Professional Footballers Australia to host first Agents Conference in over two years

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The PFA
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For the first time in two years, Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) will host its annual PFA Agents Conference at its Melbourne headquarters.

Australian player agents and leading experts from the football industry will convene on September 30 for the 2022 Conference, which provides the opportunity for accredited player agents to discuss areas of shared importance and the management of talent within football.

Confirmed speakers include the Managing Director of the Australian Professional Leagues Danny Townsend, human rights lawyer and CEO of sport and social impact organisation Athlead Kat Craig, FIFPRO Legal Director Roy Vermeer, PFA Co-Chief Executives Beau Busch and Kathryn Gill and PFA staff.

The Conference is an annual initiative between the PFA and the Australian Football Agents Association (AFAA), with the 2022 Conference covering topics impacting both agents and the management of professional players, including:

  • Agent regulations and reforms;
  • The International Transfer Market;
  • Training compensation;
  • Player welfare and development;
  • Domestic legal update;
  • Athlete abuse and safeguarding;
  • An overview of the Australian Professional Leagues’ vision and strategy; and
  • A summary of the 2021-2026 A-Leagues collective bargaining agreement

PFA Co-Chief Executive Kathryn Gill said in a PFA statement:

“The conference is a wonderful opportunity for agents, players and professional clubs to collaborate on issues impacting the global football industry and to have everyone in the same room after two years will provide a productive platform.

“For the football industry to thrive, regular and transparent dialogue on the major issues and regulations within the sport are required, particularly if we are to drive further professionalism within the sport and safeguard players’ welfare and rights.”

Vice President of the AFAA Boris Ivanov said via PFA:

“We are very excited that we will once again be able to meet with colleagues, members of the PFA, the APL and other professionals in the football industry in person to discuss, learn and debate some of the key issues impacting the game and in particular players and their representatives.

“I encourage every football intermediary to make the time to attend the conference, ideally in person, but if that’s not possible then online. The learnings from these conferences are invaluable and in future will potentially form part of the continuous education and development programs that will be required to maintain accreditation.”

The 2021 edition was postponed last year due to COVID-19 restrictions, before being held online. This Conference in September will be held in person at the PFA offices in West Melbourne.

Accredited agents can sign up to attend the conference here.

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South Canberra FC Breaks the Mold: Equity-Driven Model Earns ‘Club Changer’ Honour

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South Canberra Football Club has been named Club Changer of the Month for April, in a recognition that reflects a broader shift across Australian football toward rewarding clubs that are actively dismantling the structural barriers limiting women’s access to the game.

The AFC Women’s Asian Cup has just delivered record crowds and unprecedented visibility for women’s football in Australia, and the Club Changer program is now asking what comes next. Its decision to name South Canberra Football Club as Club Changer of the Month for April signals a clear shift in how the program defines contribution: away from participation numbers alone, and toward the equity frameworks that determine whether women stay in the game once they arrive.

South Canberra FC built that framework from the ground up. Established in 2021, the club set out to give women and female-identifying players a safe, inclusive environment to play football at any level. It runs entirely on volunteers, operates as a not-for-profit, and is governed by an all-female committee with 13 of its 14 coaches identifying as female.

 

Building the infrastructure of inclusion

In 2026, the club secured grant funding and put it to work immediately. Two coaches are completing their C Licence qualification, and ten coaches, players and community members have undertaken the Foundations of Football course, which directly tackles the cost and accessibility barriers that exclude women out of coaching pathways.

The club also commissioned a female-specific strength and conditioning program with sports physiotherapists ahead of the 2026 season, targeting injury prevention and explicitly supporting players returning after childbirth.

SCFC’s leadership team draws from LGBTIQ+ individuals, First Nations people and veterans, strengthening the club’s connection to the communities it was built to represent.

The Club Changer program is backing clubs that do this work- clubs that treat equity as infrastructure rather than aspiration. At a moment when Australian football is under pressure to turn its biggest-ever surge of women’s interest into something lasting, SCFC’s model offers a clear answer to the question of how.

Football NSW announces 2026 First Nations Scholarships as pathway access program enters new phase

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Image Credit: Football NSW

Football NSW has announced the recipients of its 2026 First Nations Scholarships, with ten emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from metropolitan and regional NSW receiving support designed to reduce the financial and structural barriers that have historically limited First Nations participation across the football pathway.

The scholarship program, developed and assessed in collaboration with the Football NSW Indigenous Advisory Group, targets players across both elite and development environments – recognising that talent identification alone is insufficient without the resources to support progression once players are identified.

Co-Chair of the Indigenous Advisory Group Bianca Dufty said the calibre of this year’s recipients reflected the depth of First Nations football talent across the state, and the importance of structured support in converting that talent into long-term participation.

“Their dedication to football and the desire to be role models for younger Aboriginal footballers in their communities is to be celebrated,” Dufty said. “I’m confident we will see some of these talented footballers in the A-League and national teams in the future.”

 

Beyond the pitch and into the pipeline

The 2026 cohort spans both metropolitan clubs and regional associations, an intentional distribution that acknowledges the particular barriers facing First Nations players outside major population centres, where access to development programs, qualified coaching and pathway competitions is more limited and the cost of participation more prohibitive.

The next phase of the program will introduce First Nations coaching scholarships, extending the initiative’s reach beyond playing pathways and into the coaching and administration pipeline – areas where Indigenous representation remains among the lowest in the game.

The structural logic is clear. Scholarships that reduce financial barriers at the entry point of elite pathways matter most when they are part of a sustained ecosystem of support rather than isolated gestures. Football NSW’s collaboration with the Indigenous Advisory Group provides that continuity, ensuring the program is shaped by the communities it is designed to serve.

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