“Of course, this could be taken out of our hands by public health orders in various states or by airlines. We’ve already seen in Victoria that all professional sportspeople entering a stadium need to be vaccinated.

“There will be repercussions for those who choose not to be vaccinated, but it’s not our approach currently as the governing body to mandate it.

“Between now and the off season we will have a very clear set of guidelines for clubs and players getting back to training safely, for those in the process of getting fully vaccinated and those who aren’t yet vaccinated.”

Rugby Australia is also yet to announce a formal policy, but it is expected all players will need to be vaccinated to play in Super Rugby next year, given the competition involves trans-Tasman travel.

Under the AFL’s policy, players and staff based in Victoria will need to have the double vaccination dose on November 26, a date mandated by the Victorian government for all authorised workers.

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The remainder of AFLW players and staff and AFL players and staff based in NSW will need to be fully vaccinated by December 17 with the AFLW competition to start on January 6. AFL players and staff based in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia will need to be fully vaccinated by February 18.

The club can also terminate a playing contract with the agreement of the player at any time or exercise any rights to terminate the player’s contract after May 18, 2022.

If a member of a club’s football staff chooses not to be vaccinated individual clubs will determine what action to take relating to that person’s employment and remuneration.

The policy contains a process for the AFL to consider and (where appropriate) grant approval of medical exemptions using criteria similar to Victoria’s authorised worker vaccination mandate.

The rules will apply to new players coming into the AFL and AFLW, including by the upcoming national draft meaning that any player who is drafted to a Victorian club on November 24-25 will need to be fully vaccinated to start training with the club.

The AFL’s football executive Andrew Dillon said the league encouraged people to be vaccinated.

“The health and safety of our players, staff and the wider community has been one of the guiding principles governing the AFL’s ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Dillon said.

“The AFL has undertaken extensive education programs across the clubs and industry in regard to COVID-19 vaccinations and we will continue to be led by the government and medical professionals.

“The uptake of AFL industry people being vaccinated has so far been extremely encouraging, and we are very pleased the overwhelming majority of our players, coaches, staff members across the AFL and the 18 clubs have at the very least received their first vaccination shot.

“We will continue to work with the AFLPA to provide all players further support and guidance through the evolving situation.”

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