Since 1995, the league has been administered by AFL Victoria (and its predecessors), and serves as one of the second-tier regional Australian semi-professional competitions which sits underneath the fully professional Australian Football League. In 2019, it comprised 15 teams from throughout Victoria, nine of which have a continuous VFA heritage. Prior to 2021, the New South Wales- and Queensland-based North East Australian Football League merged into the VFL, expanding the competition to those states. Since 2000, the VFL has served partially as a reserves competition for the AFL, with some AFL clubs fielding their reserves teams in the VFL and others affiliated such that their reserves player can play in VFL teams.