THE AFL is proud to announce it has teamed up with eSafety to help combat online abuse in sport.

The League on Thursday signed the Online Safety Statement of Commitment alongside 23 other major sporting organisations from around Australia to actively support the work of the eSafety Commissioner to help keep all Australians, from grassroots to professional athletes, staff and officials, safe online.  

Please find attachment of eSafety & Sporting entities Statement of Commitment here.

AFL Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan said the league strongly condemns online abuse.

“We remain committed to working with the eSafety Commissioner in addressing online abuse, including racism, sexism and homophobia, targeting athletes and those in the community,” Mr McLachlan said.

“Online abuse is harmful and can seriously impact the wellbeing and mental health of the individuals, families and communities. 

“We stand united with other sporting organisations, and we will support our staff and athletes to protect their online safety and report online abuse.”

AFL Executive General Manager Inclusion and Social Policy Tanya Hosch said the AFL is proud to be a signatory of the Online Safety Statement of Commitment which comes as athletes and staff across all sporting codes become increasingly subjected to high levels of online abuse.

“There have been too many instances where athletes and staff become targets of online abuse, hatred, misogyny, homophobia and racism,” Ms. Hosch said.

“We will continue to work closely with the eSafety Commissioner to implement online safety in our code and support their work in keeping all Australians safe online.

“We remain committed to managing the risk of online abuse in our game and will work to continually implement policies and processes to protect our staff and athletes and encourage them to report online abuse.”

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said:

“Serious and harmful online abuse compounds the daily racism, misogyny and homophobia many athletes already face and can have devastating impacts on their wellbeing.

“I commend the AFL, led by Gillon McLachlan and Tanya Hosch, in coming together to work with eSafety to manage and minimise the risk of online abuse in sport.

“We all need to work together, in athletic pursuits and online, to tackle these issues.”  

Find out more about how you can #PlayItFairOnline at esafety.gov.au/sport.