AERA has introduced a new Concussion Policy to bring endurance safety procedures into line with the standards required by the Australian Institute of Sport.
What you need to know
- Mandatory stand-down — anyone with a suspected concussion will be stood down from competition for a minimum of 21 days.
- Return to competition — to ride again, you must provide a clearance certificate from a GP or hospital doctor to your DA Secretary.
- Trial phase — this is a manual trial process, running for 6 to 12 months from the announcement (June 2026) to collect accurate national data.
- Updated forms — Chief Stewards now report incidents using the newly updated Form 15 and Form 38. Please discard all old copies of Form 15.
Where to find the official documents
The official Concussion Protocol, flow chart and Concussion Recognition Tool are published by AERA — see AERA Rules & Policies, and the updated incident forms on the AERA forms page.
Stay safe out on the track!