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"What clubs have done to support the careers of indigenous men isn't going to be the same as what we need to do to support indigenous women."
As the second week of the AFLW's Indigenous round commences, the remarkable stories of the land and first nations communities around Australia have been elevated in the designs of clubs' guernseys, feature stories, and in-club programs. As the league looks ahead to its 10th year in 2025, under the new leadership of Emma Moore, the time is opportune to assess the existing pathways of Indigenous female talent, and identify the unique issues this demographic faces in reaching the highest level. Currently, there are 20 Indigenous players across all 18 AFLW sides, down from 26 in 2023. The same is happening in the men's game. In fact, research from the Eddie Betts Foundation suggests that at the end of this year's draft period, the number of Indigenous players within the AFL may reach its lowest level since 2014. So, I took these questions to the top, namely to the AFL Executive General Manager - Inclusion and Social Policy, Tanya Hosch. As someone from a non-Indigenous background it may be simple to make assumptions about the barriers that may be standing in the way of more players joining the elite league, but Hosch says it's not all as meets the eye. "A lot of people don't realise that the majority of Aboriginal people in Australia live in Western Sydney, so for every aboriginal or Torres Strait islander young woman they're not necessarily coming from a remote community," Hosch said.  "Cultures differ for people so if you're from Tiwi you'll have a different cultural background and experience than if you're from the desert or from Central Australia, so it's not a one-size-fits-all recipe. "What's important is that we are responsive and that we're listening and learning and making it really possible for people to communicate what they might need." With the first Dreamtime game between Essendon and Richmond held in Darwin last week, the ability to have local girls attend the game and see the game at the highest level on their land was spine-tingling stuff. However it's about creating space for the communities to voice what will help them, and not assume anything. "A lot of that work needs to be done by non-Indigenous people to make sure that they're doing that listening and learning and adapting and accommodating for that cultural difference -- in the women's competition as the indigenous player numbers grow there will be a greater need for that," Hosch said. While she does note to the years of covid lockdowns being "a great interrupter" sending people away from the game and inevitably not returning to it, the structure of the current Next Generation Academies (NGA) within the AFL system do not include women, at all. "There's been recent changes to the NGA for which women don't have a place at the moment so there will be a review and some strategy work to really have a good look at that," Hosch said. "There's so much talk about the incredible talent of the Indigenous women... they're already boxing above their weight in terms of making an impact in the game but we do really need to put in a lot more work to make sure that those pathways are easy for people to navigate so that they can reach their potential and fulfil their aspirations. "I guess that's why Indigenous round in AFLW is so important is to highlight the need for Indigenous women's inclusion in W and to see them make their mark in the game in that really special way."
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