No More Draws? The Australian Championship’s New Penalty Rule Explained

Photo: Getty Images

The Australian Championship has introduced one of the more unusual rule changes in Australian football, with every regular-season match that finishes level now going to a penalty shootout.

The new system, introduced for the 2026 competition, means there will effectively be a winner in every Australian Championship fixture, but the team winning the shootout will not receive the same reward as a team that wins the match inside 90 minutes.

Instead, the competition is using a 'Penalty Shootout Bonus Point Model', giving teams an incentive to win in normal time while still rewarding sides that prevail from the spot.

How does the new rule work?

If a match is level after 90 minutes, there is no extra time, with the game immediately going to a penalty shootout.

The official result remains a draw for both teams, but the shootout determines who receives an additional bonus point.

The points system is as follows:

Win in 90 minutes — 3 points
Draw + win penalty shootout — 2 points
Draw + lose penalty shootout — 1 point
Loss — 0 points

So, unlike a traditional league system, a team can no longer simply settle for one point from a draw without having to face a shootout.

The rule only applies to the regular season matches. Once the competition reaches the quarter-finals, it returns to the traditional knockout format, with extra time followed by penalties if required.

So why has Football Australia introduced it?

Football Australia says the change came after consultation with clubs, with the organisation looking for innovative ways to develop the competition.

One of the major arguments in favour of the system is entertainment.Rather than a match finishing 1-1 and supporters simply heading home, every drawn game now ends with a high-pressure shootout.

Football Australia says its consultation suggested the shootouts could create greater excitement, keep supporters engaged until the final kick and give players valuable experience in high-pressure situations.

There is also an international precedent. Japan used a similar system in its J1 100 Year Vision League, while Australia itself has seen something comparable before, with the 1994/95 National Soccer League (NSL) season using penalty shootouts to decide additional points from drawn matches.

But is a draw really a draw?

This is where the debate becomes interesting.

One argument against the system is that a draw is supposed to mean exactly that — neither team won.

Under the new rules, both teams officially record a draw, but one walks away with two points while the other gets only one. This creates a strange middle ground.

A team can dominate for 90 minutes, fail to find a winner and then lose the shootout, despite arguably being the better side for most of the match.

On the other hand, a team that spends most of the game defending and survives until the final whistle has the opportunity to take the bonus point through penalties.

That could make the final stages of matches particularly interesting from a strategic point of view.

Knowing that a shootout is guaranteed after a draw could influence decisions late in matches.

For example, a team sitting on one point could decide that pushing aggressively for a winner is too risky, particularly if it has a strong goalkeeper and confident penalty takers.

Instead of chasing three points and potentially losing the match, a club could be tempted to protect the draw and back itself in the shootout.

That creates one of the biggest questions around the experiment:

Does the rule encourage attacking football? or could it actually encourage teams to play for penalties?

There is also the opposite argument.

Because winning the shootout gives a team two points rather than one, clubs still have something to play for after 90 minutes. A team that would normally be satisfied with a draw now has another opportunity to gain an extra point.

The biggest talking point: is it good for the competition?

There are convincing arguments on both sides.

The case for it:
The system guarantees drama, gives supporters another decisive moment and provides players with experience handling the pressure of penalties. It also prevents a late-stage league match from simply petering out after a draw.

The case against it:
Penalty shootouts are inherently unpredictable and can make the outcome feel disconnected from the 90 minutes that came before them. A team could play exceptionally well but leave with one point, while an opponent that survives could claim the bonus point.

There is also the question of whether Australian football should be experimenting with rules that are so different from the standard laws and scoring systems used around the world.