AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou was one of four elite sporting code bosses to meet with the Prime Minister on Friday, to discuss the problem of binge drinking within society.
Demetriou said the AFL is "blessed" to be part of a "good program", which is also affiliated with Netball Australia, while Prime Minister Rudd confirmed he would help to "roll the program out nationally" by contributing funds.
"It was pleasing to be invited by the Prime Minister and I attended with the other sporting codes and the CEOs of those other organisations," Demetriou said.
"The Prime Minister I found to be very cooperative; he made it clear from the outset that binge drinking is an issue across society.
"He didn't believe that sport was the issue and wanted to make that abundantly clear to us, and he went out of his way to say that sport could be part of the solution.
"That was very pleasing for all of us to hear, and we shared that view that we would support any programs or campaigns with the government to try and get the message across all our sporting codes right through to state and community leagues.
"I think sports do have a great capacity to influence change in the community, and what's important is, he shared our view that sporting clubs are great places to be because if you belong to a sporting club, you've got more likelihood of being responsible in the community.
"We had a very productive discussion, we shared his views about what is a problem in society, we're all keen on participating in active responsible drinking programs, and we agreed that we would meet again in the coming months."
Along with the Demetriou and the heads of rugby union, netball and cricket, Heath Minister Nicola Roxon and Sports Minister Kate Ellis were in attendance at the Melbourne meeting.
