Racing For Our Lives

Improving the odds

Winning better welfare and insurance protection for jockeys

Australian jockeys were not only putting their lives on the line each time they jumped in the saddle, they were also risking financial ruin.

Jockeys were the only professional athletes required to buy their own public liability insurance and had no national Personal Accident insurance scheme.

EMC worked with the Australian Jockeys’ Association to win industry-funded insurance and welfare schemes for jockeys.

The campaign:

• used key racing carnivals as pressure points to assist negotiations
• was supported by a briefing document outlining the claim, which was used to lobby industry decision-makers, brief journalists and inform members
• was launched at an event featuring high-profile jockeys and a video message from a jockey who became a quadriplegic after a tragic race fall.

Over six months, EMC worked with the AJA to sustain public pressure on racing authorities, generating regular news stories on the issue

In 2009 the AJA succeeded in its campaign to have one percent of prize money, about $3.7 million a year, dedicated to jockeys’ protection including insurance and welfare.

EMC Campaigns