Since the inception of the original Victorian Football Association in 1877, the majority of Australian rules competitions around the nation have operated using a home-and-away seasonal method of determining finalists, all of which compete for a local or national premiership. This is the process employed by the highest tiered Australian football competition, the Australian Football League (AFL); with each home-and-away season running from late February to late-August, the sixteen league teams compete for a position within the final eight on the premiership ladder, and the teams ultimately make the eight go on to play into September during finals month, which climaxes on the final Saturday in September with the AFL Grand Final, staged to determine the premier for the seasonal year.
During each season, a number of awards are given to either clubs or professionals within the league for a number of different accomplishments, the single most prestigous for a single player being the Brownlow Medal, presented to the season's 'best-and-fairest'. Further awards are those such as the Coleman Medal (presented to players who kicked the most goals during the home-and-away season), the minor premiership (given to the team who topped the ladder at the end of the regular season), as well as media awards such as the goal and mark of the year, with further club awards handed out by teams at the end of the regular season to certain individuals within the club following the end of the home-and-away season.
| AFL Seasons | |||||
| # | Premier | Minor Premier | Wooden Spoon | Brownlow Medalist | Coleman Medalist |
| 1990 | Collingwood | Essendon | Brisbane Bears | Tony Libertore (Footscray) |
John Longmire (98 Goals) |
| 1991 | Hawthorn | West Coast Eagles | Brisbane Bears | Jim Stynes (Melbourne) |
Tony Lockett (118 Goals) |
| 1992 | West Coast Eagles | Geelong | Sydney | Scott Wynd (Footscray) |
Jason Dunstall (139 Goals) |
| 1993 | Essendon | Essendon | Sydney | Gavin Wanganeen (Essendon) |
Gary Ablett Snr. (124 Goals) |
| 1994 | West Coast Eagles | West Coast Eagles | Sydney | Greg Williams (Carlton) |
Gary Ablett Snr. (113 Goals) |
| 1995 | Carlton | Carlton | Fitzroy | Paul Kelly (Sydney) |
Gary Ablett Snr. (118 Goals) |
| 1996 | North Melbourne | Sydney Swans | Fitzroy | James Hird (Essendon) Michael Voss (Brisbane Bears) |
Tony Lockett (114 Goals) |
| 1997 | Western Bulldogs | St Kilda | Melbourne | Robert Harvey (St Kilda) |
Tony Modra (81 Goals) |
| 1998 | Western Bulldogs | Western Bulldogs | Collingwood | Tony Libertore (Western Bulldogs) |
Tony Lockett (110 Goals) |
| 1999 | Western Bulldogs | Essendon | Collingwood | Ben Cousins (West Cost Eagles) Scott West (Western Bulldogs) |
Tony Lockett (98 Goals) |
| 2000 | Essendon | Essendon | Fremantle | Michael Voss (Brisbane Bears) |
Matthew Lloyd (91 Goals) |
| 2001 | Port Adelaide | Hawthorn | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2002 | Adelaide | Port Adelaide | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2003 | Sydney Swans | Port Adelaide | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2004 | West Coast Eagles | West Coast Eagles | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2005 | Carlton | Carlton | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2006 | Western Bulldogs | Carlton | N/A | N/A | Brad Johnson (79 Goals) |
| 2007 | Brisbane Lions | Richmond | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2008 | Richmond | Richmond | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2009 | Western Bulldogs | Richmond | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2010 | Western Bulldogs | Richmond | Gold Coast | Gary Ablett Jr. (Richmond) |
N/A |
| 2011 | Richmond | Richmond | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2012 | West Coast Eagles | West Coast Eagels | Gold Coast | N/A | N/A |
| 2013 | West Coast Eagles | Geelong | N/A | N/A | N/A |