Photography and Media Policy

Why we have this policy

Photographs and video celebrate the league: the first wicket, the team photo, a franchise winning in December. They can also put a child at risk if they are used carelessly, or show a child whose family has good reason to keep them out of public view.

So the rule is simple: no image in which a child can be identified is published without written consent from a parent or guardian, for that specific use. Consent for one use is not consent for another. Consent given for a training session in 2025 is not consent for a marketing page in 2026.

This policy works alongside the Privacy Policy, the codes of conduct and, once it is published, the Child Safety Policy.

1. Who and what it covers

It applies to everyone who takes, keeps or publishes images at or of league activity: league staff and volunteers, official photographers and videographers, franchise staff, our partners (including KIOC during the international pathway), and parents and spectators.

“Image” means any photograph, video, livestream or recording in which a person can be identified by their face, name, shirt number with a caption, or anything else.

At registration, a parent or guardian chooses each level separately. Nothing is pre-ticked.

Level A is a condition of the High Performance International Pathway (HPIP). Try-outs, selection and the camp all rely on filming a player and analysing their performance, so a player cannot be assessed or selected for the HPIP without it. For every other league competition, level A is a free choice: a player without it still plays, and simply has no footage or analysis to look back on. Levels B, C and D are always a free choice, and saying no to any of them has no effect on the others, on selection or on participation.

Level	What it allows	Examples
A: Coaching and analysis	Images and performance records used inside the league and with the family only, never published. Required for the HPIP.	Video of a player’s technique in the nets, try-out and selection footage, batting and bowling figures kept with the coaching record
B: League channels	Publication on the league’s own channels	vecl.au, league and franchise social media, newsletters, match reports, the end-of-season awards
C: Promotion and advertising	Use in paid advertising and promotional material, including by Elite Cricket Academy and Elite Sports Store	Posters, flyers, paid social ads, registration campaigns, a product page showing a player in kit
D: Media and partners	Passing images to, or allowing filming by, outside media and partners	Newspapers, TV, a partner’s own channels (including KIOC)

Players aged 12 and over are asked too, in words they understand. If a player does not want an image used, we don’t use it, even if a parent has consented. For level A on the HPIP, that means the player is not assessed for selection; we talk it through with the family first.

How this matches the Elite booking app. Level A is the app’s “Photos and video during training” and “Match and performance records” consents together; level C is its “Photos and video for promotion”. Levels B and D are recorded by the league for VECL players.

Consent lasts for 12 months from the date it is given (owner, 6 October 2026). We ask again at the first registration after it runs out, and remind the family a month before.
A news post or match report already published under level B stays in the website’s news archive after the season ends, unless the family asks for it to be removed (section 5).
Any new use of an old image needs consent that is current at the time of the new use.

4. What we will never do

Publish a child’s full name alongside their photograph together with their school, suburb or other details that would help someone find them. On league channels a player may be named by first name and franchise, or first name and surname only in results and awards.
Tag a child on social media, or publish a child’s location live, while they are still at the ground.
Publish images of children in change rooms, toilets, while changing, or in any state of undress, or images that could embarrass them, such as an injury.
Alter a child’s image with AI, or use a child’s image to create or train AI-generated imagery.
Use a child’s image to endorse a product without level C consent for that child.
Sell images of children, or give them to anyone outside the league except under level D.

5. Changing your mind

A parent or guardian, or a player aged 12 or over, can withdraw consent at any time by emailing info@vecl.au with the player’s name and what they want removed. We then:

stop any new use straight away;
remove the images from vecl.au within 2 business days, and from the league’s social media within 7 days;
record the withdrawal in our consent register.

Withdrawing level A during the HPIP means the player can no longer be assessed or remain in the squad, because the programme depends on it. We will always speak to the family before acting on it.

We cannot recall printed material that has already been distributed, or remove copies that other people have made or shared, but we will ask anyone we gave the image to under level D to remove it.

If there is a safety reason, such as a court order or a family violence situation, tell us in confidence at registration or at any time, by email to info@vecl.au with “Child safety concern” in the subject line. We will make sure the child is not photographed for publication at all, without drawing attention to it.

6. At the ground — photographers and staff

Official photographers are appointed by the league, hold a current Working with Children Check, wear identification, and are briefed on this policy before they start.
Before each event, photographers get the “no publication” list: the players without level B consent. They can still photograph wide shots in which those players cannot be identified. The list is kept private and never shown to other players or families.
A player without consent still plays, trains and is in the team. They are never asked to stand aside from a team photo in a way that singles them out. Where needed, a second team photo is taken or the published version is cropped.
Staff and volunteers use league devices where possible. Images taken on a personal device are uploaded to the league’s storage and deleted from the device within 7 days. Staff and volunteers never post images of players on their personal social media.
No photography or filming at all in change rooms or toilets, by anyone. Phones stay out of change rooms.

6A. Livestreams and match telecasts

Every league match is streamed live on the league’s own channels, such as YouTube and Facebook, and the recordings are kept. Streaming is part of how the league runs and is not switched off for individual players. A livestream is publication, so it sits under level B.

Families are told this at registration.
Streams use fixed, wide match cameras. Close-ups, interviews and player graphics are used only for players with level B consent.
Commentary, scorecards and on-screen graphics never name a player without level B consent. The scorer and commentator get the “no publication” list before the match.
Where a player has no level B consent, or a family has asked that their child not be published at all (section 5), their matches are still streamed, but the cameras stay wide enough that the child cannot be identified: no close-up, replay or graphic of that player, and no mention of their name.
A family can ask us to remove or edit a recording after the match. We do so within 7 days. We cannot recall what was watched live.
Nobody other than the league livestreams a whole match without the league’s approval (section 7).

7. Parents, spectators and families

You’re welcome to photograph and film your own child for your own family use.
Don’t publish images of other people’s children without their parent’s permission, and don’t tag other children.
Livestreaming a whole match needs the league’s approval beforehand.
Drones need the league’s approval, and the ground owner’s, and must be flown legally.
A league official may ask anyone to stop photographing, and to delete images, if it breaches this policy. Refusing is a breach of the Parent and Spectator Code of Conduct.

8. The international pathway and tours

This policy applies in full on tour. KIOC and other partners may photograph or publish our players only in line with each player’s consent level, and the tour staff give them the “no publication” list before any filming. Families are told before departure which partner channels may publish images.

9. Storage and how long we keep images

Images are kept in the league’s access-controlled storage, never in public folders or the website’s code repository. Consent records are kept separately in our consent register.
Images that were never used are deleted after 2 years. Images kept for the league’s history, such as team photos and award winners, are kept as long as they are needed, subject to withdrawal (section 5).

10. Concerns

If you see an image of a child that worries you, on our channels or anywhere else, tell us at info@vecl.au, with “Child safety concern” in the subject line if a child may be at risk. If an image of a child is being used to harm them online, you can also report it to the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au.

11. Review

The directors review this policy at least once a year and whenever the law changes.

For the registration form in the booking app. Each item is a separate choice. None are pre-selected.

Photographs and video of [player’s first name]

The Victorian Elite Cricket League photographs and films matches, training and events. We will only use images in which your child can be identified in the ways you agree to below. Level A is required for the High Performance International Pathway (HPIP), because try-outs and selection rely on video and performance analysis. Every other choice is yours and does not affect selection or participation. Your choices last 12 months from today, and you can change them at any time by emailing info@vecl.au. Every league match is streamed live with wide cameras; close-ups and names are used only with level B. See our Photography and Media Policy and Privacy Policy at vecl.au/policies.

☐ A: Coaching and analysis. Required for the HPIP. Images and match and performance records may be used within the league and shared with you, for coaching, analysis and selection. They will not be published.

☐ B: League channels. Images may be published on vecl.au, league and franchise social media, newsletters and match reports.

☐ C: Promotion and advertising. Images may be used in advertising and promotional material by the league, Elite Cricket Academy and Elite Sports Store.

☐ D: Media and partners. Images may be shared with, or taken by, outside media and our programme partners, including KIOC.

☐ Please don’t photograph my child for publication at all. (We’ll make sure of this without drawing attention to it. If there’s a safety reason, you can tell us in confidence at info@vecl.au.)

For players aged 12 and over: ☐ I have talked about these choices with my child, and they agree.