Drawing on data collected from AFLPA members throughout 2025, the report highlights positive overall workplace culture ratings alongside persistent gaps in player safety, equity and off-field development, reinforcing the need for player support to keep pace with the game’s growth.
The AFL Players’ Association (AFLPA) has released the fifth edition of its Insights and Impact Report, bringing together the experiences and priorities of AFL and AFLW players across their working lives.
The report examines five key areas: the game on-field, club environments, the broader player experience, off-field development, and the programs and services delivered by the AFLPA. Its central message is that players want to be partners in the game’s growth, but the systems supporting them must keep pace as the industry expands.
Workplace culture remains one of the report’s strongest themes. AFL players rated their overall workplace culture at 8.27 out of 10, while AFLW players gave an average rating of 7.28. The report also identifies a relationship between positive club environments and sporting performance: the four clubs that finished the 2025 AFL home-and-away season at the top of the ladder were all among the five highest-rated clubs for workplace culture.
However, these experiences are not consistent across every group. Indigenous AFLW players rated their workplace culture at 6.95 out of 10—the lowest result recorded for that group. Their rating of the statement “My club cares about me as a person, as well as a player” also fell from 9.05 to 7.57 over the year.
The report further highlights the external pressures affecting players. 60% of AFL players and 31% of AFLW players reported receiving some form of online abuse during the previous 12 months. Among AFLW players who were targeted, one in three experienced online sexual harassment and one in four received abuse involving body shaming.
Despite two-thirds of targeted players reporting that online abuse had a negative effect, only around 4% of targeted AFL players and 8% of targeted AFLW players sought support or reported what had happened.
At World Players, we recognise the importance of player-led evidence in ensuring that decisions across sport are informed by the realities athletes face throughout and beyond their careers. By documenting players’ experiences and identifying emerging risks and inequalities, reports such as this strengthen collective representation and provide an evidence base for improving working conditions across the industry.
Read the full AFLPA Insights and Impact Report – Edition 5.
Photo Credit: IMAGO / AAP
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