Football Queensland updates Return to Play guidelines

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Football Queensland has released an updated version of its Return to Play guidelines following the Queensland Government’s easing of restrictions.

Football Queensland has released an updated version of its Return to Play guidelines following the Queensland Government’s easing of restrictions.

The Queensland Chief Health Officer has allowed the state to move into Stage Three of the Government’s Return to Play rules from July 3rd.

Contact training and competition is now permitted on the field of play. However, other attendees at training who are not players such as coaches or spectators need to maintain social distancing.

Before and after training when participants are not on the field of play, physical distancing of 1.5 metres must be followed.

Facilities at community sports grounds can now be reopened. These include showers, change rooms, bathrooms, and canteens.

In the Return to Play guidelines, Football Queensland said that it was their priority to protect the health and wellbeing of the public and football community during the pandemic.

“This document outlines the conditions that must be met for training sessions to limit the spread of COVID-19 in line with Federal and State Government guidance,” they said.

“Stage 3 will commence from July 3, when contact training will be permitted as per the Industry COVID Safe Plan and the Return to Play Guide.

“Indoor sports facilities can open with one person per 2 square metres for venues of 200 square metres or less (up to a total of 50 people) and 4 square metres for venues of 200 square metres or more. Outdoor sports facilities can open with physical distancing (off the field of play).”

Heading of the ball is now permitted. Players must also bring their own drink bottles and not share with any other participants.

Sharing of equipment is to be minimised, while training bibs used at training are to be taken home by the individual who wore it and then washed.

Football Queensland is recommending that each training session has a COVID Safe Coordinator to undertake cleaning requirements before the next training session.

The guidelines also ask that there be 15 minute breaks in between training sessions finishing and the next group’s session starting. Participants are also advised to leave promptly after a session finishes with no social activity.

On Friday, Football Queensland announced that competitions will start to return from Friday, July 17th.

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

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Image Credit: SCFC

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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