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Referee Accreditation

Referee levels have been structured to ensure that each level carries a differing degree of commitment and responsibility. The levels and the responsibility associated with each are outlined below.

A Level 0 referee is a beginner referee who run lines and/or buddies with a more experienced referee.  Level 0 referee’s may also referee alone. A Level 0 referee:

  • must be a minimum of 15 years of age for senior games, and 13 years of age or a minimum of 2 years older than the division they are refereeing for junior games.
  • must pass AO’s Level 0 exam.
  • must complete a Referee Information Form &  and ATO Hobby form.
  • must officiate 15 games as a stand-alone referee.
  • will remain at Level 0 until successful completion of AO’s Level 1 referee course (both theory and practical assessment).
  • will be assessed by a local Senior referee.

 

 

The written exam for Level 0 Junior Divisions can be taken online here

The written exam for Level 0 Senior Divisions can be taken online here

A Level 1 referee is able to referee by themselves at a domestic competition.  A Level 1 referee:

  • Must maintain interest & displays enthusiasm while refereeing.
  • Must successfully complete AO’s referee theory course.
  • Must provide convener 24 hours’ notice of unavailability.
  • Displays the ability to referee Lower grades.
  • Must pass AO’s Level 1 written exam referee.
  • Must referee at least 35 games before practical assessment.
  • Must pass AO’s practical assessment Level 1 at domestic competition.
  • Displays the ability to referee lower/younger grades and maintain full control of the game on their own.     

 

 

The written exam for Level 1 Junior Divisions can be taken online here

The written exam for Level 1 Senior Divisions can be taken online here

A Level 2 referee is able to referee grands finals by themselves at a domestic competition.  A Level 2 referee:

  • Must maintain interest & display enthusiasm while refereeing
  • Must have achieved Level 1 assessment.
  • Refereed 2 seasons at domestic level.
  • Must pass AO’s Level 2 written exam
  • Must provide convener 24 hours’ notice of unavailability
  • Displays the ability to referee higher grades and maintains full control of the game on their own.

 

 

The written exam for Level 2 can be taken online here.

A Level 3 referee is able to referee at Australian Oztag representative tournaments.  A Level 3 referee:

  • Must have achieved Level 2
  • Must have achieved referee experience criteria to advance
  • Must pass AO’s Level 3 written exam.
  • Displays the ability to referee grand final games
  • Will be nominated by their Association, or invited by AO for representative tournaments
  • Will be assessed at an AO Jnr tournament to determine their ability to progress to AO Senior tournaments.
  • Will be assessed by an AO appointed assessor.

A Level 4 referee is a senior official capable of refereeing a Grand Final at the Australian Championships.  A Level 4 referee:

  • must have achieved Level 3
  • must have met the required referee experience criteria to advance
  • must pass a practical assessment at AO’s Australian Championships
  • must pass AO’s Level 4 written exam
  • must have officiated at 2 Senior Australian Championships or
  • officiated at 2 Senior State Championships or
  • officiated a Grand Final at a Senior Australian Championship

A Level 5 referee is an International Referee, who has refereed at an International Tag Federation sanctioned event.  A Level 5 referee:

  • must have achieved Level 4
  • must have met the Level 5 referee experience criteria to advance
  • must attend the referees briefing
  • must pass practical assessments at Senior Australian Championships
  • must be selected to officiate at an International Tag Federation sanctioned Senior International event including Emerging Nations, Big 4 Invitational, Trans-Tasman, ITF World Cup.

A Level 6 referee is GURU level.  This is a referee who has officated an International Tag FederationWorld Cup final.  A Level 6 referee:

  • must have achieved Level 5
  • must have met the required referee experience criteria
  • must attend the referees briefing
  • must have passed the practical assessment at ITF World Cup
  • must be selected to officiate a World Cup Final

Area’s of Assessment

For referees to progress to the next level they are required to be deemed competent in 3 areas of assessment. These areas may be assessed at the domestic competition and or an AO delivered referee course / tournament:

Written Assessed at levels 0, 1, 2 and 3
Practical Assessed at levels 1, 3, 4 and 5
Experience Assessed at all levels

If a referee is deemed “not yet competent” in any of the above areas of assessment or if an assessment is not completed / submitted within the allocated time, then re-assessment is required. A re-assessment cannot be done within a 1-month period.

 

A referee must pass the written exam for the next level before they can request a practical assessment. If a referee fails the written exam for levels 1 and 2 they are required to review the questions and re-submit these answers. If the referee fails the exam again further education and training is required before they can sit the exam again.

If a referee wishes to progress to a higher level, they must follow the steps outlined below:

  • Written assessment criteria exist for levels 0, 1, 2 and 3 and must be achieved before being able to progress to the next level.
  • The level 0 exam can be given to the referee by the domestic competition convener, may be taken home to complete and be re-submitted the following week. This is an open book (refer to AO’s rule book). The Level 1 exam is to be completed at the AO referee theory course.
  • If the referee fails the written assessments for levels 1, 2 or 3 they will need to wait a minimum of 1 month before they are able to review the questions and allowed to re-answer these questions a maximum of one re-sit is permitted.

For specific criteria for levels 0, 1 and 2 please see the written exam templates.

  • Practical assessments involve an assessor watching the referee during a game/s
  • If required an assessor may provide feedback to be utilised in future games in order to pass the assessment.
  • AO has developed the Practical Assessment criteria and it should be utilised for all assessments.
  • Practical assessments may take place at either a domestic competition or various tournaments depending on the level being assessed.

 If the referee fails an assessment they will only need to be re-assessed on areas deemed “not yet competent”. The re-assessment can be completed during a later game that day / night. Should these areas still not be deemed competent after multiple attempts then the referee will be required to redo a full assessment for that level.

  • Level 0 – Assessed by local senior referee.
  • Level 1 – Conducted by an AO Assessor at a domestic competition
  • Level 2 – No assessment required.
  • Level 3 – Conducted by an AO Assessor at a representative tournament.
  • Level 4 – Conducted by an AO Assessor at the Senior Australian Championships.
  • Level 5 – Conducted by an AO Assessor.

A referee will not be able to proceed to the next level without first meeting the experience criteria. Domestic competition conveners can assess and award a referee Level 0 providing they have passed the Level 0 Referee exam and meet all other criteria.

Refereeing experience criteria exists for all levels and must be achieved to progress to the next level. This will take into consideration:

  • Referee’s age.
  • Games refereed at domestic competitions over any number of years.
  • Games refereed at AO Oztag tournaments over any number of years.

The experience levels to be achieved are:

 Level 0

  • Must be a minimum of 15 years of age for senior games, and 13 years of age or a minimum of 2 years older than the division they are refereeing for junior games.

Level 1

  • To be deemed competent to referee at a competition on their own
  • To have successfully completed an AO official referee course
  • No minimum age once they have successfully completed the referee course

Level 2

  • To have refereed a minimum of 2 seasons at their domestic competition
  • To have successfully passed the Level 2 referee exam
  • No minimum age once they have successfully completed the referee course

Level 3

  • Nominated/Invited to Officiate Junior/Senior State Championship
  • Display the ability to referee Grand Final games

Level 4

  • Officiated at 2 Senior Australian Championships or
  • Officiated at 2 Senior State Championships
  • Officiated a Grand Final at a Senior Australian Championship

Level 5

  • Officiated at International level including ITF World Cup

Level 6

  • Officiated an ITF World Cup Final.