The AFL and AFL Players Association (AFLPA) are pleased to announce a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) has been reached for 2022 NAB AFLW Season Seven with average player salaries increasing 94% across the board.
The increased pay deal will ensure that the average salary for all 540 players across 18 clubs will rise 94% from $23,904 to $46,280 with AFLW players in Season Seven to play 10 home and away games and four finals (one additional Final than in Season Six).
The pay rate for players will be:
- Tier 1 players will receive $71,935 – (previously $37,155 – a rise of 94%)
- Tier 2 players will receive $55,559 – (previously $28,697 – a rise of 94%)
- Tier 3 players will receive $47,372 – (previously $24,468 – a rise of 94%)
- Tier 4 players will receive $39,184 – (previously $20,239 – a rise of 94%)
The first round NAB AFLW Season Seven will begin on the last weekend of August 2022– the week of the AFL Pre-Finals bye and will see the introduction of four new teams – Essendon, Hawthorn, Port Adelaide and the Sydney Swans.
List sizes at each club will be maintained at 30 and with the inclusion of the four new clubs the total number of players will increase from 420 to 540, cementing AFLW’s position as the biggest employer of female athletes in the country.
Player contracts would run from 15 May 2022 through 31 December 2022.
Under the revised CBA, it is estimated that more than 40 of the top AFLW players will be paid more than $100,000 in Season Seven inclusive of TPP, ASAs and other allowable payments – up from 12 players in Season Six.
The Total Player Payments inclusive of Base amount and Prize Money is $25.6 million for Season Seven, compared to $10.4 million in Season Six, an increase of 146%, and four times any other professional women’s team sport in the country.
The AFL has also committed to an enhanced capacity and flexibility within the AFLW soft cap policy to ensure all clubs are able to provide the necessary support for players in Season Seven.
Clubs will be required to ensure there are minimum levels of medical, physical preparation and high- performance staff resourcing to allow AFLW players to prepare for matches and training sessions more efficiently.
The new CBA includes an increase in AFL distributions to the AFLPA to $925,714 to support the Association in providing greater assistance to AFLW players across player development and injury support.
Under the new agreement Player insurance (coverage of excess medial costs) is extended to include aligned second tier matches, and the AFLW Pregnancy and Parental Support Policy has been extended so that the benefits and support available under the Policy will be available to parents with children up to three years old, previously 12 months.
Also included in the new CBA is a doubling in relocation allowance for players moving interstate.
The pay rise for AFLW players is a substantial increase, and Livingstone was asked on SEN SA’s The Run Home where the extra money had come from. pic.twitter.com/krjcvvV1JW
— sportsindustry (@footyindustryAU) May 20, 2022
On the 🆙
Check out all the details of the new AFLW CBA including the NAB AFLW Season Seven start date here: https://t.co/iOmvClR5NM#AFLW pic.twitter.com/5S5zPbhnmO
— AFL Women's (@aflwomens) May 19, 2022
Season 7 AFLW CBA explained in further detail 📝 pic.twitter.com/qR1f1nqfGo
— aflplayers (@AFLPlayers) May 20, 2022
