If the AFL cannot quickly come up with a transgender footballer policy, Hannah Mouncey has threatened to take her case to the Human Rights Commission.
The transgender footballer currently plays with Darebin in the VFLW but it remains unclear whether or not she will be able to play in the AFLW next year.
The AFL have revealed to Mouncey they may have a policy in place by the end of September regarding whether or not she can play. The AFLW draft is expected to be held in mid-October.
This will give Mouncey only a few weeks to push her case, one which was rejected by the AFL last year after she had only days to prepare.
After pushing her case to the AFL last year, she was told told she could play VFLW but not in the second year of the AFLW.
Mouncey is running out of patience this year however, telling the AFL they have until the end of July to have a policy in place until she takes her case to the Human Rights Commission.
Mouncey's case is that the AFL have discriminated against her after she had clearly been under the IOC regulations for testosterone level in elite athletes.
โI have told them that if they donโt have something by the end of July I will take it to the Human Rights Commission at the very least,โ she told the Herald Sun.
โI am happy to avoid that, but thatโs where itโs at at this stage.
โThey have had 12 months or more to work on it, but I have barely been able to get in touch with the AFL.
โI havenโt really been able to get in touch with anyone since December.โ
The AFL's initial ruling was that Mouncey was too strong to play in the AFLW, but she could play in the VFLW.
There have been no safety issues during Mouncey's season in the VFLW.
โThe best estimate they can tell me is the policy might be in place by the end of September at best.
โIn that case I donโt know what I need to give them, I donโt know what they will ask for so I can prove I should play.
โThat is the stuff they need to take into account when they give me two weeks to sort something out. It just doesnโt work.โ
The AFL has only just started working on a new policy, despite agreeing to review it in mid-February,
When making its decision, the league looked at โthe stage of maturity of the AFL competition, its current playing cohort and Ms Mounceyโs individual circumstancesโ.
Mouncey's has been receiving support from all over the country and is excited as she looks ahead to playing in the third season in the AFLW.
