In the sport of Australian rules football, the 50-metre penalty is an additional penalty applied by umpires for an infraction after a free kick or mark has already been paid.

The 50-metre penalty is used in many senior competitions, including the Australian Football League. The laws of the game also allow leagues to use a 25-metre penalty in place of a 50-metre penalty; examples of leagues which do this include the South Australian National Football League (SANFL), Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA), Australian Football International Cup and the Australian Amateur Football Council. The generic term distance penalty may also be used for the penalty.

When the umpire pays a 50-metre penalty, he calls time-off, measures out approximately fifty metres from the spot of the mark by running in a straight line towards the goals, and setting the new mark; if the player is already within 50 metres of goal, the mark becomes the exact centre of the goal line.

Players are given a short period of time to follow the play down the field before the clock is restarted. The player can play on at any time while the umpire is measuring out the 50-metre penalty.

50-metre penalties are primarily used to deal with time-wasting or unsportsmanlike conduct after a mark or free kick is awarded. Specific infractions which can result in a 50-metre penalty include:

More generally, if any free kick is paid against the defensive team while a mark or free kick is being taken, the umpire will either pay the free kick to the violated player at the spot of the foul, or award a 50-metre penalty to the player with the ball, depending upon which penalty brings the attacking team closer to goal.

There are also two types of in-play infringement for which a 50-metre penalty is automatically applied on top of the initial free kick. These are:

Otherwise, a 50-metre penalty can only be applied to an infringement which is separate to the initial mark or free kick.