AFL player salary: How it compares to the national minimum wage

AFL player salary and the minimum wage

When people search for "afl player salary", they often want to know how much AFL players earn and whether those figures relate to Australia's legal pay floors. This guide separates the legal minimum from the survey average, the award rate, and the negotiated salary, and explains where superannuation fits in.

The national minimum wage: the legal floor

The Fair Work Commission sets the national minimum wage. From 1 July 2026, the adult rate is $26.44 per hour or $1,004.90 per week for 38 ordinary hours. Casual employees get a 25% loading, making the casual rate $33.05 per hour. These rates apply to award-free employees in the national system. Juniors, apprentices, and supported wage employees can be paid less.

The national minimum wage is a floor, not a target. Most employees are covered by a modern award or enterprise agreement that sets higher rates. The Fair Work Ombudsman explains and enforces these rules.

AFL player salaries: a collective bargaining agreement

AFL players are not covered by a modern award or the national minimum wage. Instead, their pay and conditions are set by a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between the AFL and the AFL Players Association. The CBA sets minimum salaries for different categories of players, match payments, and other entitlements. These negotiated rates are far above the national minimum.

Average AFL salary in 2024

According to the AFL's 2024 Total Player Payments report, the average gross earnings for a listed player was $459,173 per year. For players who played at least one senior game, the average was $493,592. These figures include all payments from clubs and the AFL, but exclude superannuation.

The average weekly equivalent is about $8,830, which is more than eight times the national minimum wage of $1,004.90 per week. The report also showed that 25 players earned over $1 million in 2024, up from 19 in 2023.

Superannuation on top

Superannuation is an employer payment on top of ordinary time earnings. The super guarantee rate is 12% for the 2026-27 financial year. For an AFL player earning the average $459,173, the employer would contribute an additional $55,100.76 to super. That means the total remuneration package is higher than the base salary figure.

How the figures compare

To put the AFL average in perspective, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported that full-time adult ordinary-time earnings in May 2026 were $2,083.70 per week. The average AFL player earns more than four times that. Even the lowest-paid AFL player under the CBA earns well above the national minimum wage.

Key takeaway

AFL player salaries are a product of collective bargaining, not the national minimum wage. The legal minimum is a safety net that applies to award-free employees, but AFL players have a much higher negotiated floor. When comparing salaries, always check whether the figure includes superannuation, and remember that averages can hide wide variation between rookies and superstars.

For more on how pay floors work, see our rate tables and guides.