The governing body sent a letter to all senior and junior clubs earlier this week declaring such behaviour will not be tolerated.

The document warned of the risk of declining referee numbers and stated those charged with inappropriate behaviour towards officials will face increased sanctions.

Suspensions range from a minimum of two weeks for disrespecting the authority of a match official up to a maximum life ban for physically abusing officials.

The letter was jointly signed by Craig Leseberg, Brumbies GM of community rugby, Peter Johnson, president of ACT & SNSW Rugby Union and Martin Sullivan, president of ACT Junior Rugby Union.

In it, the officials issued a stern warning to clubs and declared that any instances of abuse will be punished.

"All cases of match official abuse must be treated seriously and, where conduct is proved, robust sanctions will be imposed on offenders to drive this conduct out of rugby and make match officiating an enjoyable role," the letter said.

"This is critical if we are to recruit and retain talented individuals as match officials in the future."

The challenge of declining referee numbers is not unique to rugby, with a number of sports also struggling with this issue.

While not the only factor for the decline, officials believe behaviour towards referees has played a big role.

Queanbeyan Whites president Grant Jones wrote an open letter to players and spectators in May calling for an increase in respect to be shown towards referees.

The club also launched an initiative to help cover the cost of referee registration.

Since then, Jones said he has noticed an improvement in respect for match officials.

"Talking to the players and putting that out to the wider public had an effect on the playing group," Jones said. "Behaviour has improved.

"The hard thing for us is the general supporters who turn up once a month. They aren't aware we're trying to improve standards and quite often are the ones that cause issues."

While there have been a number of judiciary hearings this season in relation to referee abuse, officials are eager to get on the front foot before it becomes a bigger issue.

It's a stance supported by the Canberra Royals, general manager Wayne Jones praising authorities for clamping down on behaviour long deemed unacceptable.

"We can see the figures released by the referees' union," Jones said. "We see that it's real, the numbers are declining massively.

"There are a multitude of reasons but a contributing factor is how referees are treated. They turn up and are just trying to do their job.

"If we don't address it front on, things will go from bad to worse in terms of retaining referees."

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