Prime Minister Scott Morrison's advice to avoid gatherings of 500 people or more starting Monday has been followed to the letter by the NRL, with games to proceed as normal this weekend but fans will not be allowed at matches starting next week.
The announcement is in contrast to a decision by Cricket Australia to hold matches this weekend with no fans in attendance.
The National Basketball League (NBL) has also taken a strict approach to its upcoming games.
"After consultation with local, state and federal authorities as well as our clubs, we have made a decision that the remainder of the Hungry Jack's NBL Grand Final Series presented by MG between the Sydney Kings and Perth Wildcats will be closed to the general public," says NBL owner and executive chairman Larry Kestelman.
"The health and well-being of our players, staff, officials and fans is paramount. As a family sport we felt this was the only decision to make.
"We commend the Kings, Wildcats and their ownership groups for supporting this move despite being a difficult commercial decision for all concerned. But they were just as resolute as us in regard to prioritising the welfare of players, staff and everyone else concerned ahead of commercial considerations."
Swimming Australia CEO Leigh Russell has also announced upcoming swimming championships in Perth that were due to take place later next month have been cancelled.
"We understand that there will be significant disappointment for our swimmers who have put in so much time and effort to be in peak condition for this event, but these are unprecedented times and the welfare and safety of our athletes, coaches, staff, technical officials, members and their families is paramount and at the centre of our decision-making," says Swimming Australia CEO Leigh Russell.
"This is a constantly evolving situation and we are already seeing substantial and widespread event cancellations and postponements worldwide.
"We appreciate that there are families that have made or are needing to make travel arrangements to head to Perth, so we wanted to give them as much time as possible to amend these plans if possible and provide certainty."
Updated at 5:59pm AEDT on 13 March 2020.
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