The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent and only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season in 1897. It changed its name to Australian Football League in 1990 after expanding its competition to other Australian states in the 1980s. The AFL publishes its Laws of Australian football, which are used, with variations, by other Australian football organisations.

The AFL competition currently consists of 18 teams spread over five of Australia's six states (Tasmania being the exception). Matches have been played in all states, the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory, as well as in New Zealand and China to expand the AFL audience. The AFL season currently consists of a 23-round regular (or "home-and-away") season, which runs during the Australian winter (March to September). The team with the best record after the home-and-away season is awarded the "minor premiership". The top eight teams then play off in a four-round finals series, culminating in the AFL Grand Final, which is normally held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The grand final winners are termed the "premiers" and are awarded the premiership cup and flag. Carlton and Essendon are the joint-most successful clubs in the competition, having won sixteen premierships apiece. The current premiers are Geelong, which won the 2022 AFL Grand Final.