In order to facilitate the appointments process, the Development and Appointments Committee (DAC) divides the members doing senior matches into seven tiers.
Before looking at the two documents below, please watch the 2026 Grading and Appointments Process video above.
The Grading matrix aligns with the Rugby Australia Match Official Framework and further sub-divides it in order to most closely describe the attributes of referees within each Tier. While you may not agree with every descriptor within the Tier that you’ve been assigned, it is the closest match that the DAC has determined.
The DAC is currently drafting the process for re-grading referees and it should be available by the start of April.