Austin has been elevated in lieu of Shaun Higgins, who was put on the long-term injury list after suffering a season ending navicular injury in round three.
The 24-year-old defender has been in consistent form in the VFL, featuring in the best players over the past two weeks, and is in contention to line up for his twelfth game in the red, white and blue this Saturday.
Austin was selected at number 35 in the 2006 AFL National Draft by Carlton, and after 15 games, found his way onto the Western Bulldogs rookie list in 2012.
Development and VFL Coach Peter German said Austin was impressive in the VFL last weekend and has the form to step into the senior side, should he get selected.
“Aussie has been right up there as our best defender over the last couple of weeks,” German said.
“He is a really good competitor, and was given the job on [Ben] Warren, who is the leading goal kicker this year and I don’t think he even kicked a goal - so that probably tells the story of his day [on Sunday].”
