Draft systems and salary caps in Australian sport

[Extract] A feature of Australia's team sports is that the various leagues operate with labour market controls, namely draft systems and salary caps, with the objective of these controls being the creation of a more even, and therefore more financially stable leagues. Both the A-League and the National Rugby League (NRL) competitions operate with just a salary cap, but the Australian Football League's (AFL) also implements a national draft. What I will therefore examine in this presentation is how draft systems and salary cap systems operate, and the potential legal ramifications in using these labour market controls. In order to understand the legal aspects of these labour markets the restraint of trade doctrine needs to be examined