[2][3] The competition's focus is to improve player development and to boost the overall standing of the game in Australia by generating new interest and revenue.

In January 2018 the AAFC released a timeline for implementation of the league, requesting expressions of interest from clubs for participation in The Championship.

[8] On 3 June 2019 the new national second division was given the green light by FFA, paving the way for the next stage of planning and a revised start date of the 2021–22 season.

[13] In late 2021, advocates for a national second-tier in Australia have been campaigning for the better part of two decades to introduce what is, at this point, a global footballing standard.

The year 2022 may be an optimistic target, however with Football Australia CEO James Johnson pointing to the pandemic as a buffer to the NSD's unavoidable progression.

[14] Officials also aimed to avoid the American-based franchise system and expressed it would become more aligned to the European format, which included promotion and relegation.

[26] Teams that passed the technical elements of Request for Proposal (RFP) and are looking to join are: Teams that are yet to pass the technical elements of Request for Proposal (RFP) after submiting expressions of interest (EOIs) to join are: As a part of the A Genuine National Second Division of Football in Australia report,[18] a number of clubs reported that they could not "operate at their full capacity within the National Premier Leagues".

Teams were asked to submit Expressions of Interest (EOIs) to Football Australia indicating that they wanted to be part of the NSD.

The prevarication to start the tournament has been met with criticism due to lack of detail about how it will function; the slow pace to begin the first season is another point of contention.