This new book reviews and critiques the development of elite and community sport policy with an emphasis on contemporary sport and recent history but with an evolutionary perspective looking back as far as the 1920s. The authors contextualize 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; intervention in sport's organization, management, and administration; "fair play" policies and anti-doping initiatives; and "social capital" development for improving community health and welfare. This book provides a much-needed resource for students and professionals wishing to research the Australian experience.

Section 1 - Context 1. Sport and Australian Society 2. Sport Policy Foundations Section 2 -Evolution 3. Benign Indifference: 1920-1971 4. Crash-through: 1972-1982 5. Augmentation: 1983-1996 6. Integration: 1996-2003 Section 3 - Practice 7. Backing Australia's Sporting Ability: themes and assumptions 8. Elite Sport Development : Targeting High Performance 9. Community Sport Development: Targeting Participation 10. Junior Sport Development: Pathways and Retention 11. Management Improvements in Sport: Performance Measurement 12. Fair Play in Sport: Drugs, Discrimination, Disadvantage and Disability 13. Regulating Sport. The Case of Sport Broadcasting section 4 - Evaluation 14. How should outcomes be monitored and measured? 15. What does it all mean?