Incident Management Policy

Hollier Sports
Last updated: 23 November 2026. Reviewed annually.

Purpose

This policy explains how Hollier Sports responds when something goes wrong in a session, whether that's a child who can't be found, a medical emergency, an injury, or a serious incident. The safety and wellbeing of every child is our highest priority, and our coaches are trained to handle these moments calmly and consistently. It applies across every program and forms part of your terms of enrolment.

If your child is ever seriously injured or unsafe in our care, we will act first to keep them safe, call an ambulance if it's needed, and contact you as soon as we can. The sections below set out how that works for the situations we plan for.

After-School Programs: Arrival, Sign-In and Missing Children

Our after-school programs run on school grounds, and the way children get from their classroom to us matters. At enrolment we explain, and we reinforce with the children themselves, that players make their own way from class to the Hollier Sports sign-in point at the end of the school day. A coach signs every child in, and our duty of care begins the moment your child is signed in.

Because that first few minutes is the point where a child is moving between the school's care and ours, we plan for it carefully, and we ask three things of families. Tell your child clearly that they come straight to us after school. Let your school's front office or OSHC know your child attends Hollier Sports, so everyone is working from the same information. And keep your contact numbers current, and answer the phone if we call during a session.

If a child who is expected doesn't arrive at sign-in, we don't wait and hope. We act straight away:

  • We check our sign-in list against who's expected, and search the meeting point and the immediate area.

  • We check with the school whether your child was at school that day.

  • If your child was absent from school, we treat them as not attending Hollier Sports that day. This is why telling us in advance about absences helps, but a child who wasn't at school isn't missing from our care.

  • If your child was at school but hasn't arrived, we call your contact numbers, the primary, secondary and emergency contacts you've given us. This is the moment we really need you to pick up the phone.

  • If we still can't locate your child and can't reach you, we escalate. We notify the school's front office, and we contact police on 000 without delay, and in any case no later than 30 minutes after the end of the school day. We would rather escalate early and stand down than leave it too late.

If at any point we have reason to believe a child is in genuine danger, we call 000 straight away rather than working through these steps. A child's safety always comes before procedure.

If A Child Can't Be Found During A Session

If a child who has been signed in can't be found during a session, we respond immediately. We search the session area and the spaces around it, check with nearby staff or students, and the lead coach directs a wider search. We contact you straight away, and if we can't locate your child or reach you, we escalate to the school and to police on 000 without delay. The same immediate-danger rule applies: if we believe a child is at risk, we call 000 first.

Medical Emergencies and Injuries

If your child is ever seriously injured or unsafe in our care, we will act first to keep them safe, call an ambulance if it's needed, and contact you as soon as we can.

Every session has a stocked first aid kit and instant cold packs on site, and a coach with current first aid training present, so the everyday knocks and scrapes are handled then and there. If a child is seriously injured or unwell, our coaches give first aid as trained, call an ambulance on 000 if it's needed or we're in any doubt, and contact you as soon as we can. How we manage medical needs, allergies and medication is set out in full in our Medical, Allergy and Medication Policy, and head knocks are handled with particular care under our Concussion and Head Injury Policy.

Behaviour Incidents

Where a child's behaviour needs addressing in a session, or where it crosses our zero-tolerance line, we follow the clear, graduated process set out in our Behaviour Management Plan. That plan covers what we tolerate and what we don't, how our coaches respond in the moment, when an early pickup is called, and what you'll hear from us. We won't repeat it here, but it sits alongside this policy as part of the same set.

Serious Incidents and Child Safety

Some incidents go beyond the day-to-day, and we treat anything involving a child's safety with the seriousness it deserves. How we recognise, respond to and report concerns about a child's safety, including our obligations to police, Child and Youth Protection Services, and the ACT Ombudsman, is set out in our Child Safety Policy and Code of Conduct.

Our Duty of Care in After-School Programs

In our after-school programs, the moment your child is signed in to our care, they're our responsibility until they're signed out by you or an authorised person. We won't send a signed-in child home alone, and we won't release a child to anyone who isn't on your authorised list. If a child needs to be taken out of a session, including for a suspected concussion or a behaviour pickup, they stay supervised in our care until you arrive. How pick-up and collection work, including late collection, is set out in our Late Pick-Up and Collection Policy.

How We Record Incidents

We keep good records, because it's the right thing to do and because it helps us look after children well. Every session generates a recap submitted by the lead coach and reviewed by Hollier Sports management within 24 hours. Where something notable happens, a missing-child search, a medical emergency, an injury, or a significant behaviour incident, the coach also completes a separate incident report the same day, capturing what happened, what we did, and any follow-up needed.

These records are stored securely and treated as confidential. We don't share them between families or with anyone outside Hollier Sports, except where the law requires it or where it's clearly in a child's interest. Keeping records like this is also part of meeting our obligations under the ACT Child Safe Standards and the Reportable Conduct Scheme.

How This Fits With Our Other Policies

This policy works alongside our Medical, Allergy and Medication Policy and our Concussion and Head Injury Policy for injuries and medical needs, our Behaviour Management Plan for behaviour, our Child Safety Policy and Code of Conduct for safety concerns, and our Late Pick-Up and Collection Policy for pick-up and supervision. You'll find all of them on our Policies and Important Information page.

Contact

For questions about how we manage incidents, contact hello@holliersports.com.