The Australian Open broke attendance records again this year, holding its title as the most attended Grand Slam in the world. SafetyCulture founder Luke Anear chats to Forbes Australia about acing the training and safety inspections, and keeping 1.2 million happy slammers out of harm’s way.
When it comes to Grand Slams, the Craig Tiley-led Australian Open has long held the title of ‘happiest’ tournament on the circuit. Thanks to the attendance of 1,218,831 fans at the 2025 AO, the ‘Happy Slam’ has again broken the record as the largest.
Of course, putting on a 15-day show of this magnitude is no small feat.
“A lot of people don’t realise the Australian Open isn’t just the most attended Grand Slam in the world it’s also a massive logistical exercise,” says Luke Anear, founder of Australian-made unicorn SafetyCulture, the AO’s workplace operations partner.
“It takes a huge team to bring the event to life,” says Anear, who stepped down as CEO of SafetyCulture in November. “The bump-in for this event starts months before the tournament begins, and it all runs to an incredibly tight timeline.”
Some 467 structures are built on-site in the three months leading up to the event, according to Lee Ross, Tennis Australia’s Head of Safety, Compliance and Emergency Management. Ranging from decadent branded marquees to small food stalls, every structure is built to resist 140 km/h winds, Ross says.
Loading the equipment into the tennis precinct is a masterclass in logistics and precision. To avoid traffic jams on site and in the Melbourne CBD, 5,500 trucks are scheduled in 15-minute increments to unload around 60,000 units of food, equipment, merchandise, and wares.
Fitting out each temporary structure to be aesthetically pleasing, and compliant with regulations and safety rules, is another challenge.
“It’s very detailed, very methodical,” says Ross. “Everything from door handles to the way doors swing, to stair rises, and stair heights, and ramps and lengths of ramps, gradients of ramps. Whether this structure over here requires smoke alarms, and do the smoke alarms need to be interconnected or non-interconnected?”
Keeping track of all those checks and balances requires robust and easily transportable technology, Ross says.
“This site is 1.6 kilometres from one end to the other. For us, the SafetyCulture app is a very valuable tool to be able to use on our electronic devices.” says Lee.
The relationship between the two blockbuster Australian companies goes back almost a decade.
“The team at Tennis Australia started using SafetyCulture back in 2016 and each year we’ve played a bigger and bigger role in supporting the teams behind the scenes,” says Anear.
“They were actually one of our customers before we decided to sponsor the event, and I think that is a part of what makes this partnership so special. It’s not just an opportunity to slap our logo somewhere, we are a valued partner that adds value to what they’re doing.”
Today, SafetyCulture is an official sponsor of the AO. The platform is used to assess the work of contractors, document sign-off processes before official inspections by the City of Melbourne, and to assess the upkeep of each of the 39 tennis courts at Melbourne Park.
“It’s not just an opportunity to slap our logo somewhere, we are a valued partner that adds value to what they’re doing.”
Luke Anear, SafetyCulture founder
The AO tournament was first played in 1905, and 120 years on it has undergone exponential growth and popularity.
“We’re very conscious that with this success comes added complexity for the operational teams, and we’re proud that we can support them with tools like inspections and checks as well as all of the training and inductions they can do on our app,” says Anear.
From infrastructure compliance to team training
Each January, the AO engages 12,000 volunteers who are trained and upskilled via the SafetyCulture platform. This is in addition to around 1,000 permanent staff members, and approximately 800 players who descend on Melbourne Park for the Grand Slam from around the world. It is Tennis Australia’s responsibility to provide a safe, competitive, and enjoyable experience for all of them.
“Whether it be the ballkids, or court services, customer experiences, retail or sustainability teams, they’re all using SafetyCulture to deliver the Australian Open that not only the fans love, but that our workforce feels great about,” says Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley.
The first Grand Slam event of the year also has a special place in the hearts of players.
“Playing at the Australian Open was one of the greatest experiences of my life and I owe a lot to the teams behind the scenes that make it all happen,” Australian tennis champion Lleyton Hewitt recalls in a behind the scenes look at this year’s tournament.
His gratitude extends from the AO staff and volunteers to the operations partner that works to make their jobs safer and more efficient.
“Behind them is SafetyCulture, training over 14,000 workers, helping them report and solve issues, make better, informed decisions and improve every last detail,” says Hewitt.
For Anear, this is the fifth year SafetyCulture has been an official partner of the AO, and he says seeing the company logo lit up in bright lights on the court is still a “pinch-me” moment.
“We’re happy that SafetyCulture and other homegrown smart technology can play a role in delivering it to the millions of fans who attend every year,” says Townsville-born and-based Anear.
“I started SafetyCulture because I wanted to solve a big problem. The fact we’re now being used by some of the best teams in the world to drive improvement and we’re doing it on a global stage is pretty wild.”
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