In Queensland, Australian rules football dates back to the colonial era in 1866, with organised competitions being continuous since the 1900s. Today, it is most popular in South East Queensland and the Cairns Region. There are 11 regional club competitions, the highest profile of which are the semi-professional Queensland Australian Football League and AFL Cairns. It is governed by AFL Queensland. According to Ausplay there are 51,941 adult players with a per capita rate of 1.2%, just under half of which are female, and 30,563 children. It is the seventh most participated team sport and fourth code of football after soccer, touch and rugby league.
Malcolm Robert Michael is a Papua New Guinean-born former Australian rules footballer. He is notable for his successful professional career in the Australian Football League. In a career spanning 238 games and three clubs in two Australian states he is best known as a triple premiership full-back with the Brisbane Lions. Michael is recognised as being one of the best Queensland produced Australian rules footballers of all time, being named on the AFL Queensland Team of the 20th Century.
Australian rules football in South East Queensland has a varied history, and many changes were made especially in the 21st century. Ruled and organised by the AFL Queensland, the region had a total of 46 teams playing in different divisions.
The Queensland Australian Football League is an Australian rules football competition organised by the AFL Queensland, contested by clubs from South East Queensland.
The Morningside Australian Football Club, nicknamed the Panthers, is an Australian rules football club based at Jack Esplen Oval in the suburb of Hawthorne in Brisbane. The club consists of Masters, Amateurs, Women's, Junior and Senior football sections. Its senior team competed in the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL) competition from 2011 to 2013 and now is a member club of the Queensland Australian Football League. Its junior sides compete in the AFL Brisbane Juniors (AFLBJ) competition. The club also caters for young girls and boys by running Auskick skills clinics, which are held at the beginning of the season and do not involve competitive games.
The University of Queensland Australian Football Club (UQAFC) is an amateur Australian rules football club playing in the QFA Division 1, Division 4 and QAFLW League competitions, overseen by AFL Queensland. UQAFC home games are played at the University of Queensland's Playing Field 2, on the corner of Sir William MacGregor Drive and Thynne Road, St Lucia, Brisbane.
Zillmere Eagles Australian Football Club is an Australian rules football club based in the suburb of Zillmere in the northern suburbs of Brisbane. The team plays in the QAFA Division 4.
There are several Australian rules football leagues in regional Queensland.
The Sherwood Magpies Australian Football Club is the senior Australian rules football club of the western suburbs of Brisbane which competes in Division One of the AFLQ State League. The club is based at McCarthy Homes Oval, 41 Chelmer st, Chelmer, at the same grounds as the Sherwood Junior Australian Football Club and fields a team in the AFLQ senior, reserve, under 18 and women's grade competitions.
Redland-Victoria Point Football Club is a Brisbane based sports club. The Australian rules football team competes in the Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL) since 2021. They have previously been a part of both the AFL Queensland State League and the North East Australian Football League (NEAFL).
Clayton Beams, is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL).
Surfers Paradise Australian Football Club is a Gold Coast based club competing in the AFL Queensland QAFL Australian rules football competition.
South East Australian Football Club is a Brisbane based club competing in the Queensland Amateur Football Association 'A' competition fielding Seniors & Reserves teams. Previously they were known as the Logan City Australian Football Club.
Carrara Australian Football Club is a Carrara based club competing in the SEQAFL Div 3 Australian rules football competition & also caters for teams in junior & youth divisions AFLQGC juniors.
Bond University AFL, nicknamed as the Bull Sharks, is a Gold Coast based Australian rules football club operating out of Bond University. The club currently competes in the Queensland Football Association Division Two and the Queensland Women's Football League competitions.
Australian rules football on the Gold Coast, Queensland can be traced back to the Gold Coast Australian Football League that was established in 1961. The city's interest in the sport has been heavily linked to the Southport Australian Football Club, the Brisbane Football Club and more recently the Gold Coast Football Club. The highest form of the sport played on the Gold Coast is the Australian Football League's team the Gold Coast Football Club, who were admitted into the competition in 2011.
Eric Hipwood is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Brisbane Lions in the Australian Football League (AFL). Primarily a key forward, Hipwood is a premiership player and leading goalkicker for the club.
Emma Zielke is a retired Australian rules footballer who played for the Brisbane Lions in the AFL Women's competition. She was the club's inaugural AFLW team captain, leading the club in 2017–2018 and 2020–2021.
David Lake is an Australian rules football coach who is a former coach of the Gold Coast Suns women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW).
The Queensland Football Association (QFA) is the largest Australian rules football league in Queensland and second largest in the world by number of senior clubs. Dating back to 1969 and going by various names it is now run by AFL Queensland as a second tier competition under its semi-professional Queensland Australian Football League (QAFL). There are 52 clubs spanning as far north as Gympie in Queensland to as far south as Ballina in New South Wales (NSW). Most clubs field men's and women's senior and reserve sides in the top divisions, with senior only teams in the lower divisions. The men's competition is known as the QFA and the women's is known as the QFAW.
