ABC News | Like many little boys his age, 12-year-old Dustin* lives for Australian rules footy.

On a property in the Goulburn-Murray region in northern Victoria he ducks and weaves, playing solo with his Sherrin.

His socks are covered in signatures of AFLW players and he can recount moments from all the weekend's AFL games. He watches every match, his bedtime permitting.

Dustin has autism spectrum disorder level 2 and footy is his special interest. It brings him endless joy, but it has also caused significant distress. At times, he hated it.

Dustin's parents Angela and Dave* signed him up for Auskick, the AFL's junior footy program in their local town. But they noticed towards the end of his club's under 12s footy season at Seymour Junior Football Club last year, something wasn't right.

Angela says there was a culture of bullying on the team, particularly around 'rough' training sessions.

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