ABSTRACT
Introduction The Australian Football League (AFL) is celebrated as a national leader in the promotion of racial, religious and ethnic tolerance in Australian society. Since the introduction, in 1995, of Rule 30 (the AFL’s Racial and Religious Vilification Rule), the League has demonstrated its commitment to such tolerance through national education and community development programmes (Gorman and Reeves 2012; Reeves et al. 2012). The AFL is further recognized as a leader in Aboriginal community outreach programmes and the promotion of Australian Rules Football in communities right across Australia, as well as the world (Reeves et al. 2012). This commitment is demonstrated in the number of Indigenous footballers currently playing at the elite level. According to the AFL’s Community Development website, there were 68 Indigenous players listed in the 2013 season. This represents 9% of AFL players, a significantly higher proportion than the national population distribution of Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander people, which stands at 2.3% (ABS 2013).
