No need to sign in to play

Have you ever wondered if you really need to sign in when you arrive at the club? The short answer is no, not any more.

CAQ's handbook used to give clubs some advice in section 8. A sign-in register was to be kept. Members, visitors and volunteers all signed it. They wrote down their times in and out. Clubs asked CAQ again and again whether this was really needed.

So CAQ asked its insurance broker in early 2026, and followed up twice. In September it asked once more. The broker pointed the question to Croquet Australia.

That answer makes sense, because the insurance is not CAQ's or the club's. Croquet Australia's national program covers the whole sport, in all states and territories. The phrase "all registered members" comes straight from the V-Insurance Individuals Summary of Cover. If a claim is made, the club's two checks are whether the player is registered and whether the activity was sanctioned. The sanctioning bodies are the national body and a state or territory association. The summary and the claim form say nothing about signing in.

In March, the CAQ management committee agreed that members are covered "regardless, when engaged in croquet activities (including play at home & away, taking part in fund-raising activities such as Bunnings Sausage Sizzles, etc)". That means a registered player is covered at their own club and when visiting any other club, in Queensland or interstate.

CAQ does not ask members to sign in. Queensland law does not ask it either. A club that wants a sign-in book may still keep one, and that is fine.

People who are not registered as players are recorded before their first game under Croquet Australia's Temporary Member Policy. Come & Try visitors, lesson beginners and club-hire guests are all such people. Overseas players have no Australian club registration, so they are treated as visitors too. A QR code or a hand-written entry is the way the record is made. Accident cover for those visitors depends on that record.

Do members need to sign in? is a guide on ClubHub that sets the whole matter out. Section 8 of the Club Administration Handbook 2026 has been rewritten under the new heading "Signing in and recording visitors".