Australian rules football in the Australian Capital Territory

In the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Australian rules football is a popular spectator and participation sport which has been played continuously since 1911. With 9,129 adult and 2,953 children playing the sport, it has the fourth highest team sport participation after soccer, basketball and netball. The current governing body is AFL Canberra founded 1922 which runs the competition by the same name, while the development body is AFL NSW/ACT established in 1999.

The ACT debuted at representative level in 1925 against New South Wales but has not appeared since 1988. Its first win came in 1941 against New South Wales; it also went on to defeat Queensland and the National Amateur team numerous times between the 1950s and 1980s culminating in defeats of the powerhouses of the VFL in 1980 and Tasmania in 1981. Kevin "Cowboy" Neale captained the side to many of these victories. The junior side was the third team to enter the Teal Cup in 1973.

Australian rules was the most popular football code for participation and spectators in the nation's capital Canberra between 1978 and 1982. At its peak popularity in 1981 it was the first state or territory outside of Victoria to make an official bid to start a national league now known as the Australian Football League (AFL). The Canberra bid in 1981 was rejected in favour of a team in Sydney, which became the Sydney Swans, selected for its larger population and potential audience. Canberra has made numerous failed bids since, including bids to move the Swans when they became insolvent. Rugby football seized the opportunity to firm its foothold however and the introduction of the Raiders (in 1982) and Brumbies (in 1996) saw rugby league and rugby union grow in popularity. Australian rules is now classified as a minor sport with the lowest media profile and attendance of the four major football codes.

The ACT hosted its first AFL match in 1995 and AFL matches have been played every year since 2001 except 2020. Since 2012 the AFL has positioned Greater Western Sydney Giants (GWS) as a local side, scheduling three home games a year at Manuka Oval. In 2013, 2016, 2021 and 2022 the stadium's average attendance was higher than that of the Giants home, the Sydney Showgrounds, despite having 10,000 less available seats and a schedule of lower drawing opposition clubs. At least 6,400 GWS members were ACT-based at the end of 2022. The club in 2015 set a target to overtake the Raiders membership in 2018 with more than 10,000+ ACT-based members, however Raiders membership rapidly outpaced it growing its record to more than quadruple that of GWS.

Home grown hero Alex Jesaulenko and Australian Football Hall of Fame legend was a household name in the 1970s in Canberra. Jesaulenko has played more games and kicked more goals in the AFL than any other player from the ACT. James Hird is the only Canberran to win the prestigious Brownlow Medal. Both are multi premiership players. Britt Tully (games) and Jacqueline Parry (goals) share the honours in the AFLW. The ACT is classed as a development region by the AFL and in the AFL Draft, ACT is designated priority AFL recruitment zoning for the Greater Western Sydney Giants (and previously Sydney Swans), so most of the local players recruited from the ACT to the AFL (unless overlooked) generally start their careers at one of these two New South Wales based clubs.