Pay deal reached for AFL Women including rise in base payments, carer’s allowance

A wage boost to match male rookies, carer’s allowance for players with babies and free footy boots are part of a new pay deal for the AFL Women’s league.

Collingwood recruits Kendra Heil, Sophie Casey and Lou Wotton will benefit from the new deal. Picture: Christopher Chan

THE AFL has hailed the pay deal for its new women’s league as “really competitive”, but insists it’s just the start of a long journey for the game’s financial growth.

AFL general manager of game and development Simon Lethlean predicted the league’s overall investment in women’s football was set to run into “multiple millions” per year after finalising its new pay deal with the AFL Players’ Association.

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The minimum wage for AFLW will be brought into line comparatively with male rookies in the pay agreement for the first two seasons of the competition.

After months of negotiations, the AFL boosted its original pay offer, with the women to share in player payments totalling $2.275 million in 2017.

Under the new deal, the original offer of $5000 for the base salary will rise to $8500, while the second tier will increase from $10,000 to $12,000.

Marquee players will earn up to $27,000 — including a $10,000 ambassadorial contract.

Moana Hope celebrates a goal in the Women’s All-Star match. Picture: Michael Klein

The new pay offer from the AFL has provided an additional pool of $750,000 from what was presented originally.

Lethlean said the AFL had worked closely with the players’ association to reach a “fair deal”.

“We certainly felt that what we’ve got to now is a really competitive domestic sport offering for females,’’ Lethlean said.

“We have 220 players in this competition, more than any female comp in Australia, so it’s a significant investment by us — and so it should be.

“We are going to spend a lot of money investing in female football still; facilities, infrastructure ... which is going to cost us a lot of money, which is a great investment though.

“Rewarding the best players in Australia as well as the best girls coming through is part of an overall package for investing in female football.’’

The AFLPA used a pro-rata model based on the pay of AFL male rookies in its negotiations as it pushed for “equality” in the starting wage for the women’s league.

It calculated male rookies earned about $30 per hour and multiplied this by the total commitment the women would make to achieve their figure for the minimum wage.

Brisbane Lions players (from left) Jade Ransfield, Kate Deegan, Kate McCarthy and Emily Bates. Pictures: Jack Tran

Other key aspects of the pay deal include:

*Income protection and injury payments.

*A “tools of the trade” provision that provides for football boots and runners.

*An allowance for a carer to travel in the cases where players have a child under 12 months.

*A travel allowance of $80 for every player for each night spent away from home due to football commitments.

As is the case for the male players, the women will have to pay for their own private health insurance from this improved wage.

Melbourne’s marquee signing Daisy Pearce backed the new package as a “really fair deal”.

“I was always confident it would reach a fair deal,’’ Pearce said.

“I think it’s a great starting point, certainly the framework is set so that as the league grows and evolves that the pay structure will as well.’’

AFLPA chief executive Paul Marsh said more than 90 per cent of the players in the new league voted to accept the new deal.

“I think the fact that more than 90 per cent of the players said that this is a deal that they are happy with, it shows we’re heading in the right direction,’’ Marsh said.

“I think it’s competitive. It’s a domestic sport and it’s (in) its first year, so once again we’re comfortable, the players are comfortable and I think it stands up very well.’’