What are the conduct, impact and contact categories?

Conduct is Intentional or Careless. Intentional means the player acted with the intention of committing the offence (intent can form on the spur of the moment and can be inferred from what the player did). Careless means not intentional but a breach of the duty of care a player owes to others, where a reasonable player would not regard the conduct as prudent. If conduct falls short of careless, no charge is laid.

Impact is Low, Medium, High or Severe. The MRO considers the force, any injury to the victim (though absence of injury does not rule out Severe), and the potential to cause injury or a greater injury. This applies particularly to intentional strikes, high bumps, head-high contact on a player with his head over the ball, off-the-ball contact and dangerous tackles. Low Impact is the minimum for a Classifiable Offence and needs more than negligible impact.

Contact is High/Groin or Body. High contact includes the top of the shoulders, and a tackle where the victim's head makes forceful contact with the ground or fence is High contact even though the tackle was to the body. Where contact is both high and to the body, the MRO usually classifies it as High.

Source: 2026 AFL Tribunal Guidelines, section 4.2.