Senate Inquiry Calls for Mandatory Indigenous Cultural-Awareness Training Across AFL and NRL

18 October 2026

A parliamentary inquiry into racism and discrimination in Australia's major sporting codes is reportedly preparing to make a sweeping recommendation.

It wants the AFL and NRL to mandatorily introduce Indigenous cultural-awareness training programs for club staff across both leagues.

The move follows recent efforts by the AFL to mandate cultural safety training for its clubs and staff, after a 2020 independent report called for it.

The AFL has also mandated the appointment of "full-time Indigenous welfare officers" at its clubs to deliver antiracist education programs.

Why the recommendation matters

Cultural-awareness training has been recommended for the AFL and NRL for years.

The AFL Players' Association's 2016 best-practice guidelines examined in the inquiry already recommend the appointment of Indigenous liaison officers at all clubs, as well as cultural awareness training for club staff and players.

But there's no mandate for it in the AFL, and clubs still had the flexibility not to appoint an Indigenous liaison officer.

The case for cultural-awareness training has also been driven by Australian government national reports.

The NSW Human Rights Commission's 2019 report The game they play asked the NRL to provide its clubs with quotas of Indigenous players, as well as mandated cultural-awareness training.

That same year, the Australian Human Rights Commission report What's the score concluded the NRL was the only league of its kind in which all elite teams had to participate in cross-cultural awareness training.

What the inquiry wants

The Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment has been conducting its inquiry in the lead-up to Radio National's Good Game on Friday.

It will focus its Good Game debate on a recommendation for the AFL and NRL to make Indigenous cultural-awareness training mandatory at their clubs without delay.

If the recommendation is passed, first-time training sessions will be made mandatory for club staff, prospective players, and officials, according to COO of Basketball Queensland Rob Grenfell.

This will include clubs' ongoing Indigenous players, for whom the training program will act as a form of player welfare.

But the recommendation, according to Katrine Hince, a research fellow at the Parliament of Australia in Canberra, will only address part of the problem.

"We need to take steps in our professional sporting leagues to ensure that the league itself builds culturally safe spaces, and protects the rights of Indigenous peoples to play," she said. "We need to take the next step of protecting players from racist attacks and making sure that the inquiry's recommendations aren't streamlined to protect the middle men."

Evidence from the AFL

A statement by AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan in 2023 referenced "cultural safety and awareness training" for league members, as well as giving community leagues "at least some form of cultural awareness training as they merit it."

But researchers say Indigenous cultural awareness has been needed in the AFL for a long time, including when Adam Goodes faced repeated racist attacks from AFL club members.

That is why in 2020, after an independent report into racism at multiple AFL clubs including Hawthorn, AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan said: "You need to have a culture that says that racism, sexism, abusing Indigenous cultural objects, and all of that, just isn't acceptable and everyone at the AFL and at all clubs needs to try to weed that out."

Evidence from the NRL

The recommendation for the NRL comes after December 2023, when the NRL Referees' Association in Canberra made it mandatory for clubs to attend a new diversity and equality training program to coincide with NAIDOC week.

As reported then, the program will consist of referees addressing "diversity and equality" over time.

Before the 2023 season, the issue had already been addressed.

The NRL's 2024 Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) says "100% of all employees should undertake face-to-face or equivalent online cultural awareness training within the first 3 months of employment," with "100% of all new employees to complete face-to-face cultural awareness training within their first 6 months of employment."

What experts and past reviews have said

Both the AFL and NRL clubs participated in a cultural-awareness training program called Cultural Inspired, developed 10 years ago under AFL drug counselor Taylor Gould.

But as the inquiry report notes, Gould was investigated for misconduct in 2023 after being exposed for saying the program didn't actually prevent racist abuse against Indigenous players.

What this could change

It means there will probably be an increase in the number of Indigenous players in elite competitions, evidenced by more cultural-awareness training in clubs.

But Reverend Josh Hanna, who recently visited AFL clubs as an Indigenous liaison officer, said the training gives Indigenous players a chance to share their stories and feel confident doing so.

Hince recommended the push for cultural-awareness training should extend to broadcasters, given limited Indigenous coverage of AFL and NRL matches.

"If we're talking about protecting Indigenous player rights, it's important we reflect that everywhere," she said. "The written and spoken word in the media impacts how Indigenous people are perceived on and off the field."