Reducing risks in venue management: a lawyer's view

Amelia Lynch from Lander & Rogers' Sports Law practice spoke at the recent Asia-Pacific Venue Industry Congress - the single largest meeting of venue professionals in the Asia-Pacific region.

During her presentation, Lynch looked at some of the key commercial and operational risks currently facing venue managers, including venue safety, relationships with users, compliance and digital platforms and fan engagement. She also provided tips on legal strategies to approach these important areas.

Lynch talked about the importance of venue managers getting advice on the commercial and compliance areas of their business, so that they are well-equipped to engage and negotiate with key stakeholders.

Lynch highlighted that venue safety was a difficult issue for venue managers. Under Australian work health and safety laws, venues are obliged to ensure the health and safety of workers and visitors at their venue, as well as people in the vicinity. However, doing so involves identifying features where there are risks to health and safety at or around a venue, assessing the risks and considering what is reasonable in the circumstances.

Lynch stated "The health and safety requirements that are imposed on venue managers are very broad.

“The reality is that venue managers have finite budgets and need to consider what is both reasonable and possible within their circumstances to ensure health and safety.

"This is a complex area of law and what is appropriate in order to demonstrate compliance with work health and safety legislation very much depends on the individual circumstances of each particular venue and the events that are held there.

"It's really important for venue managers to get it right, especially as individual employees, as well as the venue itself, can be held liable for breaches of health and safety laws. I definitely recommend that venue managers seek appropriate advice about meeting their obligations."

Click here for more information on Lander & Rogers' Sports Law practice.