AFL Commission

Governing body of the Australian Football League Limited

The AFL Commission is the governing body of the Australian Football League Limited (AFL), its subsidiaries and controlled entities. Richard Goyder has been chairman since 4 April 2017, replacing Mike Fitzpatrick. It was formed in 1985 as the VFL Commission, and gained its current name in 1990 in conjunction with the renaming of the VFL competition to the Australian Football League. Its constitution self proclaims the commission to be the "keeper of the code" responsible for the sport of Australian football. As part of its role, the Commission is responsible for the Laws of Australian Football. It is also responsible for worldwide player acknowledgement through the Australian Football Hall of Fame, All Australian team and World (formerly All International) Team. The Commission controls the AFL competition and maintains a professional talent pathway for players through the AFL Draft, AFL Draft Combine, AFL Academy and academies through its member clubs and affiliated bodies, Underage Men's and Underage Women's championships, the Australian Football (AFL) International Cup and through its worldwide affiliates, numerous regional representative tournaments. The Commission organises the highest level of representative competition in Australia, being responsible for senior State of Origin competition from 1991 to its cessation in 1999. Since 1998, it has also overseen Australia's involvement in the International Rules Series.

The AFL Commission has been responsible for the administration of the AFL competition since 1993, when the AFL Board of Directors voted itself out of existence after 96 years of operation. Its constitution self proclaims the Commission to be the "keeper of the code" responsible for the sport of Australian football. The Commission later became responsible for the national administration of the sport (since 1995, when the Australian National Football Council ceased operations after 89 years), as well as its international administration (since 2002, when it absorbed the International Australian Football Council) and the administration of women's football (since 2010, when it took over the operations of Women's Football Australia, which ceased operations in 2015). Leagues affiliated with or owned by the AFL Commission have names beginning with AFL, and incorporate the AFL logo, and now owns the governing body for Australia's most populous eastern region through the AFL NSW/ACT and has strong affiliations with all other states. The AFL also promotes and brands the sport under its own name instead of the official name of Australian Football, especially in developing areas where the sport is not well known and the AFL has a major stake in the local governing bodies. The ten commissioners are elected by the 18 AFL clubs, with each of the 18 clubs entitled to make nominations, but other Australian Football leagues, associations and clubs do not have any control or representation. The AFL Commission's primary role is to oversee the profitability of its competitions, its primary competitions being the AFL and AFL Women's. As such, it has a direct stake in many of its member clubs. It also approves the administration of new club licenses, and has been involved in the expansion of the national competition since 1987, being instrumental in the merger that created the Brisbane Lions. The Commission also fully owns the Greater Western Sydney Giants. Other clubs to have an AFL Commission appointed board include the Sydney Swans, the Gold Coast Suns, Adelaide Football Club and Port Adelaide Football Club. The Commission operates a Competitive Balance Fund, which redistributes profits to the clubs most in need to help ensure that all of its member clubs are financially sustainable in the long term. Financially, the Commission is highly co dependent on the success of the AFL and the majority of its funding comes from AFL competition broadcasting rights. The 2025 2031 rights will earn $4.5 billion, the most lucrative in Australian sporting history. The Commission distributes some of the profit from these rights into development of the game. However, the majority is invested in ensuring that the AFL continues to sustain its future revenues, such as protecting the primacy of the competition, as well as growing its broadcast audience, talent pathways and professionalism to attract the best available players (from junior development programs and high performance athletes from around the world). As part of its role, the Commission is responsible for the Australian Football Hall of Fame, the AFL men's underage championships and AFL Women's underage championships. It was also responsible for senior State of Origin competition from 1991 until it ended in 1999.

The Commission was formed to set policy, and has directed the VFL/AFL (known then as the VFL) as the game's most professional league since December 1985. In 1993, the AFL Commission assumed control of the league's administration from the AFL Board of Directors (in effect, the 15 AFL clubs at that time). Subsequently, the board of directors voted itself out of existence, and a new Memorandum and Articles of Association were adopted for the AFL. It also assumed national governance of the sport (see Principle 2 below) after the ANFC ceased operations in 1995. This was a significant change of power: between 1985 and 1993, the Commission had required explicit approval by a 75% vote of the League (the teams) for major items such as further expansion, mergers, relocations, and major capital works. The AFL also created an International Policy in 2005, and absorbed the International Australian Football Council, thus gaining control of the sport worldwide. In its role as national and international governing body, the AFL Commission also controls and delegates development funding for Australian state and international bodies and leagues. As most of this funding is sourced the revenue and activities associated with the AFL competition, much of the funding is directed to the competition's developing markets. Semi professional state competitions are generally self sufficient, and receive a much lower percentage of the AFL's funding. The Commission has established a pathway that features junior Academies and scholarships from representational level up to its member clubs. The highest level is the AFL Academy, with academies for each state being managed by their respective AFL clubs and affiliated governing bodies. Between 2010 and 2021, the AFL spent between $6–38 million per annum (under 5% of total revenue) on game development grants globally (excluding a one off COVID 19 Pandemic community football recovery package). With a new TV rights deal in 2022 and to help the game at the grassroots continue its recovery post COVID 19 Pandemic, the Commission increased its community grants to $67 million.

The AFL Commission has a simple structure. There are formal corporate titles for members which currently consists of a chairman, whose role is to oversee meetings, and a chief executive officer, who typically also oversees the operations of the Australian Football League. Commissioners are elected by the 18 AFL clubs, who each are entitled to make nominations. Should an election be necessary, then the membership is decided by a vote of the AFL clubs. Under the current constitution, the member clubs have the power to veto commission decisions with a two thirds majority vote.

The AFL Commission has also become involved in Australian Football League matters on occasion, both on and off field. Sometimes these interventions have been in controversial circumstances.

The "Line in the Sand" match in 2004 in which 18 players were reported on 26 charges arising from a third quarter brawl. Four Hawthorn players were suspended for a total of 15 matches while Essendon's Justin Murphy was suspended for one match. Criticism from AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou and Network 10 commentators Stephen Quartermain, Tim Lane and Robert Walls of Paul Roos' style of coaching after the Sydney Swans' 43 point loss to in round 10 of the 2005 season. 2006 Aurora Stadium Siren Controversy – investigated the disputed finish to the St. Kilda vs. Fremantle match played at Aurora Stadium on 30 April 2006. The result was that the AFL commission overturned the drawn result to award Fremantle four premiership points instead of two. The six match suspension handed to defender Tom Jonas for intentionally striking 's Andrew Gaff in round 9 of the 2016 AFL season. The five match suspension handed to forward Jeremy Cameron for his crude hit on fullback Harris Andrews in round 14 of the 2018 AFL season. Cameron became the first player in league history to be sent straight to the tribunal more than once in his career. The two match suspension handed to captain Ben Stratton, one each for repeatedly pinching 's Orazio Fantasia and for stomping Shaun McKernan, in round 13 of the 2019 AFL season. The initial three match suspension handed to forward Toby Greene for intentionally making contact with umpire Matt Stevic at three quarter time in the Giants' one point victory over in the second elimination final. A successful appeal from the AFL saw the suspension increased to six matches. The three match suspension handed to player Jeremy Finlayson after he admitted to making a homophobic slur towards an player in round four of the 2024 AFL season.