Become a Referee
Register to complete the Level 0 Referee Course
Attend the course and get accredited
Get on court, and start learning in domestic games!
Referee Expression of Interest
If you are interested in becoming a referee, please fill out the below form and an email will be sent to you regarding the date of the next referee course.
Referee Course EOIReferee Courses and Pathways
The Basketball ACT Referee Development Program provides pathways for referees from officiating their first game of junior basketball through to being a FIBA official.
This program provides referees with assistance in developing their skills and improving their on court knowledge. Once the referee shows their knowledge and on court understanding, they will then progress to the next level.
The Level 0 course is designed as the opening level for anyone that is wanting to begin refereeing. The current model is undertaking a 3 hour course which will go through both a theory and basic on court component.
After this is completed the referee will be a Trainee referee and can begin refereeing a game with a shadow running along side them.
Level of refereeing: U12 Division 1-6 and U14 Division 2-6.
After completed the on court assessment by a referee supervisor and upgraded to Y1, the referee will now be able to be assigned to referee games without a shadow this is showing that they are still learning but in doing so are given the opportunity to show leadership. This assessment is done after watching a full game after refereeing a minimum of ten games.
Once a referee progress to being a Y2, they have been assessed on two separate games, to test how they are dealing with referee higher level divisions and age groups, this allows to see consistency of refereeing two different games.
Once completed the required. The referee has now been deemed competent in refereeing higher level games and will continue grow in games they are ready to referee. The main takeaway for being a Y2 is that they are now able to have open communication with players and coaches during games, but only in timeouts or dead ball periods.
Level of refereeing: All Junior Division 1-6 competitions, also U12-U14 Junior Premier League.
Once a referee progress to the Y3 grade, they have been assessed on two separate games, in either U16/U19 Division 1-2 or a JPL game this allows to see consistency of refereeing two different games with different scenarios arise. A 1C grade is the senior equivalent to a Y3 being able to take the court as a beginner referee in junior grades
Once completed the required. The referee has now been deemed competent in refereeing more competitive games with more consistent JPL games, allowing development in fully timed games. Once they reach Y3 this now also considers them being involved in representative tournaments such as (BNSW Southern Junior League)
Level of refereeing: All Junior Division 1-6 competitions, also U12-U19 Junior Premier League + also introduced to refereeing our Senior Social Grades.
Once reaching a Y4/Y5 these are top tier junior gradings these referees are often seen as a mentor to younger referees in our JPL and Division 1 competitions. This referees are consistently refereeing at a high standard in all of our junior competitions and are now all beginning to emerge into our Senior Social A Grade and beginning to start having exposure into Senior Premier League. 1B is the Y4/Y5 equivalent once juniors turn 18.
The referee’s within these levels are refereeing in BNSW Tournaments consistently in the U16/U18’s divisions + also are able to be selected within the BA National Championships, they are now at the beginning of refereeing Junior Premier League and Senior Premier League more consistently.
Level of refereeing: All Junior and Junior Premier League Divisions, Most Senior BACT Competitions, BNSW Southern Junior League, BNSW Junior Premier League.
State Development is the stage were you need to complete the State Development Course, attend the in-person theory and in-person fitness components. BACT will provide you with refereeing a minimum of 5 Senior Premier League games, and you will need to have half of those games reviewed by a Referee Coach and passing in a minimum of 80% of the reviews. Assessments will be sent to BACT Officials Coordinator, Referee Supervisors and Technical Officials Working BACT Working Group.
Level of refereeing: All Junior and Junior Premier League Divisions, All Senior Divisions, All Senior Waratah Divisions.
State grade minimum requirements are actively refereeing the Senior Premier League for a season (minimum 25 games in a season) and have officiated at a Basketball Australia National Championships. The State Course is a key component needing to be passed, both on court and theory components.
Needing a minimum of 10 Senior Premier League 1 games and have all games submitted for review, with a pass mark of 80% on all games. Assessments will be sent to BACT Officials Coordinator, Referee Members of Technical Officials Working Group.
Level of refereeing: NBL1 East and below
National Development requires you to be actively involved in NBL1 East needing to pass all fitness requirements of the leagues. Getting the National Development grade may also get you involved in the Basketball Australia run: National Referee Development Program, this programs allows individuals who have been talent identified that show potential to referee in both WNBL and potentially NBL.
Level of refereeing: NBL1 East and below.
National Panel referees are selected by Basketball Australia. Selection is based on performance as well as potential within growing into the national leagues shown at the NBL1 level in each conference. Ongoing training and commitment both with theory and fitness is required to stay at this high level. This is all Basketball Australia run with no input from ACT.
Level of refereeing: NBL1 East, Potential NBL1 National Finals selections, Potential rostered for NBL or WNBL games.
The FIBA referee qualification is the highest grade for referees, this is selected by Basketball Australia and requires nomination, as well as active elite officiating with Australian Leagues. The honour of having this license is quite huge being able to referee at international FIBA events, FIBA referees may attend international tournaments both senior and junior events and continuously improve performance to retain their license
Level of refereeing: FIBA International Competitions, Junior International FIBA Tournaments and Events.
Community Referee Courses (Level 0)
To become a junior referee, you must be turning 13 years of age in the year of the course, and complete a Level 0 Referee Course.
Once you have completed the Level 0 Course, you will be able to “shadow” referee games to gain confidence and skill, before refereeing on your own.
Junior Referee Course
October 5th 2025
$70
Senior Community Referee Courses (Level 0)
To begin being a referee in our Senior Domestic competitions you will need to undertake a modernised course instead of the basic Level 0 course.
Once you have completed course, you will be able to get on court and start officiating games.
Senior Referee Course
September 25th 2025
$20
Other Referee Courses
Other Referee Courses will be held throughout the year, and will be offered to those actively officiating. The courses currently on offer are, Wheelchair Conversion Course, 3×3 Referee Courses.
The purpose of our State Referee Development Programs are to provide more of a direct and continuous educational pathway for referees who BACT has identified as talented within our competitions. We have three development programs that outline different stages of our referee pathway. SRDP Emerging 2, SRDP Emerging 1, SRDP Breakthrough.
SRDP – Emerging 2 (Formally known as JRDP)
The Emerging 2 program is targeted at junior referees who have are minimum Y2 grade and who have shown potential to advance further within their refereeing. The program runs for 9 months and look at doing both on court education, live referee coach education as well as classroom activities such as beginner clip analysis, goal setting for the program, and basic standards for our JPL competition. The referees in this program will get a 1 game per 2 months clipped up and receive feedback from both SRDP Emerging 1 or higher peers, this is to give them a basic understanding of how to take learnings from past experiences to take into future experiences.
Eligibility:
SRDP – Emerging 1 (Formally known as IRP)
The Emerging 1 program is targeted at junior referees who have are minimum Y3 grade and who have shown further potential to advance further as a referee in our competitions as well as being involved in BNSW junior competitions. The program runs for 12 months and the group are looking more advanced into breaking down games they have refereed and getting 1 game per month clipped up by the BACT Officials Coordinator, and adapting to feedback received. The outcome for this program is to help the referees get a further understanding of what is like to be an elite referee and the commitment also needed. They undertake some specialist sessions with understanding of how to use 3PO Mechanics, and how to look after themselves as athletes. This program is suited for referees who are in the scope to go to National Championships in the years that follow.
Eligibility:
SRDP – Breakthrough (Formally known as ARP)
The Breakthrough program is designed for referees who have already completed or still involved within the National Championships as well as active referees in the NBL1 East or Senior Waratah League competitions. The program is an 8 month program run by the NBL.
The program outlines the below:
Eligibility:
If you have any questions or would like further information, please contact our officials team:
