The AFL has appointed Laura Kane as the executive general manager of football, the first woman to ever hold the senior deputy role.
Kane has been acting in the role this year until it was announced on Monday she would take the position on a full-time basis.
The role is one of the most senior deputies to the chief executive within the AFL organisation. Kane will oversee key aspects of all professional leagues of the game, including the men’s AFL, the AFLW, the men’s VFL and the VFLW.
She will manage umpiring, rules, tribunals, player movement, talent pathways and mental health and wellbeing.
Kane told reporters she is proud of her promotion and is looking forward to changing the game for women.
“I feel thankful that the industry has supported me from the outside to come in and work my way through a club, across men’s and women’s football, and have a wonderful experience in the process,” she said.
“To look around and see female presidents, female CEOs, female executives… it’s a really big moment for women in our game.”
Natalie Wood, coach for Essendon’s AFLW team, said Kane’s appointment shows there are “real legitimate options” for everyone.
“If you’re good at what you do, there’s opportunity for you on and off the football field,” she said.
“We’re starting to see more women in roles and really important roles. It shows that it’s starting to become a real merit-based process and it doesn’t matter what your gender is.”
Kane is a qualified lawyer, who has previously represented victims in a Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. She has also held a number of senior roles at the North Melbourne football club, before she joined the AFL in 2021 as its competition manager.
Incoming CEO Andrew Dillon, who will replace long-serving Gillon McLachlan said Kane has already proven she is fit for the role and will lead the AFL in a positive direction.
“This AFL season has continued to throw up a diverse mix of challenges at our competition and Laura has led the football department team brilliantly in what has been a record year for our game,” he said.
“Laura’s experience, expertise, temperament and resilience, paired with building a team of additional key football talent, is the right mix to lead the football department.”
Kane has indicated she will prioritise improving in-game technology, particularly in relation to the goal review system, in her new senior executive role. She also intends to help increase AFLW scoring, improve cross-club relationships and be more accessible to fans and the media.
The appointment of Kane as the executive general manager, the first woman to ever hold the role, comes ahead of Round 1 of the AFLW, which kicks off this weekend.
Major steps to promote the women’s league of Australia’s national game have already begun, including doubling the prize money for the AFLW.
While last season’s total prize money pool for the women’s competition was $623,922, this year will see $1.1 million up for grabs, split between the league’s top eight teams.
The men’s AFL competition offers the same amount, but split between the league’s top four teams.
Melbourne and Collingwood will play each other in the opening game of the AFLW on Friday September 1, while the men’s league take a week off before the finals of the 2023 season.