Our Emerging Athlete Pathways program aims to foster the development of young athletes and officials (such as coaches, referees and scorers), by providing financial assistance to help alleviate the costs associated with attending championship events at a state, national and international level. 

We understand that many of your athletes may be interested in this program and wanted to make you aware of some key changes to the current program. For any events held on or after 1 April 2022, the funding amounts have increased for each event category as follows: 

• $500 for state or state school events (previously $200)
• $600 for national or national school events (previously $400)
• $800 for international events (previously $600)

All other program eligibility remains unchanged and any applications for events commencing on or before 31 March 2022 will receive the previous funding amount. 

Could you please note these changes and update any information you may have on your website or included in selection information packs as necessary.
To reflect these changes, amendments have been made to the information on the ‘Check if you are eligible’ page on the EAP website, for your reference.

Thank you for your ongoing support for this program. Don't forget to notify the department of any changes to your eligible events by updating the EAP spreadsheet and sending it through to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Regards,

Japanese Encephalitis (JE) Precaution for Horses

Recently Biosecurity Queensland and Queensland Heath have issued alerts for Japanese Encephalitis (JE) following detection of cases at piggeries in Queensland, NSW, South Australia and Victoria.

What is Japanese Encephalitis?

Japanese encephalitis is an acute mosquito-borne viral disease that can cause reproductive losses and encephalitis in susceptible species. Disease occurs most commonly in pigs and horses but can also rarely cause disease in other animals.

Animals and people become infected through the bite of infected mosquitoes. The disease is maintained and spread through transmission cycles between mosquitoes and some wild and domestic bird species and pigs. There is no risk to humans from eating pig meat.

Japanese Encephalitis In Horses:

In horses, many cases are asymptomatic and most clinical disease is mild, however more severe encephalitis can occur which may be fatal. Signs include fever, jaundice, lethargy, anorexia and neurological signs which vary with severity of the clinical disease. Neurological signs can include incoordination, difficulty swallowing, impaired vision, and rarely a hyperexcitable form occurs. Disease has also been reported in donkeys.

Japanese Encephalitis in People:

Japanese encephalitis is transmitted to humans through infected mosquitoes. Most human infections of JE cause no symptoms or mild symptoms such as headache or fever. A person with severe disease may present with inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), characterised by sudden onset of vomiting, high fever and chills, severe headache, sensitivity to light, neck stiffness and nausea/vomiting.  Children aged under five years of age and older people who are infected with JE are at a higher risk of developing more severe illness.

Protections, Tips and Advice

• Make use of suitable insect repellents on all exposed skin and reapply every few hours.  Water based repellents may ineffective after becoming wet.
• Wear long, loose fitting clothing and covered footwear when outside and ensure accommodation where possible is properly fitted with mosquito nettings or screens.
• Where possible and safe, consider using vapour dispensing units (indoors) and mosquito coils (outdoors) or powered insect repellents in areas such as stable and barns.
• Consider where possible rugging horses to provide protection against mosquito bites.

Actions to take if you suspect Japanese encephalitis in your animals
Japanese encephalitis is a notifiable disease in Queensland. If you suspect Japanese encephalitis in any animal, immediately contact Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or phone the all-hours Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline (1800 675 888) and contact your veterinarian.

A copy of the recent Biosecurity Queensland Alert is available HERE.  A copy of the recent Queensland Health Notice is available HERE

ADVICE FOR CLUBS AND ORGANISATIONS
IMPACTED BY THE SOUTH-EAST QUEENSLAND EXTREME WEATHER EVENT

Dear sport and recreation colleagues

As you are aware, in recent days South-East Queensland has been impacted by a significant weather event, causing widespread flooding, with the emergency continuing to unfold in many areas.

As an agency, our thoughts are with all of those directly affected by this event both personally and across our sporting clubs, organisations, their volunteers and members, activity providers and staff.

Right now, the situation is evolving with impacts varying across the region and the full extent not likely to be known for some days yet. We have seen examples of the lengths you have gone to, in attempting to protect clubhouses, venues and equipment and while this is understandable, your safety and that of your volunteers and participants remains paramount.

We ask that you do not put yourselves under unnecessary risk as there will be time for damage assessments to occur across clubhouses, venues, lighting, fields, courts, amenities, and equipment once the immediate danger has passed and it is safe to do so.

When that time comes, we will be ready to utilise our vast experience in managing disaster response and recovery to provide assistance and support. This includes how best to record details of damage sustained to your facilities and assets and materials which will be crucial to support your claim.   

We suggest considering the following initially:

• Once waters have receded, contact your electrical supply company to ensure your supply has been safely reconnected.
• Check insurances and whether clubs, organisations and their facilities have flood cover. If so, contact insurers to receive advice on how to progress with a claim.
• Identify and capture clear images of tide marks or water heights in and around buildings and equipment.
• If there is significant damage such as ‘bellying’ or collapsing ceilings, do not enter until the building owners, engineers or SES have inspected.
• Wear appropriate PPE including gumboots, gloves etc when commencing removal of damaged equipment and surfaces.
• Ensure stormwater drains are clear and any debris removed in case of follow up rain.
• Document damage to items individually, including floor coverings, appliances, air conditioners, televisions and computers, capturing images and serial numbers of these items before discarding.
• Maintain any receipts associated with clean-up including for materials, PPE, mini skips or machinery, like dryers, required.

We understand that many of you are at a critical juncture with seasons already commenced or preparation underway. Similarly for those in the outdoor recreation industry that have providers currently delivering activities. Be assured that the department, your State Level Organisations, Industry Peak Bodies and Councils will work through this together as a collective.

As support options are being considered, we ask those affected to review their eligibility and current activations through Level 1 funding via the Sport and Recreation Disaster Recovery Program, with more detailed information available through the program guidelines. The program will be updated as more areas are declared under Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements. 

We also encourage eligible organisations to apply for support under the Active Clubs program which opened last week.

We will follow this email with further updates as information becomes available and it is our intention to have Sport and Recreation staff out in the field in the next week as we progress into the recovery phase.

We have worked together successfully in the last two years in response to the pandemic and we aim to work together in the same spirit to ensure a safe return to play as soon as possible.