NSW inquiry weighs whether Run Nation and Power Slap should be regulated as combat sports

A New South Wales parliamentary inquiry is examining whether Run Nation and Power Slap should be considered combat sports, so that participant safety can be better regulated.

Run Nation is a competition in which two players run at each other and collide at high speed. Power Slap is a competition in which players take turns slapping each other across the face. The inquiry, formally titled "Emerging combat sports and comparable activities," was established in August and referred to the Legislative Council Standing Committee on Social Issues, one of the committees of the state's upper house of Parliament. Submissions to the inquiry were open until 9 October.

Neurologist Dr Rowena Mobbs, an expert in concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a brain condition, told the inquiry that collision running and Power Slap have impacts similar to a coward punch or king-hit, and that death is a distinct possibility. She also told the inquiry she did not think any form of modification would make either activity safer. In an earlier written submission, she described Run Nation, bare-knuckle boxing, power slap and other formats as high-risk, potentially lethal forms of harm and assault.

The legal status of Run Nation has already been tested in court. In September, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge ruled that Run Nation was a combat sport, upholding a cancellation notice issued by the Combat Sports Authority of NSW for a Sydney event. That event has since been rescheduled for 28 November, after the authority's medical advisory board approved its permit.

Run Nation's organisers have said their events include on-field doctors and paramedics. Darren Kane, chair of the Combat Sports Authority, told the inquiry he would prefer that new combat sports be regulated with mandated ambulance and medical support staff.

The inquiry will also examine whether bare-knuckle boxing should be characterised and regulated as a combat sport. Outside Australia, a 19-year-old died in New Zealand after suffering a critical head injury while playing a tackling game believed to have been inspired by the viral run it straight challenge.

Power Slap had not yet held an official event in Australia as of 6 November 2026.