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AFL Players Care
AFL Players Care is the players’ official charity initiative and was established in 2014 when the male playing group voted to increase their match fee charity contributions from $25 to $50 per player, per game.
While $25 per game per player is still donated to the AFL Players’ official charity partner, Ladder, an additional $25 per game per player is now contributed to the AFL Players Care fund.
$180,000 of this fund is then equally distributed among all 18 male AFL clubs each season giving each team the opportunity to support one or two charities they are passionate about.
In 2017, the inaugural AFLW playing group elected to become a part of the AFL Players Care program, donating $50 of their football salaries to the cause.
Amounting to a total of $6,050, this donation is then given to a national charity the players choose as a collective.
The AFL Players Care program is also comprised of all social leadership activity conducted by players through campaigns for:
- Marriage equality
- Stopping racism
- Mental health
LADDER
Ladder is the official charity of AFL Players and exists because of the vision and action of AFL players, who saw the need and the role of the AFL industry in creating social change – and the work that Ladder does is with and on behalf of the playing group.
Ladder levels the playing field for young people to thrive. They support young people in need of positive intervention at critical times in their lives. Ladder builds important skills, self-belief and meaningful opportunities for these young people across five key domains: community connection; health and wellbeing; independent living; education, training and employment; and self-efficacy.
Ladder was established by three AFL players in 2007 and players have continued to be at the heart of Ladder contributing financially, as volunteers, staff, board members, advocates, and mentors. AFL players contribute $25 to Ladder from every senior match they play, totaling almost $240,000 annually.
To find out more about Ladder’s work and how you can support, please visit ladder.org.au.