Historic deal secures big wage rises for women players and longer AFLW season

The AFL has agreed what it calls a “historic new joint collective bargaining agreement” which includes longer contracts for first-round draftees and big wage rises for women’s players.

Agreed yesterday, the five-year $2.2 billion joint pay deal will see immediate pay rises and a longer AFLW season - with the average wage for AFLW players rising to $82,000 by the end of 2027, up from the current $46,000.

The first joint collective bargaining agreement (CBA) covering female and male players, men's players will receive an instant boost of 10%, backpaid for the 2023 season, while women's players pay will go up by 29% for 2023.

Player payments in AFLW will increase by a total of 77% by the end of the five-year deal across the League's 540 listed players.

The length of AFLW seasons will be increased to 10 games while in the men’s competition, first-round draftees will now sign a three-year contract, up from two seasons. The AFL past players' injury and hardship fund will receive $60 million over the life of the new CBA, up $40 million from the last deal.

As part of the agreement, there will be more five-day breaks in the men's competition (three per club) to accommodate more fixture flexibility as the League adds more Thursday night games in the new broadcast deal with partners Seven and Foxtel.

In addition, men's draftees selected inside the top 20 will now sign a three-year contract, up from two seasons.

Discussions will also continue with clubs and the AFLPA on the proposed introduction of a mid-season trade period.

Explaining that the impact of the deal for women’s footballers is particularly significant, outgoing AFL Chief Executive, Gillon McLachlan stated “the new CBA provides certainty to the players for both competitions.

“Our AFLW players receive another immediate boost after an historic 94% increase last season.

“And the opportunity is ahead of the competition to continue to grow in length if we can reach some key support metrics that have been achieved before. Together we will focus on expanding crowds and TV audience for the women’s competition while working to engage more women and girls to take up football.”

AFL Players Association Chief Executive, Paul Marsh described the agreement as “transformative” and said it enshrined “all players as true partners in the game”.

Marsh noted “we believed this deal provided an opportunity for the AFL industry to significantly advance the AFLW competition, lead the way in respect to the support provided to past and present players, continue to improve the health and safety of players and work more proactively and collaboratively in areas relating to gender and race.

“This deal achieves all of these objectives. The players have overwhelmingly voted in support of this CBA and we believe this is a deal that speaks strongly to how highly the industry values their contribution.”

Images: AFL and AFLW players from all 18 clubs in July 2022 (top) and outgoing AFL Chief Executive Gillon McLachlan (below). Credit: AFL Photos.