The laws of Australian rules football were first created by the Melbourne Football Club in 1859 and have been refined over the years as the sport evolved into its modern form. The laws significantly predate the advent of a governing body for the sport. The first national and international body, the Australasian Football Council (AFC), was formed in 1905 and became responsible for the laws, although individual leagues retained a wide discretion to vary them. Since 1994, after the establishment of a nation-wide Australian Football League (AFL), the rules for the game have been maintained by the AFL Commission through its AFL Competition Committee.

Australian rules football is a contact sport played between two teams of eighteen players on an oval-shaped field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by kicking the oval-shaped ball between goal posts (worth six points) or between behind posts (worth one point).

During general play, players may position themselves anywhere on the field and use any part of their bodies to move the ball. The primary methods are kicking, handballing and running with the ball. If a player marks the ball (catches it from a long enough kick), they are awarded possession and allowed a free kick. There are rules on how the ball can be handled, including rules against running too far with the ball, throwing the ball and holding the ball. Players can tackle using their hands or use their whole body to obstruct opponents. Dangerous physical contact (such as pushing an opponent in the back), interference when marking, and deliberately slowing the play are discouraged with free kicks, distance penalties or suspension for a certain number of matches, depending on the seriousness of the infringement.

The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. It is based in Melbourne, Victoria, and plays its home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Melbourne are the reigning premiers of the AFL.

Melbourne is one of the world's oldest professional club of any football code. Its origins can be traced to an 1858 letter in which Tom Wills, captain of the Victoria cricket team, calls for the formation of a "foot-ball club" with its own "code of laws". An informal Melbourne team played that winter and officially formed in May 1859, when Wills and three other members codified "The Rules of the Melbourne Football Club"—the basis of Australian rules football. The club was a dominant force in the early years of the game and a foundation member of the Victorian Football Association (VFA) in 1877 and the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1896, now the national AFL. Melbourne has won 13 VFL/AFL premierships, the latest in 2021. The club was a foundation team of the AFL Women's league.

The football club has been a sporting section of the Melbourne Cricket Club (MCC) since 2009, having previously been associated with the MCC between 1889 and 1980.