Variations of Australian rules football

Variations of Australian rules football are games or activities based on or similar to the game of Australian rules football, in which the player uses common Australian rules football skills. They range in player numbers from 2 (in the case of kick-to-kick) up to the minimum 38 required for a full Australian rules football.

Some are essentially identical to Australian rules football, with only minor rule changes, while others are more distant and arguably not simple variations but distinct games. Others still have adapted to the unavailability of full-sized cricket fields. Other variations include children's games, contests or activities intended to help the player practice or reinforce skills, which may or may not have a competitive aspect.

Most of the variations are played in informal settings, without the presence of umpires and sometimes without strict adherence to official game rules.

Auskick is a program developed in Australia in the 1980s and promote participation in Australian rules football amongst children, particularly of primary school age and under. It has proven to be popular with both boys and girls. At its peak in the mid-1990s there were around 200,000 Auskick participants annually. The program is now run throughout the world, including several locally branded variations such as: "Kiwi Kick" (AFL New Zealand), "Niukick" (Papua New Guinea), "Footy Wild" (South Africa), "Bula Kick" (Fiji), "Viking Kick" (Denmark) and "Ausball" (United States) among others.

Auskick has its roots in the Little League which began to be played at half time during VFL matches in the 1960s and was revised in 1980 to make it more accessible. Little League was expanded by Ray Allsop into a state development program called Vickick begun in Victoria in 1985. Urged by former player David Parkin in 1995 as a means of keeping the sport viable long term in the Australian Capital Territory it was adopted by the AFL Commission the national governing body for the sport, which began to roll it out nationally from 1998. Numerous professional players are graduates of the Auskick program.

Women's Australian rules football is a fast-growing variation played by all-female teams that dates back to the 1910s. Since 2010, it has also been governed by the AFL Commission. Its highest levels of competition are the professional AFL Women's club competition in Australia and the Australian Football International Cup (women's division) worldwide representative competition.

The women's game is also a contact sport, however over the course of its history it is sometimes played with modified rules including different player numbers (16 a side + 5 interchange), a smaller ball, and increased tackling restrictions. The women's variation is strongest in Australia (there are strong second level competitions in all Australian states), Ireland, Canada, the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand and Japan and is also played at junior level in these and many other countries.

The Amateur version of the game is mostly similar though its main differences are that it strictly forbids player payments and has some rule variations which encourage participation for amateur players. Amateurs is strongest in the heartland states of the sport in Australia: Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia, though there are competitions in most Australian states. The Amateur version is governed by the Australian Amateur Football Council. Notable rule differences include the order-off rule which has been a feature of play since the 1930s, and the use of a shorter distance penalty, the 25-metre penalty, among others, including shorter quarters and increased numbers of interchange players for some grades. The Australian Football International Cup, while being run by the AFL Commission, has for most of its history been aligned with Amateur rules acknowledging the fact that most of the leagues outside of Australia were until recently dominated by amateur players.