THE AFL is pleased to announce Rio Tinto as the principal partner to all of its Indigenous Programs for the next four years.

The partnership was announced this morning at the 2016 Toyota AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Indigenous Round launch at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence in Sydney.

AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan outlined the partnership to include naming rights for the Flying Boomerangs and Woomeras programs on top of Rio Tinto’s existing relationship with the AFL Footy Means Business Program.

“Rio Tinto’s relationship with the AFL started six years ago when they came on board to support Footy Means Business, a program aimed to provide high performance and employment opportunities for young Indigenous men,” Mr McLachlan said.

“It is great that a partner like Rio Tinto is going to extend their partnership to support  AFL programs for both male and females of all ages at grassroots levels in Indigenous communities, whilst also providing opportunities in education and employment.

“We thank Rio Tinto for their support of our Indigenous Programs as we continue to provide the best possible opportunities for Indigenous Australians through Football,” he said.

Rio Tinto Chief Executive Iron Ore and Australia, Andrew Harding, said: “Rio Tinto is proud to support the AFL’s highly successful Indigenous programs and encourage young Aboriginal men and women to achieve success in education, business, community life and sport. This is part of our commitment to supporting our local communities in Australia. 

“Rio Tinto is working in partnership with the AFL and Indigenous communities to achieve positive social outcomes through leadership development, education, employment and training. The AFL Indigenous programs will help young Indigenous people from our local mining communities to gain valuable work and life experiences to assist their career development.

“We want to support the on and off field aspirations of young and talented Indigenous men and women from around the country and to help them to realise their potential. We want to help our Indigenous sports stars strive for success in the classroom, in their communities and in business.” 

Mr Harding said he was looking forward to the creation of a female AFL competition in 2017.

“Not only are we keen to support young Indigenous people in our businesses, but we also want to support the creation and success of the female AFL competition at the same time as nurturing outstanding talent in the men’s game,” he said.

The second camp of the annual Rio Tinto AFL Footy Means Business program kicked off in Melbourne this week to coincide with the Toyota AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round.

The squad of 50 indigenous men, aged 18-24 years, will be exposed to elite AFL programs and training, along with networking opportunities in corporate environments led by coaches Aaron Davey and Barry Lawrence.

The week-long camp culminates in the Rio Tinto Cup, the curtain-raiser match to Dreamtime at the G on Saturday May 28, where the squad represents either the Davey or Lawrence teams.

To be selected for the Rio Tinto AFL Footy Means Business Program, candidates must be:

  • Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
  • Not engaged in AFL or Second Tier competition
  • Employed (part time or apprenticeships accepted) or undertaking education/training or involved in community programs
  • Aspirational
  • Displaying leadership qualities

Rio Tinto is one of Australia’s largest employers of Indigenous people, employing some 1600 Aboriginal men and women across the nation.

Rio Tinto AFL Indigenous Programs:

Rio Tinto AFL Footy Means Business
Each year, the Rio Tinto Footy Means Business program provides high performance and employment opportunities for 50 young Indigenous men (aged 18-24) from across Australia. The program consists of two week-long camps held in February and May. The AFL and Rio Tinto have set a 100 per cent target for participants to be engaged in employment/education or training.

Rio Tinto AFL Indigenous All Stars
The Rio Tinto AFL Indigenous All Stars, in conjunction with the AFL Players’ Association, invite all AFL Indigenous players from around the country to participate in a camp which focuses on career development, leadership and cultural identity.

The Rio Tinto AFL Flying Boomerangs
The Rio Tinto Flying Boomerangs is a personal development and leadership program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young men (aged 15). These participants are the best rising Indigenous talent in the nation and are given the opportunity to represent their country. Each year, the Flying Boomerangs squad of 25 participate in two camps focused on football development, leadership and cultural identity.

The Rio Tinto AFL Woomeras
The Rio Tinto AFL Woomeras program is a national female Indigenous development program. Selected from the National Female KickStart Championships, the program has been established to provide young Indigenous women with the opportunity to develop on and off the football field. The annual program consists of two camps focused on football development, leadership and cultural identity.

The National Kickstart Championships
The National KickStart Championships are an annual event which sees more than 150 Indigenous young men representing their state in a round-robin football carnival over five days. The National KickStart Championships are also the pathway to into the Rio Tinto AFL Flying Boomerangs program.

The National Female Kickstart Championships
The Female KickStart Championships consists of seven state teams (12 players a team) with a total of 84 Indigenous females playing in the National Female KickStart Championships. Twenty-five of the best-performing participants in the championships are selected to represent the Rio Tinto AFL Woomeras team in the Youth Girls National Championships.

Indigenous Coaching Academy 
In 2013, the AFL launched the Indigenous Coaching Academy. With a lack of senior Indigenous coaches at the elite level, the academy is aimed at seeing participants complete the program with the potential of becoming a senior coach in the AFL industry.