If a new community wants to field teams to play in Harmony Nines and HRL 13-a-side, then the process is as follows.

Consider existing clubs

There may be an affiliated HRL member clubs that represents your nation of origin uniquely, or represents a region/continent of origin that your expatriate community or diaspora may hail from. Please go to heritagerugbyleague.com/participate to see current affiliated clubs or prospective future teams/communities.

If your community is not represented as above, and wishes to affiliate, then it can follow the process below. This is based upon the process in place for community Rugby League clubs in NSWRL.

Affiliating a new club

Incorporation and affiliation – steps

  1. Form a working group/committee – between 3 to 9 people, to form a committee or Board for a future incorporated association.
  2. Incorporate – setup an incorporated, not-for-profit association (or club) for the group- see Association – NSW Fair Trading.
    1. Constitution – NSWRL has a model club constitution, which can be tailored to an HRL club.
  3. Affiliate – Once incorporated, then the applicant can complete the HRL NSW Club Affiliation Form to apply to affiliate to Heritage RL NSW, which includes entering the incorporation name and number. There are just over 30 questions, so it may only take about 30 minutes to complete. The questions focus on contact details for a main contact person in Australia, committee members based in NSW/Australia, accredited coach(es) and sports trainer(s), intended participation/teams that the group wants to field, any potential future development plans in-country (back in the mother country itself) etc.
    1. This aims to ensure that any new HRL club
      1. is run in a best practice way, like a community RL club.
      2. creates a positive environment for its players
      3. caters for the appropriate roles and responsibilities on its
        1. board/committee (like secretary, treasurer etc.)
        2. teams e.g. accredited sports trainer(s), accredited coach(es).

Benefits of incorporation and affiliation

  1. Access the HRL/NSWRL Community RL insurance scheme
  2. Participate in HRL events/tournaments
  3. Obtain event/match sanctioning for heritage games
  4. Obtain access to accredited and affiliated referees
  5. Seek access to assistance from governing bodies e.g. communicate to players and volunteers that may indicate ancestry in the nation(s) of origin that your team may represent.

Benefits of incorporation and affiliation

Applications can be considered at an HRL Board Meeting, which are typically held on a monthly basis between February and September.

    Insurance

    HRL insurance contains further information on the insurance process, inclusions and how to make a claim. The insurance and administration fee for 2024 was $1,500 plus GST of $150 = $1,650 which covered

    • Public Liability (e.g. to cover training) and Management Liability (e.g. to protect Board directors).
    • Personal Accident Insurance
    • Administration fee to contribute to costs of administering the association (HRL).

    Please note: that the NSWRL/Community RL/HRL insurance process is aimed at players playing at a community RL level, as opposed to elite competitions (like NRL).

    HRL Operations Manual contains further information and lists the insurance and administration fee.

    Further information

    If you have further questions, please contact HRL at operations@heritagerugbyleague.com