AFL Victoria launched the VFL Women's competition on 21 March 2016, with its inaugural season featuring twelve
doubleheaders with the
Victorian Football League (VFL). The league initially comprised the six Premier Division clubs (, , Eastern Devils, ,
St Kilda Sharks and ) and 2015's top four Division 1 clubs (, , and ) from the
Victorian Women's Football League (VWFL). Melbourne University already had an existing partnership with
Australian Football League (AFL) club . Following the 2016 season, the Geelong Magpies were replaced with the AFL-aligned , and Knox's license was purchased by (then subsequently re-licensed to in 2018). Following the inaugural
AFL Women's (AFLW) season in 2017, the league made further changes to the competition to affiliate clubs more directly with AFL clubs and the AFL Women's competition. Five other foundation clubs departed, leaving Darebin, Melbourne University and Western Spurs as the only remaining foundation clubs. The departing clubs were replaced by the AFL-aligned , , , and
Southern Saints, the VFL-aligned and , and the
North East Australian Football League (NEAFL)-aligned ; Northern Territory aligned with 's AFLW team, giving Crows players an opportunity to play in the Victorian competition. The joined in 2018 under a shared license with the Western Spurs, with the senior Spurs team competing as the Western Bulldogs and wearing red, white and blue. The Western Spurs' license was handed over entirely to the Bulldogs ahead of the 2019 season, with the Spurs fielding teams solely in the
Northern Football Netball League. In 2019, 's AFLW team played five invitational matches in Victoria against teams having a bye. Following the 2019 season,
AFL Northern Territory ended Northern Territory's involvement in the NEAFL and VFLW competitions, and Williamstown aligned with Adelaide in Northern Territory's place. Melbourne University's license was also taken over by , ending the clubs' ten-year partnership and allowing North Melbourne to field its own standalone team. In 2020, amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic, AFL Victoria decided to cancel the
2020 VFL Women's season and instead hold a four-team Super Series in September to give 120 footballers the chance to push their case to be selected in the
2020 AFL Women's draft; this was later cancelled as well due to the increase of restrictions around COVID-19 in Victoria. The
Coburg Football Club, already competing in the VFL, formed a women's team in 2020 with a plan to join the VFLW in
2021. However, the plan did not eventuate. In 2021, joined the league, replacing Richmond, which initially left the competition due to financial issues before entering into a formal alignment with the VFL club. The competition also shifted to a February commencement, running concurrently with the AFLW season and mirroring other second-tier leagues like the
SANFL Women's and
WAFL Women's. In
2024, the home-and-away season included matches against New South Wales
AFL Women's teams and ; the New South Wales teams were not premiership eligible, but there were premiership points available for the Victorian clubs in the matches. This arrangement did not continue in
2025. Ahead of the 2025 season, Port Melbourne became a stand-alone side as Richmond ended their second-tier alignment with the club and ceased any involvement in second-tier women's state football. Meanwhile reigning premiers North Melbourne entered into an affiliation with VFL club , becoming known as the North Melbourne Werribee Kangaroos and playing up to four games a season at
Chirnside Park. The league announced that the
Tasmania Football Club would enter the competition in 2026, as part of the club's eventual elevation to the AFL Women's at a later date. ==Clubs==