The AFL has joined forces with Vic Health in an $810,000 project to combat the scourge of violence and sexual assault on women.

One in three women aged 15 years and over has experienced some form of violence.

Vic Health head Todd Harper said violence was the leading health risk for women aged between 15 and 45 and cost Australia more than $8 billion a year.

“Doing nothing to prevent violence against women is just not an option,” he said.

“It is a crime and it's preventable.”

The 29-project campaign, Violence Against Women – Respect and Responsibility, seeks to change community attitudes about violence, engaging with communities across the cultural and gender divide.

At the project launch today, AFL commissioner Sam Mostyn said the league had an “extremely important” role to play in educating men and boys about the issue.

While off-field indiscretions did occur among some players, most did the right thing by women and embraced the project, she said.

“For all of those instances, I can cite thousands of instances of the men involved in the game doing extraordinary things for communities, for women, taking very seriously this renewed push on prevention.

“I think it would be hypocritical if we stood back and pretended these things didn't happen across our code.”

The AFL introduced a respect and responsibility policy over a year ago to clamp down on poor behavior among players.

Women's Affairs Minister Jacinta Allan lauded the AFL partnership, saying the high profile code had a critical role to play in influencing attitudes and behavior.

“They can also send a very clear message to the players and the clubs themselves that violence isn't tolerated,” she said.

“It's not tolerated on the field, it's not tolerated in the home, it's not tolerated in the community.”