also covers the unauthorised posting of intimate or private images, which could extend to photos of children shared without parental consent.

This is the primary legislation for the care and protection of children and young people in New Zealand:

• It outlines responsibilities for identifying and reporting child abuse and neglect.

• Organisations that work with children are expected to have policies and procedures in place to keep children safe.

Requires government-funded organisations that work with children to have Child Protection Policies

• Mandates safety checking of children's workers.

• Encourages child-centred practice and inter-agency collaboration for child wellbeing.

This is New Zealand’s main data protection law, governing how personal information is collected, used, stored, and disclosed. It includes 13 Information Privacy Principles (IPPs),

• It gives individuals the right to access and correct their personal information.

• The Act applies to all agencies, including schools, sports clubs, and event organisers, especially when handling children's personal data and images.

Do you have a good reason for collecting the image?

What does the image show?

Have parents/guardians consented to the collection and sharing of the image?

How will images be kept safe, and not held for longer than necessary?