Australians have invested an enormous amount of emotional and physical capital in their sporting systems and structures. While Australian sport has many times been dissected from a historical and cultural perspective, there is little detailed analysis of sport's relationship with government.
The book focuses on sport policy, and examines the ways in which government has affected the development of Australian sport since 1919. The text identifies the political, economic and cultural context in which policies were set, and examines critical policy shifts. The book also provides a strong...

Sport Policy in Australia reviews and critiques the development of elite and community sport policy in Australia with an emphasis on contemporary sport and recent history but with an evolutionary perspective looking back as far as the 1920s. The authors contextualise national policy in terms of the particular Australian political, economic and cultural environment, and identify critical policy shifts in the evolution of Australian sport policy. Original research and selected case studies are used to explore four distinct policy areas: Sport development for elite and community participants...