Australian Football

Disability inclusion, opens in a new tab, Australian Football League, (accessed 29 July 2025). Find helpful resources for your club to support people with disability within a club environment.

AFL Open, opens in a new tab, Australian Football League, (accessed 29 July 2025). The AFL is committed to making our great game accessible and open to everyone, establishing clear pathways for players with disability to develop and compete – from grassroots to elite. Previously held across two events known as the Toyota AFL National Inclusion Carnival and the Toyota Wheelchair AFL National Championships, the Toyota AFL Open is designed to elevate and strengthen the competitions by combining both into one major tournament.

• The Toyota AFL Open Inclusion division is an annual representative competition for participants aged 16+ with intellectual disability. It allows Australia’s top footballers to represent their State or Territory, while showcasing their significant abilities to the broader community.
• The Toyota AFL Open Wheelchair division is an annual football competition for the nation’s best wheelchair athletes from across the country. This event provides Australia’s most talented footballers the chance to represent their State/Territory, and to showcase their ability and skills to the broader community.

AllPlay Footy, opens in a new tab, Australian Football League, (accessed 29 July 2025). A joint initiative between the AFL and Monash University. The content and resources have been developed with people with lived experience of disability, consultants from National Sporting Organisations for People with Disability, psychologists and researchers

AFL Blind, opens in a new tab. AFL Blind is an adapted version of Australian Football that enables people with blindness or low vision to play our great game. The game is played indoors to support players who rely on their hearing to track the ball, where the ball is equipped with speakers which push out a continuous sound. Goal umpires use rattle shakers when the football enters the scoring zone so players can identify the location of the goal.

• The all-inclusive AFL Blind is giving the vision impaired an opportunity to play the game they love, opens in a new tab, Julie Dickson, ABC News, (25 December 2022). Bridget Jolley has always loved watching AFL and has always wanted to play, but — up until four years ago — she had never had the opportunity.

AFL Deaf, opens in a new tab. Partnering with Deaf Sports Australia to test and develop a modified version of our game, specifically for people who are deaf and hard of hearing. We’re working with the community to design the game they want, with a key focus on developing communication cues to support player and umpire interactions.

AFL Wheelchair, opens in a new tab is an adapted version of the great game, that gives people with and without disability the opportunity to play. The game is played between two teams of five, plus interchange players, on a rectangular indoor court divided into thirds with portable goal posts at either end of the field. Scoring is identical to traditional AFL: six points for a goal, one point for a behind. Examples of state based competitions include Victoria, opens in a new tab, New South Wales, opens in a new tab, and South Australia, opens in a new tab.

Starkick, opens in a new tab. Western Australian Football Commission program all-abilities Australian football program that caters for boys and girls 5 to 17 years of age. Children who by circumstance or choice, who may be unable or unwilling to participate in a traditional sporting team environment, are provided the support and resources they require to enable them to participate and most importantly - have fun! Starkick aims to cater for all disabilities and runs with the simple mantra - 'if you want to play, we'll find a way'.