Introduction

The purpose of these guidelines is to provide all members with the information needed to make informed decisions about the students in their care when representing their school in a secondary school competition or event.

When applied consistently, these guidelines aim to protect and support the health, well-being, and dignity of secondary school students competing in an event that is being livestreamed or broadcast.

These guidelines set out agreed standards and principles for the livestreaming and broadcasting of any sporting competitions in which ABSNZ members are competing. The term livestreaming in these guidelines refers to all live broadcasting and live telecasts.

The guidelines establish a mandatory minimum standard for commentary, livestreaming, filming, interviews, media production and online engagement.

ABSNZ notes that livestreaming at school-aged events is not a commercial revenue generation or broadcasting exercise. Its primary purpose is to enhance accessibility for families, schools and supporters, to promote community connection to secondary school sport, provide a positive and inclusive experience, and celebrate participation and community. Livestreaming is intended as a service to the sport, not a profit-making venture.

ABSNZ invites its members to become a signatory to the guidelines. When filming, signatories commit to applying these guidelines consistently.

1.        Scope

These guidelines apply to:

• Any sporting competition that is livestreamed, including all footage captured at a competition or fixture

• On-venue PA Commentary, where captured or transmitted

• Camera operation decisions

• Interviews (live or recorded)

• Social media content produced by a member school, event provider

2.      Guiding Principles

Coverage of a sporting competition will:

• Place student well-being above livestreaming or commercial value

• Promote respect, participation, competition and enjoyment, rather than high-performance

• Avoid creating unnecessary pressure on students, schools or public scrutiny

• Protect the privacy of students

• Align with SSNZ and SNZ safeguarding expectations

3.        Roles and Responsibilities

The ABSNZ Board will:

• Maintain and periodically review these guidelines

• Provide guidance to members

• Support communications with members, SSNZ, RSO’s and NSO’s ABSNZ Members will:

• Retain the right to determine whether their students are livestreamed

• Decide whether they will be a signatory to the guidelines by informing the ABSNZ Board ABSNZ Signatories to the Guidelines will:

• Ensure the guidelines are followed when livestreaming

• Provide other member schools with the ability to opt out of livestreaming

4.         Livestreaming Restrictions

• Consistent with the policy of SSNZ, livestreaming of athletes under 15 years of age is not permitted

• Livestreaming of U15 competitions or events is not permitted

5.         Opt-Out Rights

The member school or event organiser will:

• Inform the school or schools proposed to be livestreamed prior to fixtures/events that livestreaming may occur

• Provide a clear mechanism for schools or participants to opt out. No filming of that team or school representatives may occur

• Respect opt-out requests without consequence

This reflects expectations of School Sport New Zealand, which ensures Principals retain authority regarding participation in events and the ability to opt out of livestreaming if necessary.

6.    Filming: Standards

Livestreaming footage must:

• Focus only on the competition – field, court

• Use wide shots where practical and avoid close-ups of individuals

• Not focus on spectators, medical areas or changing areas

Filming: Injuries and Distressing Incidents

If a serious injury or distressing incident occurs:

• Cameras must immediately cut away

• No replay of injury footage should occur in or near that moment

• Commentary must remain factual, restrained and focus on the wider race/events

• No speculation regarding medical matters

Filming: Interviews

Interviews involving students must be conducted respectfully and with the prior permission of their school.

• Participation must be voluntary

• Students must be asked before filming begins

• Questions should focus on effort and team values

• U15 students must not be interviewed

7.      Online Comments and Moderation

Livestream platforms that allow public comments must disable this function.

8.      Commentary Standards

Where commentary is provided, it will prioritise respect, dignity and student wellbeing. Commentary must:

• Be positive, respectful and non-judgmental

• Focus on effort and performance context

• Promote sportsmanship and positive competition.

• Avoid labels that create pressure (e.g. “future Olympian”)

• Treat officials, volunteers, schools and coaches respectfully

Commentary must not:

• Mock, shame, or single out students

• Dwell on mistakes

• Speculate on injuries, discipline, selection or personal matters

• Publicly criticise schools or coaches

9.      Commercialisation

Livestreaming of events will operate on a not-for-profit basis (i.e. the primary benefit and purpose is to the delivery and accessibility of secondary school sport). It will not be a profit-generating activity, and excessive or unexpected profit should be reinvested into secondary school sport.

A clear and transparent process for livestreaming /broadcasting revenue to be reinvested in the sport and/or for secondary schools must be identified and agreed to, before livestreaming occurs.

ABSNZ member schools will use all revenue earned from livestreaming to invest in event delivery and/or reduce participation barriers.

10.  Harmful Digital Communications Act

All livestreaming must comply with the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015

• Content must not be threatening, harassing or humiliating

• Live chat should be disabled

• Platforms must allow rapid takedown of harmful content

11.  Privacy and Personal Information

Coverage must apply a minimum-necessary approach to personal information

• Only use the students' names and school names

• Do not disclose private details

• Avoid intrusive individual camera focus

• Avoid persistent close-up filming of minors without a clear competition context

All filming and publication must align with principles supported by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

12.  Data Retention

Personal information must not be kept longer than necessary in accordance with the Privacy Act 2020 – Information Privacy Principle 9.

Accordingly:

1.  Full match recordings may be retained for up to 24 hours unless required for:

• complaint investigation

• disciplinary processes

• legal matters

2.  After 24 hours, recordings must be:

• securely deleted; or

• archived with personal identifiers minimised where feasible

3.  Highlight clips may be retained longer where:

• Schools were notified in advance

• Removal remains available upon request

4.  Archived footage must:

• be securely stored

• be protected from unauthorised access

• not be searchable by athlete name without consent

Where footage is stored offshore, organisers must ensure compliance with Privacy Act cross-border disclosure requirements.

13.    Complaints

Event organisers or the School that is livestreaming must:

• Provide a contact for concerns

• Investigate complaints promptly

• Remove or edit content where appropriate

• Inform any school potentially affected by a complaint