Former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou calls on league to disclose Gillon McLachlan’s wage

Former AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou has called on the AFL to disclose the amount of money Gillon McLachlan is making in the league’s top job, just like his salary was disclosed in 2013.

Former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou has called on the league to open its books and declare Gillon McLachlan’s salary for the first time in seven years.

The league disclosed Demetriou‘s $3.8 million salary, including bonuses, for his final full season in 2013.

But McLachlan‘s income has remained a secret since 2016 when it amounted to $1.74 million – almost six times the average AFL player wage that season.

“I think it would be helpful if it was disclosed,” Demetriou said.

“In my day we were of the view that we should disclose it and it was an obligatory requirement, and for whatever reason the new regime decided not to disclose.

“You’d have to ask the chairman (Richard Goyder) and the CEO why they chose not to.

“I don’t know what the rationale was, I don’t know why the secrecy. But I didn’t think it hurt to disclose.”

Andrew Demetriou has called on the AFL to disclose Gillon McLachlan’s salary. Picture: Supplied

The AFL’s nine executives collectively earned $11.8 million in 2022, averaging $1.31 million.

But McLachlan’s pay packet has been hidden since Goyder took over as AFL Commission chairman in 2017.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese makes $550,000 while the big four bank CEOs banked between $5-7 million last year.

Clubs and industry experts expect that McLachlan’s annual salary has grown north of $3 million including bonuses.

The AFL, a not-for-profit organisation exempt from paying taxes, has been criticised for withholding its salaries.

Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett said the AFL should adhere to the same rules of good governance as large corporations on the ASX, either disclosing actual salaries or providing salary bands for senior personnel.

“It might be one person over $2 million, three over $1 million et cetera,” Kennett said.

“It’s either one or the other. They should list the salaries earnt, or they should list them by bands.

“That applies to all corporations (and) it applies to politicians. The AFL should embrace the very best of transparency.

Andrew Demetriou disclosed his final salary as CEO of the AFL.

“They should have nothing to be ashamed of and everything to be proud of. Therefore, I can only suggest that by not disclosing they’re embarrassed by how much they’re paying people.”

Asked why the AFL did not disclose, Kennett said: “The AFL answers to no one. It operates under its own rules, and this has been the case for many years. But I accept the AFL is a big business, it affects the lives of many directly and many more indirectly.

Demetriou, who ran the AFL from 2003-2014, said his average salary including bonuses was around $2 million.

“My last year’s salary ($3.8 million) included a 12-month payout for a notice period,” he said.

Demetriou was unfazed by the AFL publicising his wage.

“It just saved a lot of arguments in the end. People knew and were entitled to have their view on it, rightly or wrongly, whether it was too much or not,” he said.

“I got the questions every year and I was happy to answer them. My normal answer was, ‘I don’t determine my salary, it’s determined by the chairman and the board’.

“I wasn’t uncomfortable with it. I chair a public company now and we disclose the salary of the CEO and the managing director.

“Everyone knows, there’s nothing secret in it, it’s a statutory requirement.”

But the AFL won’t be releasing McLachlan’s individual earnings.

“The total figure of the AFL executive salary’s is released each year in the annual report, the amount includes the AFL CEO’s salary along with the eight AFL exec members,” the AFL said in a statement.