Sport in Australia research guide

Introduction

The reputation of Australia as a great sporting nation has long been established. Sport holds a significant place in the Australian way of life and its complex portrayal is both subject to change and strongly linked to contemporary perceptions of national identity. Although not all Australians share a passion for sport, its cultural impact is an essential consideration in any comprehensive analysis of Australian culture.

This guide will help you find resources and information on the history and role of sport in Australian society, and its unique place in the Australian cultural landscape.

You will also find answers on frequently asked questions, including how to find scores and results of sporting events, and how to trace the sporting history of a family member or sporting figure.

The National Library of Australia provides access to a wide range of material relating to sport in Australia.

This includes:

Printed material - general works, histories, biographies, newsletters and journals
Manuscripts – papers and records of sporting figures and organisations
Pictures – photographs, artwork, and posters
Oral histories – interviews, including the Sport oral history project and the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project
Ephemera – programs, brochures, and related materials relating to sports, major sporting events, and organisations.
Music – sheet music of theme tunes to sporting TV programs
Newspapers – in print and online
Online resources – our eResources provides access to millions of online journal articles and ebooks.

Major unique collections include:

The Sport oral history project, a collection of 94 interviews conducted by the Library and the Australian Sports Commission,
The Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies oral history project, conducted jointly by the Library and the Australian Paralympic Committee.

A marathon runner smiles and holds his fists up as he runs

Michael Jensen, Robert de Castella winning the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games Marathon, Brisbane, 1982, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136995791

Using the catalogue

Use the catalogue standard search to find titles, authors, or subjects.

If you get too many results, use the Limit your search options (at the right of the results page) to display only the items of interest. e.g. audio (oral histories) or manuscripts
If you need to widen your search, click on subject headings in an item’s catalogue record to find other material related to that subject.

Examples of subject searches you can try include:

In addition to searching on subject headings, you can use different search terms alone or combined to identify a wide variety or location-specific items.

Paradise of sport: a history of Australian sport by Richard Cashman (2010)
Sport in Australian national identity: kicking goals by Tony Ward (2010)
The fair and the foul: inside our sporting nation by David Hill (2017)
Sporting traditions: the journal of the Australian Society for Sports History, available in print or online in the Library only, and online available offsite by using your Library login.

Sporting news has been reported in newspapers since colonial times. The Library holds a large collection of newspapers and magazines, including titles dedicated to sport. You can find these by searching our catalogue.

Early historical Australian newspapers between 1803 and 1955 are freely available online through Trove.

Some current newspapers and magazines post 1990 are available online. You can explore many online newspapers in our eResources. Major newspaper databases which the Library subscribe to include:

NewsBank: access global - our largest newspaper database, providing access to over 7000 news sources from over 200 countries.
PressReader - provides access to newspapers and magazines in 40 languages from over 80 countries.
Sydney Morning Herald & The Age: library edition - provides access to online reproductions of print issues of both newspaper titles from 2006 onwards.

You will need a National Library login to access these licenced eResources from home.

If you are a registered reader, you can request items to read and photocopy in the Library's reading rooms.

Registered readers can also search selected subscription databases via our eResources portal.

If you can't visit the Library, you can use Copies Direct to request copies and have them sent to you via mail or email. Please note there may be copyright restrictions when using this service.

You can also search Trove to find a library closer to you which has the item in their collection.

If there is no library near you with the item, you may be able to arrange an interlibrary loan through your local public or institutional library. Please ask staff at your local library for assistance with this.

In this guide

Six women smiling as they play football. One has just kicked the ball.

Darren Clark, The Stronger Sisters playing football at the Tennant Creek football Grand Final, 2011, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-152960442

First Nations and sport

First Nations people participated in sports long before Australian Federation.

First Australians

Black and white photo of Aboriginal Australian cricketers in 1868 with C. Lawrence and W. Shepherd as Manager and Captain

Aboriginal Australian cricketers with C. Lawrence & W. Shepherd as Manager and Captain, England, 1868, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136410831

First Nations sporting greats

First Nations athletes have been involved in some of our most triumphant moments in sport and continue to make a significant contribution to our nation’s sport at all levels.

First Australians

A gold medal standing upright on a white cotton surface. The medal shows a figure holding a trumped and a wine amphorae. Behind the figure is a bust on a stand. In raised lettering around the edge of the medal are the words 'Olympiska Spelen Stockholm' The year '1912' is also present.

Olympic gold medal won by Miss Fanny Durack at Stockholm, 1912, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-139311257

Women in sport

Historically, Australian women have made their mark in the sports record books worldwide.

Research guide

Black and white photo of basketball player, Robert Rose, poised to shoot at the goal

Damian McDonald, Robert Rose, basketball player from Canberra Cannons team, 1997, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136393881

Sporting immigrants

With new people and cultures come new ideas and a significant immigrant contribution to Australian sport and society.

Research guide

A black and white photo of Louise Sauvage leading another wheelchair racer on a track.

Serena Ovens, Portrait of Louise Sauvage, 1996 paralympian, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-136368441

Disability and sport

The sporting movement for people with disabilities began in the 1940s with the pioneering work of Dr Ludwig Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England.

Research guide

Online learning resources

Sport and Australian culture

The National Library’s Digital Classroom is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and supports a variety of classroom contexts and learning styles. Suitable for high school students, this module uses the Library’s vast collections to explore sport and Australian culture.

Digital Classroom: Sport and Australian Culture

Aussie sporting heroes

Learn how you can use the Library’s eResources to dig deeper into the cultural portrayal of our Aussie sporting heroes.

Aussie Sporting Heroes Webinar

Other sport collections

Many galleries, libraries, museums, and archives across Australia hold rich and diverse collections relating to sport.

Highlights include:

State Library of New South Wales Sport Collections research guide
State Library of Victoria’s research guides on Australian Rules football and Horse racing and the Melbourne Cup.
State Library of Western Australia Storylines website contains images, oral histories and documents relating to Aboriginal Australian’s participation in sport.
The Australian Sports Museum holds the nation’s largest sporting collection, as well as being home to the Sport Australia Hall of Fame which currently holds nearly 600 members.
The National Museum of Australia’s collection includes over 200,000 items reflecting Australian history and culture. Visit the Museum’s Glorious Days: Sport and leisure page so find some of their highlighted sporting stories.
Established in 1985, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government agency responsible for supporting and investing in sport at all levels.
Sports & Recreation – Australian Web Archive - find archived websites and snap shots for over 500 Australian sports organisations and 220 sports events on the Australian Web Archive in Trove.

Frequently asked questions about sport in Australia

Browse some example questions received by the Library on sport in Australia. Answers were provided by Reader Services staff using the resources in this guide.

If you are unable to visit the National Library, you can search Trove to find the title in a library near you.

Some resources you can try include:

Historical digitised newspapers on Trove. Try searching by the name of your ancestor or the club they played for, or even the sport they played.
Sporting newspapers. Apart from general newspapers, there are also newspapers specifically published for individual sports and sport in general. These can be found by searching our catalogue with keywords e.g. sport newspapers.
Archives of sporting clubs or bodies can also be a useful source of information, so try reaching out to these directly.
Many sporting associations publish a regular newsletter, magazine, or journal and these may contain historical articles. You can search for these publications in the Library’s catalogue using the name of the sporting association or if you are unsure, try searching with the place and name of the sport.
General histories on sport or a particular sport may also include information on your ancestor, as well as local history publications.
Dedicated websites are another potential source of information as well as online exhibitions held by sporting and cultural institutions.

Information on cricket clubs, players, and results was often printed in newspapers at the time so a good place to start your search is the historical digitised newspapers on Trove.

If you know the name of the club or a particular player, you can search using their name. Match results listing names on full score sheets were usually only published for First Grade and Representative teams, so if you’re searching for someone who played lower grades you may not find their name.

Another option is to contact the specific club to see what they hold in their archives. Often clubs which have been around for a long time will publish material celebrating a centenary (for example) which may feature first grade players.

You can also search for information in published material. Try searching our catalogue for histories of a specific club, sport, or player. For example, you can search using subject headings such as

If you are looking for test match scores, try searching our catalogue with: Test matches (cricket) - Australia - History

The Library has a large collection of material relating to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, including books, journals, newspapers, photographs, oral history, music, maps, ephemera and more.

To find items in our collection search our catalogue using the subject heading below:

Olympic Games (27^th: 2000: Sydney, N.S.W.)

Or try entering some keywords, e.g. basketball Sydney Olympics picture

You can also search for newspaper articles on the Sydney games using the NewsBank : Access Global database. If you have a Library login you can access this eResource from home.

Both current and archived websites are also a good source of information. Olympics.com provides information on all past Olympic games, including Sydney 2000. The Australian Olympic Committee’s website also includes information on Sydney 2000.

You can search for archived websites on Trove. Just enter your search terms on the homepage and choose ‘websites’ from the categories drop down list.

You can find data going back to the very first Commonwealth Games held in 1930 on the Commonwealth Games Australia website.

Visit their Australia at the Commonwealth Games results page to search by Games and/or athlete.

cover of the book 'Discover Your Sporting Ancestors'

Featured resource

Have you ever thought about what sporting activities your ancestors might have been involved with?

Discover Your Sporting Ancestors shows you where to look for more information and how to make the most of searching websites, newspapers, original records and published sources.

Find this book in a library near you through Trove.