The Age has reported that the collective bargaining agreement, believed to have been approved in principle by the club CEOs and due to be signed within a year, will see the coaches get one day off each week during the football season, minimum annual leave and regular time-off for professional development.
The agreement could also see the Commission approve funding for coaches' development, education and post-coaching career strategies.
Importantly, it indicates a significant thawing of relations between the AFL and the coaches association, a relationship that has been fractured in recent years.
AFL Coaches' Association chief executive Neale Daniher and AFL boss Andrew Demetriou admitted that the two parties have not worked together harmoniously in the past, but that this agreement will see coaches working closely with the AFL to market the game.
"Andrew agrees that this is truly the last frontier for the AFL in terms of its working relationships," Daniher said.
"The commission has agreed that the relationship needs to improve on several levels."
Demetriou noted that the role of coaches needed greater official recognition and attention.
"As an industry, the coaches haven't had the recognition that other areas of the game, such as players, have received in the past. They deserve to have some consistent terms and conditions without us interfering in areas such as financial remuneration," he said.
"The coaches are very important leaders of our game and we need to work more closely with them and use them to promote and grow the game."
