The Respect & Responsibility Policy was launched by the AFL in November 2005. The Policy’s broad intention is to firmly position the AFL as a leader in advocating cultural change that will lead to safe and inclusive environments for women and girls, across all levels of Australian Football.
Despite the AFL’s glowing self-endorsement on its respectful treatment of women, this did not prevent senior AFL executives engaging in extra-marital liaisons with younger women.
The resignations of two senior AFL executives came just two weeks after the league’s diversity manager Ali Fahour resigned after striking a player during a suburban football match.
At the press conference, Gillon McLachlan was asked if the culture at the AFL was similar to that of the TV show Mad Men, where senior executives did what they please.
He subsequently denied the AFL executive had a culture of arrogance and rudeness towards the media reporting on the game and its governance.
We can’t be a standard bearer of everything, we can’t be the moral arbiter of everything, but on the flipside we are community leaders, we are pervasive in every community from Auskick up and people look to us for leadership, and if we don’t lead there’s a vacuum.
Gillon McLachlan
LINKS
AFL culture not like Mad Men, says Gillon McLachlan after executives resign
Families of Simon Lethlean, Richard Simkiss hidden victims of AFL scandal
An affair is not an assault on women’s rights
Jon Anderson examines the rise and temporary fall of Simon Lethlean
AFL boss denies a culture of arrogance and rudeness
This is a wake-up call Gillon McLachlan cannot ignore
The Age Real Footy Podcast: A disaster for the AFL
End of the line for Gillon McLachlan?
