The Act casts a wide net. Combatants—anyone who steps into a contest area—are the primary group. They must hold current registration, serological clearance and certificate of fitness (ss 9, 11, 49). Minors are barred from professional registration (s 12) and face additional restrictions when moving from professional to amateur classes (s 16). Former professionals may be refused amateur registration unless the Authority is satisfied the move is appropriate after considering published guidelines (s 16(2)–(5)).

Industry participants (s 6) include match-makers, managers, trainers (including seconds and conditioning coaches), judges, referees, timekeepers and any prescribed class. Each must be registered in the class appropriate to the activity (s 20(1)). Corporations may register as managers or promoters but not as other industry participants (s 20(3)–(4)). Promoters—individuals or corporations who have effective control of the promotion—are subject to the highest penalties and must hold both registration and a contest-specific permit (ss 20(2), 39).

Attending medical practitioners are now a distinct regulated class under Part 2A. Only accredited practitioners may perform pre- or post-contest examinations or be engaged by promoters for weigh-ins or contests (s 37A). They must maintain AHPRA registration, indemnity insurance and any Authority-required training (s 37B).

Approved amateur bodies are corporate or unincorporated bodies approved by the Minister on the Authority’s recommendation for specified styles (s 8). They approve amateur contests, nominate match-makers and supply officials. Their approvals can be conditioned, varied or revoked (s 8(4)–(5)), and breach of conditions carries a 100-penalty-unit maximum.

Promoters of premises who merely provide or control venues are exempt from registration and permit obligations provided they do not otherwise act as promoter (s 20(7)), but they may still be caught by general prohibition orders preventing use of their premises (s 74(d)).

The Authority, Police, referees, combat sport inspectors and ordinary spectators are indirectly affected. The Authority exercises quasi-judicial functions in registration, discipline and prohibition decisions and must maintain accurate registers (ss 17, 29, 37E). Police supply security determinations that are determinative for certain classes (ss 26, 34). Referees must obey mandatory stoppage directions (s 66) on pain of 500-penalty-unit fines.

Close associates of corporate applicants or registrants for manager or promoter registration are scrutinised as if they were the applicant (ss 6A, 25(5), 26(6)). Criminal intelligence about them can found adverse security determinations.

Finally, the Act reaches any person who holds themselves out as registered when they are not (s 21), enters the contest area without authority (s 55), or supplies false information in applications or medical certifications (s 92).

Combatants’ duties include notifying the Authority of name, address or contact changes within 14 days (s 17(6)), producing their medical record book (s 19), complying with safety-training conditions (s 16B), notifying the Authority of external medical suspensions (s 16E) and of the end of suspensions that lack an expiry date (s 16F), and submitting to directed medical examinations (s 61(4)). They enjoy the right to apply for variation of registration to add classes (s 15A) and to seek review of health-and-safety prohibition orders (s 73).

Promoters’ duties are the most onerous: obtaining a permit (s 39), ensuring all participants are registered or exempt (s 48), providing serological clearances (s 49), engaging only accredited attending medical practitioners (s 53), notifying the Authority of any death or hospitalisation within 48 hours (s 54), and complying with all permit conditions (s 42(4)). They must also ensure protective equipment is worn (s 52) and arrange immediate medical attention if a combatant is rendered unconscious (s 60).

Attending medical practitioners must exercise prescribed pre- and post-contest functions (s 57), certify fitness or unfitness in the medical record book, and notify combatants and inspectors immediately. They are under a positive duty to direct the referee to stop a contest on observing a category 1 head injury sign or where continuation poses serious risk (s 63). Their accreditation can be conditioned, suspended or cancelled on grounds including loss of AHPRA registration or indemnity insurance (s 37F).

The Authority’s duties include keeping accurate registers (ss 17(4), 29(4), 37E(4)), issuing medical record books (s 18), notifying Police of permits and revocations (ss 43, 44(3)), referring certain applications for security determinations (s 26), and giving show-cause notices before most adverse decisions (ss 31, 37G, 67). It possesses broad rule-making power (s 107) and may exempt non-residents (s 102).

Rights of review exist under s 77 for most registration, accreditation, permit and disciplinary decisions, subject to exclusions for pure health-safety refusals and criminal-organisation matters. NCAT review is unavailable where criminal intelligence is the basis, and the Tribunal must sit in closed session to protect that intelligence (s 78).

All regulated persons have the right to surrender registration (s 37) and to respond to show-cause notices in writing, in person, or both, with legal representation (ss 31(4), 37G(3)).

Penalties are graduated and often aggravated where registration has previously been cancelled. Unregistered combat participation carries 50 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment (or 80/6 months if previously cancelled) (s 9). Unregistered promoters face 100/6 months (individual) or 200 penalty units (corporation), doubling to 160/6 months or 320 penalty units if previously cancelled (s 20). Holding a contest without a permit attracts 360 penalty units/12 months (individual) or 720 penalty units (corporation) (s 39(1)).

Breach of registration conditions is 50 penalty units for combatants (s 14(6)) and 50/100 for industry participants/promoters (s 27(5)). Failure to comply with automatic-suspension notices or to notify the Authority of external medical suspensions is 50 penalty units (ss 16E, 37K). Promoter failure to ensure an accredited doctor is present reaches 500/12 months (individual) or 1,000 penalty units (corporation) (s 53).

Obstruction of inspectors or supply of false information carries 100 penalty units (individual) or 200 (corporation) (ss 90, 92). Corporate offences attract director liability where knowing authorisation or permission is proved (s 103).

Enforcement tools include show-cause notices (ss 31, 37G, 67), immediate suspension pending determination (ss 32, 37H), mandatory cancellation on adverse security advice (s 34), and prohibition orders that survive registration (Part 4). Combat sport inspectors have warrantless entry to venues on contest days (s 85A), powers to seize documents and require answers (s 85C), and may be assisted by Police (s 84(3)). Information notices can compel production from any person with relevant knowledge (s 86), with abrogation of self-incrimination privilege limited to contravention investigations (s 87).

Penalty notices are available for prescribed offences (s 105), but issuance does not prevent later disciplinary or prohibition action (s 105(4)). Proceedings must generally commence within two years, or six months after a coronial inquest if death is involved (s 104(3)–(4)).

The Act is not standalone. Section 4(1A) expressly incorporates the dictionary in Schedule 3 and notes that the Interpretation Act 1987 applies. Criminal-organisation controls are welded to the registration regime: controlled members are statutorily barred from applying (ss 13(2)(b), 25(2)(b)) and trigger mandatory cancellation (s 34(2)), with cross-reference to s 27 of the Crimes (Criminal Organisations Control) Act 2012.

Security determinations by the Commissioner of Police engage the Criminal Records Act 1991 and s 579 of the Crimes Act 1900, both of which are expressly overridden for spent convictions and certain charges (s 26(5)). Criminal intelligence provisions (ss 78, 94–95) mirror similar protections in gaming and liquor legislation, preventing disclosure even to NCAT except in closed session.

Medical-practitioner accreditation interacts with the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law (NSW) via AHPRA registration requirements (s 37B(2)(i)). Serological clearances and certificates of fitness engage privacy legislation; s 86(4) prohibits requiring health information beyond that necessary for the practitioner’s functions under the Act, with reference to the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

The Liquor Act 2007 and Casino Control Act 1992 are engaged by the definition of combat sport contest (s 4, Sch 3) and by the consultation obligation before issuing a show-cause notice for a general prohibition order affecting licensed premises (s 68). Venue-use prohibitions (s 74(d)) can therefore close licensed premises to combat events for up to two years.

NCAT review is conducted under the Administrative Decisions Review Act 1997, but s 78 modifies that Act’s ordinary disclosure and hearing rules where criminal intelligence is involved. The Fines Act 1996 governs penalty notices (s 105).

Finally, the Act authorises regulations and rules that can create offences up to 100 penalty units (s 106(4)) and can classify new combat sports (s 106(2)(b1)), allowing dynamic expansion of the regulated sphere without further primary legislation.

The Combat Sports Amendment Act 2024 (No 16) constitutes the most significant overhaul since 2013. It substituted a new s 5 definition of amateur and professional contests to tighten loopholes, introduced the entire Part 2A accreditation regime for attending medical practitioners, and inserted detailed automatic medical-suspension provisions (ss 16A–16G) triggered by knockout (including technical knockout on category 1 head-injury signs), interstate or NSW medical certifications, or failure to meet safety-training conditions. New ss 7 and 7A clarified serological clearances and certificates of fitness, reduced the renewal window to eight weeks (ss 11(2B), 23(2B)), and expanded close-associate vetting to corporate managers and promoters (s 6A).

Safety-training conditions were added as standard conditions whose breach triggers automatic suspension (ss 16B, 28B, 28C–28D). The Authority’s power to extend registration solely to allow compliance with such conditions was preserved in transitional provisions (Sch 2, cl 17). Register contents were expanded to capture more medical and suspension data (s 17(2)).

These changes respond to contemporary medical understanding of cumulative brain trauma, particularly concussion and second-impact syndrome. The 2024 amendments implement recommendations from coronial inquests and medical advisory bodies that earlier legislation left too much discretion to individual practitioners and promoters. By mandating accreditation, standardising head-injury protocols and linking non-compliance with training to automatic suspension, the legislature has moved from an event-by-event permission model to a continuous professional-competence model for all key actors.

The provided text contains no reported court challenges. However, the structure of the Act invites certain constitutional and administrative-law arguments. The mandatory cancellation provisions on controlled-organisation membership (s 34(2)) echo the High Court’s reasoning in Cunliffe v Commonwealth (1994) 182 CLR 272 concerning over-broad association-based disqualifications; a future challenge might argue that the provision burdens the implied freedom of political communication or is disproportionate. Security-determination provisions that allow the Commissioner to rely on undisclosed criminal intelligence (s 26(4)–(5)) have parallels in K-Generation Pty Ltd v Liquor Licensing Court (2009) 237 CLR 501 and South Australia v Totani (2010) 242 CLR 1; the closed-session NCAT procedures in s 78 are designed to survive such scrutiny but have not yet been tested.

Controversies have historically centred on the balance between athlete autonomy and paternalistic safety rules. The absolute bar on professional registration for minors (s 12) and the power to refuse amateur registration to former professionals (s 16) have been criticised by some combat-sports associations as overly restrictive. The introduction of automatic suspensions for category 1 head-injury signs (ss 16A(4), 63–66) has generated debate within the MMA and boxing communities about “stoppage culture” and its effect on fighter earnings. No judicial determination of these policy choices appears in the source text; all claims above are grounded in the statutory language and the explanatory context supplied by the 2018 and 2024 amendment histories.

Most practitioners miss that a combatant’s registration is automatically suspended—not merely the contest—across all classes upon a knockout or external medical certification (s 16A(3)). The suspension commences instantly on the knockout (s 16C(1)(a)) and can only be lifted by medical clearance or regulatory expiry; an unaware combatant who competes elsewhere breaches s 36 and risks imprisonment.

Corporate promoters must disclose every close associate’s full personal details (s 23(2)(c)(ii)); failure renders the application incomplete and exposes the corporation to adverse security findings that treat each associate as the applicant (s 25(5)). The definition of “close associate” is extraordinarily broad, capturing anyone who “will hold” a relevant financial interest or power (s 6A(1)(a)(i)), allowing the Authority to look through corporate structures years in advance.

The 28-day currency rule for certificates of fitness (s 7A(2)) is measured from the date the certificate is sought to be relied on, not the date of issue. A certificate signed 29 days before a contest is stale even if the contest was booked months earlier. Likewise, serological clearances are current only for the regulatory period measured from the blood-test date, not the certificate date (s 7(2)).

Section 16(6) contains a trap: if a former professional is permitted to register as an amateur in the same style, the professional registration is automatically cancelled. There is no mechanism to reinstate the professional class later without a fresh application and fresh medical clearances.

Finally, the Act’s information-gathering power (s 86) can reach any person the Authority “has reasonable cause to believe may have relevant information”, including journalists or social-media commentators. Refusal without reasonable excuse is an offence (s 89). Because privilege against self-incrimination is abrogated only for contravention investigations (s 87), a person asked for information during a registration-fitness inquiry retains the privilege—yet the Authority’s notice must still warn of the offence (s 86(5)), creating a subtle trap for the unwary.

Compliance begins with mapping the regulated cohort. Promoters should maintain an auditable register of every combatant, official and medical practitioner who will touch an event, cross-checked against the Authority’s public registers. Applications for registration or accreditation must be lodged in the approved form with all mandatory attachments; the Authority may refuse to accept a renewal lodged more than eight weeks early (ss 11(2B), 23(2B)).

Medical compliance is non-negotiable. Every combatant must present a current certificate of fitness signed within the preceding 28 days and a serological clearance whose underlying tests fall inside the prescribed window. Attending medical practitioners must be accredited before the weigh-in; promoters should obtain the practitioner’s accreditation number and indemnity certificate before contracting. Pre- and post-contest examinations must be recorded in the combatant’s medical record book in the exact form prescribed by the regulations or rules (s 57). Any certification that a combatant is unfit must be notified to the Authority if not given under Part 3 (s 50(3)).

Event-day protocols require a combat sport inspector to be present for professional contests. The promoter must ensure the inspector’s directions, the referee’s obligations under s 66, and the attending doctor’s stoppage duties are understood by all corner personnel. Category 1 head-injury signs must trigger immediate cessation; “tap out or submission” is expressly excluded from the knockout definition (s 16A(4)).

Record-keeping obligations are continuing. Changes of name, address or contact details must be notified within 14 days (ss 17(6), 29(6)). Promoters must retain contest records, medical certifications and injury notifications for the period required by the regulations. Any death or hospitalisation within 48 hours must be reported “as soon as practicable” (s 54).

Disciplinary preparedness means treating every show-cause notice as the start of potential cancellation or prohibition. Respondents should appear with legal representation, file detailed written submissions within the 14-day minimum period, and address both the specific grounds and the broader public-interest test. Where criminal intelligence is involved, the Authority will withhold particulars; applicants must decide whether to withdraw the application or proceed without knowing the case against them.

Corporate governance for promoter or manager companies requires ongoing due diligence on close associates. Any person who “will hold” a relevant financial interest or executive position must be disclosed; a subsequent change in shareholding or directorship can trigger a fresh security determination and possible cancellation.

Training and insurance obligations are now embedded. Safety-training conditions are standard; failure to complete them to the Authority’s satisfaction triggers automatic suspension (s 16B). Medical practitioners must hold “current medical indemnity insurance of an appropriate level” (s 37B(2)(ii)); the Authority can cancel accreditation the moment cover lapses (s 37F(f)).

Finally, promoters should maintain a positive relationship with the Authority and Police. Early notification of proposed events, prompt supply of information under s 86, and voluntary adoption of best-practice concussion protocols reduce the likelihood of permit revocation or adverse security findings. In an environment where a single contested knockout can generate cascading medical suspensions across multiple combatants and officials, robust systems, not ad-hoc compliance, are the only sustainable path.