Registered personal trainers upset with those who ignore Mosman Council’s licensing rules
PERSONAL trainers believe Mosman Council needs to do more to police unregistered outdoor trainers, as council plans to increase licensing fees.
Mosman
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MOSMAN Council plans to increase licence fees for personal trainers by 10 per cent in July, but it’s the number of unregistered trainers operating in the suburb which concerns those who do the right thing.
The council licenses personal and fitness trainers using its parks and reserves to ensure they have the correct public liability insurance, are appropriately qualified, comply with conditions of use of parks and reserves, and to regulate unauthorised trainers using public land.
The council’s register and logo for licensed personal and fitness trainers was developed to differentiate registered trainers from those who ignore the licensing system and train groups in Mosman parks and reserves without approval.
Seven trainers are registered with the council, but registered trainer Jessica Cross of Sportif Personal Training estimated there were 15 who trained clients in Mosman while unregistered.
Ms Cross said there were also other businesses which did outdoor training and it was unclear if they had to be registered or not.
For example, she said there were a large number of small, personal training studios which offered outdoor group training and local businesses which offered free community outdoor fitness events.
Ms Cross said she was not surprised about the small number of registered trainers.
“I do not have any concerns with paying the fees to operate my business in Mosman — the issue I have is that there are far too many personal trainers operating without a permit and also exceeding the maximum number of 10 people per group,” she said.
“Since starting seven months ago, I have never had anyone approach me for my certification.
“I have not seen a single ranger, apart from (them) targeting dogs off leads and parking tickets.
“To me the registration fee is minimal in comparison to what the penalty fee is if you are to get caught.”
Ms Cross said that more checks were required of outdoor trainers in Mosman.
“At the end of the day, the council’s rangers need to be more proactive and go up to trainers or business owners and ask to see their permits,” she said.
“So I can see why some trainers think they can get away with it, however, for me this is not something that I am willing to risk.
“I think it does make it difficult for trainers like myself, because I’m a relatively new, small business operating in the area, abiding by the rules and then you have a lot of larger scale personal trainers or bootcamps out there who aren’t abiding by the council rules.”
Registered trainer Cathy Morton of BUF Manly and Balmoral said it was “unprofessional” to be unregistered.
“I think the only thing for the council to do is use rangers to look at whether people are wearing their permit arm band,” she said.
“I think we have a duty to show proper care to our clients and do things by the book, as well as ensure that we are protected for insurance purposes by registering with the council.
“It would be very unprofessional as well to be training clients and queried by a ranger about whether we had a permit if we didn’t have one.
“Our clients pay money to train with us, so it’s only fair that we pay what we should to use the public space.”
Ms Morton said the presence of unregistered trainers was unfair on those who registered.
“I pay a decent amount of money to run my business in the correct way and I think it’s unprofessional of others not to do the same,” she said.
“I think most clients don’t really know anything about the permits and would presume if they were training with someone they had permission to be there.
“We’re very lucky to train in such a beautiful spot and I think we should all treat that with respect.”
The council’s spokeswoman said that personal trainers were required to obtain a permit prior to operating in Mosman.
“The council’s rangers conduct regular patrols to ensure trainers have a permit and are compliant,” she said.
“If no permit is able to be sighted, the council has an enforcement process to seek compliance.
“We encourage trainers to contact the council’s rangers if they think someone is undertaking a training business without a licence.”
Visit mosman.nsw.gov.au/recreation/sports-and-fitness/registered-personal-trainers/ for the list of registered trainers in Mosman.
The council’s draft 2017-18 pricing policy, along with its draft budget, is out for public consultation until May 7.
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