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Background: Australian football is a physically demanding sport. Exposure to multidirectional body contact and the necessity for complex upper body skills can result in significant strain on regions such as the shoulder. Despite the rise in incidence and high recurrence of shoulder injuries reported at the elite Australian Football League (AFL) level there is limited evidence available to determine whether shoulder injuries are also a problem at a community level. The financial ramifications of shoulder injuries for the community AFL player and society can be considerable due to time off work, treatment costs and the high number and expense of emergency department presentations. Objectives: The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the profile (incidence, severity, mechanisms and clinical management) of shoulder complex injuries in community-level AFL players using automated injury surveillance (SMS text messaging and online survey). The thesis also aimed to investigate whether factors identified during preseason (i.e. musculoskeletal screening, measurement of habitual activity levels, or in-season training workload) were related to shoulder, head or neck time-loss injuries. Methods: Study 1 and 2 prospectively evaluated a novel, automated method of injury surveillance in community AFL players (during a 20-week season) to assess method feasibility (Chapter 3) and to evaluate the profile of shoulder injuries (Chapter 4). In study 3, video footage of elite AFL players (n = 26) retrospectively examined the biomechanical aetiology of injuries to the shoulder complex (Chapter 5). The final two prospective cohort studies (4 and 5) examined potential risk factors for upper body injuries with similar injury mechanisms. At baseline, community AFL players were assessed using seven screening tests of the upper body, trunk and whole-body function to identify any relationships with in-season injuries to the shoulder, head, or neck (Chapter 6). Screening reference values were also determined. Pre-season habitual activity levels and in-season training workloads were collected to prospectively identify associations with in-season injuries to the upper or lower body regions (Chapter 7). Results: The automated method of injury surveillance was deemed feasible for reporting injuries in community AFL players. The incidence of injuries to the shoulder complex was reported to be high (2nd highest in matches, 4th overall; 10.4% of all injuries). The severity of these shoulder injuries was mostly mild (