AFL boss Andrew Dillon has defended the league’s latest executive shake-up, insisting there’s no personal motive behind the decision to restructure key leadership roles, including the demotion of Laura Kane and the upcoming departure of inclusion lead Tanya Hosch.
Kane, who had been overseeing several core football operations, will no longer handle those responsibilities after her position was split. Dillon said the move was designed to future-proof the AFL rather than being a reflection on any individual’s performance.
“It was a big, big role,” Dillon told SEN radio.
“Decisions affect people, but they’re not personal. It’s actually about what’s the right thing for the AFL, not just for now... we have now got a structure that actually allows us to continue to be successful for the next three to five years.”
‘It’s not a gender thing’
Questions have swirled around whether unconscious gender bias influenced Kane’s shift in position, but Dillon dismissed the notion in a separate interview with ABC Radio.
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“It’s not a gender thing,” he said. “Laura has broken down a lot of barriers. She is an incredibly talented administrator.”
Meanwhile, Tanya Hosch, the league’s first Indigenous executive, will leave her role as head of inclusion and social policy on 6 June.
The position won’t be replaced; instead, its responsibilities will be absorbed into the AFL’s broader corporate affairs portfolio. Dillon claimed the change would bring more diversity to the table, not less.
“What we will have now is more voices and more leaders all across the industry in all of the work that Tanya was doing,” he told SEN.
Dillon also defended the state of umpiring amid increased scrutiny this season, praising the four-umpire system and urging critics to look at the full picture rather than isolate errors.
“You strive for perfection, but you know you’re not going to get that in umpiring,” he said. “But you have to get as close as you can, and that is a continued work in progress.”