AFLPA

In late March, the Victorian State Coroner's office, after an inquest concerning the death of former player Shane Tuck, made recommendations for the health and safety of players, mainly with regard to concussion protocols The AFL replied in an official statement and will implement the recommendations as part of the ongoing process of the prevention and management of concussion and other head trauma in Australian Football. (Ed. note: left unsaid is that the AFL, like many professional sports leagues, would really rather not talk about the long-term health effects of the sport or the numerous results of post-mortem exams which show even players from recent decades with significant long term brain damage.)

The recommendations are:

At the end of May, the AFLPA released a statement regarding the conclusion of the Hawthorn racism investigation. The statement expressed disappointment, saying that despite the panel's independence, the AFL stilt had control and called the investigation "flawed". They reiterated their support for all those impacted and any future legal action those involved might take. It said in part, "As an industry, we have legal and moral duties to our players – past, present, and future – to ensure they are physically, mentally, and culturally safe and respected ... The allegations raised .... .were extremely serious and disturbing in nature and required an independent, wide-ranging, well-resourced and culturally safe process. The AFLPA had serious concerns with the AFL’s process from the outset. We raised those concerns with the AFL formally, and made our views known publicly ... Our industry must get better at preventing and responding to racism and other fundamental human rights concerns."