Your eight-year-old comes home from training and says the coach made them practise heading. You are not sure whether to be worried or not. It depends what state you are in, what age your kid is, and which competition they play in.

The short version: heading in junior football is restricted in Australia, but the restrictions are not uniform. Football Australia sets the national framework. Each state body implements that framework into their own competition rules. There is variation. There is also growing evidence behind why the restrictions exist at all.

This article walks the national framework, what each state body has published as of the 2025-26 season, and what to do if your kid is being asked to head outside the rules.

Why heading is restricted

Concussion from a single hard impact gets the headlines. Heading is a different concern: it is a repeated low-level head impact that adds up over a season and a career. The Australian Institute of Sport's national position statement on concussion and brain health treats heading in youth football as an area where load reduction is the precautionary position, even where any single header is unlikely to cause concussion.

The international precedent matters here. US Soccer banned heading in matches and training for under-10s back in 2015 and limited it for under-13s. The decision was a settlement of a class-action lawsuit and pushed the conversation globally. Football Australia and state bodies have moved more cautiously but in the same direction.

This is not about banning football. It is about reducing total head load while the brain is still developing.

The Football Australia national framework

Football Australia's current guidance on heading sits inside its concussion and brain health framework, updated in April 2025. The position is summarised here in plain language; for the precise wording the FA governance and statutes page is the primary source.

In broad terms:

  • MiniRoos ages (U5 to U11): heading is not part of the small-sided game. Coaching focus at these ages is on technical skills with the feet, not aerial play.
  • U12 to U13: heading is permitted but not emphasised. Coaching guidance is to introduce the technique gradually with light sponge balls or appropriate technique-first drills.
  • U14 and above: heading is part of the game. Technique coaching is expected to be in place before high-volume heading is introduced.

The framework is national. State bodies cannot weaken it but can implement it more strictly.

What each state body publishes

Each state body publishes its own competition rules and coach education guidance. The summaries below describe what is publicly published as of the 2025-26 season. Where a state has not separately published heading rules, the FA framework applies as the default.

Parents should always confirm the current rule with their own club and state body before training. These rules can change between seasons.

Football NSW. Aligns with the FA framework. Heading not part of MiniRoos ages. Coach education resources reference FA guidance.

Northern NSW Football. Aligns with the FA framework. State body materials direct coaches to FA coach education and MiniRoos rules.

Football Victoria. Aligns with the FA framework. FV's coach education and competition rules pages reference FA's national framework.

Football Queensland. Aligns with the FA framework. FQ regional coaching materials reference FA standards.

Football West. Aligns with the FA framework.

Football South Australia. Aligns with the FA framework.

Capital Football (ACT). Aligns with the FA framework.

Football NT. Aligns with the FA framework.

Football Tasmania. Aligns with the FA framework.

The pattern is uniform alignment with the FA national framework. None of the state bodies have published a more permissive position. None have published a substantially stricter one as a separate state rule. Where a state body had a different position, it would be on its competition rules page.

If you are in any doubt about the rule that applies to your kid's specific competition, ring the competition manager at your association. The state body is the next layer.

What to do if a coach asks your kid to head outside the rules

This happens. Not always with bad intent. Sometimes a coach who played in the 1990s does not know the rules have changed. Sometimes a coach is trying to prepare a kid for the next age group and starts heading drills early. The protocol is the same as for any rule breach in junior football.

First conversation: with the coach. Specific and calm. "I noticed the kids did heading drills today. My understanding of the FA framework is that heading is not part of MiniRoos. Could you help me understand?" Most coaches respond to this well, because most do not know they are out of step.

Second conversation: with the club committee. If the coach continues, the club's Member Protection Information Officer or coaching coordinator. Frame as a question about rule compliance, not a personal complaint.

Third conversation: with the competition manager at the association. Each state body's website has the contact pathway.

Fourth conversation: with the state body. Only if the association does not act.

The reason this matters: heading restrictions exist because of cumulative head load, not because any single header is dangerous. A coach who runs heading drills regularly outside the framework is increasing your kid's lifetime head impact count. That is the whole point of the restriction.

What to do if your kid heads the ball in a game

Different question, different answer. Where heading is permitted in the rules of the competition (U12 and above in most cases), an occasional header in a game is part of the game. The framework is about regular, structured heading practice and high-volume coaching exposure, not the one ball in five matches that finds your kid's forehead.

If heading is occurring frequently in matches at ages where the rules do not permit it, that is a competition matter to raise with the referee or association.

Where this fits in

The concussion cluster sits next door to this article. If your kid does take a knock to the head, the first-24-hours and first-week pieces walk through what to do, and the return-to-play piece walks through how the protocol works. Heading restrictions are upstream prevention. The concussion articles are downstream response.

The library is built like that on purpose. One topic, several angles, parent-to-parent.