Football
National
National Indigenous Advisory Group, opens in a new tab. Football Australia, (accessed 15 August 2025). A key advisory body for Football Australia, the Group comprises eight (8) First Nations community members from diverse cultures, experiences, and intersectionality, who are driving change in a variety of areas; professional and grassroots football, media, academia, and government.
John Moriarty Football, opens in a new tab is named for co-founder, John Moriarty, the first Aboriginal player selected to play football for Australia. The initiative harnesses the power of football to positively engage Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, with powerful impacts on health, education, wellbeing and connection to Country. Local JMF coaches deliver programs 5-6 days per week to primary and secondary school children, with equal participation of boys and girls, through in-school and after school sessions, school holiday clinics, and tournaments.
- Scholarships and Pathways initiative., opens in a new tab Provides a life-changing pathway for talented young footballers aged 10-18 years in our grassroots JMF program who show exceptional sporting ability and a desire to work hard at school.
- Football's Indigenous Engagement: State of Play, opens in a new tab, Professional Footballers Australia for John Moriarty Football, (2018). The purpose of this document is to benchmark the progress being made by other sports to highlight football’s missed opportunity, and to call for a reignition of football’s Indigenous engagement.
Indigenous Football Australia, opens in a new tab. Launched in March 2021 Indigenous Football Australia is guided by an expert Advisory Council and in partnership with UNICEF Australia. Its aim is to unlock the potential of thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, their families and communities across Australia. IFA will broaden the benefits of John Moriarty Football to create more equitable access to the great game of football for grassroots and elite players. Through football, IFA’s goal is to create sustainable social change and provide pathways to improved physical and mental health, wellbeing, education and community engagement for Indigenous girls and boys, families and communities.
New South Wales
NAIDOC Cup, opens in a new tab, Northern NSW Football, (accessed 18 August 2025). The annual NAIDOC Cup is for selected Indigenous footballers aged 13 to 16 to represent Northern NSW Football against Indigenous teams from Football NSW.
Research
The Aboriginal Soccer Tribe, opens in a new tab, 2nd edition, John Maynard, Fairplay Publishing, (2019). A celebration of the journey of taken by Aboriginal sportsmen and women who forged the way for the current crop of talented players, which details the previously untold history of Aboriginal involvement with the ‘world game’.
