Latest News | In conjunction with the AFL PLAY Concussion Hub, a new national feature in PlayHQ is now live to help manage concussion across community football.

 The AFL has launched a new feature in PlayHQ to help leagues, clubs, players and families manage concussion across community football.

Following extensive consultation with leagues and clubs, the feature is now live nationally and allows clubs and leagues to enter suspected concussions for players, making them immediately ineligible for selection and triggering email notifications outlining the steps they need to complete to manage their safe return to play.

Players, or their parent/guardian, will need to successfully complete the clearance process by making declarations through their PlayHQ profile to reactivate their selection eligibility, which includes:

• Players who suffer a concussion – must declare that it is at least 21 days since the concussion, and they have completed all the return to play requirements.
• Players who did not suffer a concussion – must declare that a doctor has cleared them of suffering a concussion. In these situations, a club administrator, via PlayHQ, must confirm they have sighted the medical clearance before the player is eligible for selection.

In 2024, the AFL introduced a new policy that states all players who suffer a concussion must sit out a minimum of 21 days before returning to play, which applies to all levels of Australian Rules Football below the elite AFL and AFLW competitions.

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