How old do I need to be to play senior women's football?

The AFL National Community Football Policy Handbook (February 2026) sets the minimum age for Seniors at 16 as at 31 December of the year before the playing year. In practice you are turning 17 or older in the season.

The 2019 AFL National Female Community Football Guidelines are softer: they recommend girls should be turning 16 in the year the competition starts, and that a younger player can apply in writing through her club, with her parent or guardian's written consent on a Parent Consent Form. A league may approve that only in exceptional circumstances.

If the two differ, the handbook's Seniors minimum age is the later and more detailed national policy. The handbook also lets a controlling body (the league or state body running your competition) allow a player into a higher age group in exceptional and compelling circumstances. That decision considers physical capacity, experience, skill level and social maturity.

Players below the Seniors minimum age play in the Under 19 or younger age groups.