Governance, Protest and Sport: An Australian Perspective

Abstract

Peaceful acts of protest are relatively common in popular Australian sports and entertainment. Traditionally, protest has been regulated through criminal and adjunct summary offences or policing legislation. Trends in corporate governance and state-sponsored event management have significant implications for individual and collective rights of protest at popular domestic and international events. In reviewing prominent incidents of protest and the evolution of public order laws in Victoria and New South Wales, this article highlights the complexity and contradictions underpinning the regulation of protest at major entertainment venues, and examines the impact of recent legislative reforms facilitating professional corporate event management.