How should a club store and share photos of children?

Sport Integrity Australia's guidelines say images and video of children and young people must be stored securely:

• Hard copies are stored securely or returned to the parent, carer or child.
• Electronic images are kept on a club-approved device in a protected folder with restricted access.
• Images are not stored on unprotected portable equipment such as memory sticks or portable hard drives. Images on laptops or phones should be password protected and accessible only to those who need them for their role.
• Images (hard copy or digital) are destroyed or deleted once no longer required.
• Best practice is to inventory all images (file name, people in the image, date created and date to be destroyed) and keep records of who has access.
• If the club relies on equipment supplied by volunteers, it must put practices in place to protect the images, including the storage media in the cameras.

When sharing, only use images according to the consent given, for official purposes relating to the sport. Play by the Rules also advises minimising the chance of people being identified, for example by not naming them. Photos posted online can be copied and reused for unintended purposes.

Sources: Sport Integrity Australia, Photography and Filming of Children and Young People in Sport (February 2024); Play by the Rules, Taking and Sharing Images at Sport (June 2025).