Australian Athletics Championships

The Australian Athletics Championships or Australian Open Track and Field Championships are held annually to determine Australia's champion athletes in a range of athletics events. The championships are the primary qualification trial for athletes wishing to compete at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games or World Championships.^[1] The event is conducted by Australian Athletics.^[2]

The 2023 Australian Championships were the 100th edition of the event, which dates back to 1890 for men, and 1931 for women. These championships has been held in all states of Australia, with the Queensland Sport & Athletics Centre being the venue that has held the most editions of the event (12).

Initially, men’s and women’s events were held separately, in different places, until the Olympic selections of 1972 and 1976, and as a single event since 1978.

These championships are considered open: athletes from other countries such as New Zealand and the USA have competed in and won events.

History

The championships were first held on 31 May 1890 under the name Inter Colonial Meet at Moore Park in Sydney.

In 1893, teams from the Australasian colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand competed in the first formalised Australasian Athletics Championships meeting.^[3]

A New Zealand team continued to compete in this event until the 1927/28 event. At the next championships in 1929/30, women's events were included for the first time.

In 1933, the women began conducting their own championships, with a wider range of events. Except for occasional combined championships in 1936, 1972 and 1976, the separation of men's and women's championships continued until the 1977/78 event.^[3]

Championship events

The full range of Olympic events is not usually conducted at the national championships. For example, during the 2007/08 season the following championship events were held separately:

• Men's and Women's 10,000 metres – Zatopek Classic – 13 December 2007^[4]
• Men's 50 kilometres race walk – Melbourne – 16 December 2007^[5]
• Women's 5000 metres – Sydney Grand Prix – 16 February 2008^[6]
• Men's 5000 metres – IAAF World Athletics Tour, Melbourne meet – 21 February 2008^[7]
• Men's and Women's 20 kilometres race walk – Melbourne – 23 February 2008^[8]

Most successful athletes

See also: List of Australian athletics champions (men) and List of Australian athletics champions (women)

The most successful athletes at the Championships have been throwers Gael Martin and Warwick Selvey who won 20 and 19 championships events, respectively.^[9]

List of championships

Year	Venue	Place
1890–91	Moore Park	Sydney
1893–94	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
1895–96	Lancaster Park [i]	Christchurch
1897–98	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
1899–00	Bowen Park	Brisbane
1901–02	Auckland Domain [i]	Auckland
1903–04	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
1905–06	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
1907–08	Hobart Cricket Ground	Hobart
1909–10	Bowen Park	Brisbane
1911–12	Basin Reserve [i]	Wellington
1913–14	Amateur Sports Ground	Melbourne
1919–20	Sydney Sports Ground	Sydney
1921–22	Adelaide Oval	Adelaide
1923–24	North Hobart Oval	Hobart
1925–26	Bowen Park	Brisbane
1927–28	Basin Reserve [i]	Wellington
1929–30	Melbourne Cricket Ground	Melbourne
1931–32	Sydney Cricket Ground	Sydney
1932–33	Amateur Sports Ground [ii]	Melbourne
1933–34	Adelaide Oval [iii]	Adelaide
1934–35	Lang Park [ii]	Brisbane
1935–36	North Hobart Oval [iii]	Hobart
	Rushcutters Bay Oval [ii]	Sydney
1937–38	Bowen Park [iii]	Brisbane
	Royal Park [ii]	Melbourne
1939–40	Leederville Oval [ii]	Perth
1946–47	Leederville Oval [iii]	Perth
1947–48	St. Kilda Cricket Ground [iii]	Melbourne
	University Oval [ii]	Sydney
1948–49	Sydney Cricket Ground [iii]	Sydney
1949–50	Adelaide Oval [iii]	Adelaide
	Norwood Oval [ii]	Adelaide
1950–51	North Hobart Oval [iii]	Hobart
1951–52	Exhibition Grounds [iii]	Brisbane
	Olympic Park [ii]	Melbourne
1952–53	Leederville Oval [iii]	Perth
1953–54	Sydney Cricket Ground [iii]	Sydney
	Leederville Oval [ii]	Perth
1954–55	Olympic Sports AdelaideKensington Oval [iii]	Adelaide
1955–56	Olympic Park [iii]	Melbourne
	Brisbane Cricket Ground[ii]	Brisbane
1956–57	Olympic Park [iii]	Melbourne
1957–58	Exhibition Grounds [iii]	Brisbane
	Sydney Sports Ground [ii]	Sydney
1958–59	North Hobart Oval [iii]	Hobart
1959–60	Leederville Oval [iii]	Perth
	North Hobart Oval [ii]	Hobart
1960–61	Lang Park [iii]	Brisbane
1961–62	ES Marks Athletics Field[iii]	Sydney
	West Parkland Field [ii]	Adelaide
1962–63	Thebarton Oval [iii]	Adelaide
	Lang Park [ii]	Brisbane
1963–64	Olympic Park [iii]	Melbourne
	Royal Park [ii]	Melbourne
1964–65	North Hobart Oval [iii]	Hobart
	Perry Lakes Stadium [ii]	Perth
1965–66	Perry Lakes Stadium [iii]	Perth
	Sydney Sports Ground [ii]	Sydney
1966–67	Olympic Sports Field [iii]	Adelaide
	North Hobart Oval [ii]	Hobart
1967–68	ES Marks Athletics Field[iii]	Sydney
	Olympic Sports Field [ii]	Adelaide
1968–69	Olympic Park [iii]	Melbourne
	Lang Park [ii]	Brisbane
1969–70	Olympic Sports Field [iii]	Adelaide
	Royal Park [ii]	Melbourne
1970–71	Lang Park [iii]	Brisbane
	Sydney Sports Ground[ii]	Sydney
1971–72	Perry Lakes Stadium	Perth
1972–73	ES Marks Athletics Field[iii]	Sydney
	North Hobart Oval [ii]	Hobart
1973–74	Olympic Park [iii]	Melbourne
	Olympic Sports Field [ii]	Adelaide
1974–75	Olympic Sports Field [iii]	Adelaide
	Lang Park [ii]	Brisbane
1975–76	Olympic Park	Melbourne
1976–77	The Domain [iii]	Sydney
	Sydney Sports Ground [ii]	Sydney
1977–78	QE II Stadium	Brisbane
1978–79	Perry Lakes Stadium	Perth
1979–80	ES Marks Athletics Field	Sydney
1980–81	Olympic Sports Field	Adelaide
1981–82	QE II Stadium	Brisbane
1982–83	Olympic Park	Melbourne
1983–84	Olympic Park	Melbourne
1984–85	Bruce Stadium	Canberra
1985–86	Olympic Sports Field	Adelaide
1986–87	ES Marks Athletics Field	Sydney
1987–88	Perry Lakes Stadium	Perth
1988–89	QE II Stadium	Brisbane
1989–90	Olympic Park	Melbourne
1990–91	ES Marks Athletics Field	Sydney
1991–92	Olympic Sports Field	Adelaide
1992–93	QE II Stadium	Brisbane
1993–94	ES Marks Athletics Field	Sydney
1994–95	ES Marks Athletics Field	Sydney
1995–96	ES Marks Athletics Field	Sydney
1996–97	Olympic Park	Melbourne
1997–98	Olympic Park	Melbourne
1998–99	Olympic Park	Melbourne
1999–00	Stadium Australia	Sydney
2000–01	QE II Stadium	Brisbane
2001–02	QE IIANZ Stadium	Brisbane
2002–03	QE IIANZ Stadium	Brisbane
2003–04	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2004–05	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2005–06	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2006–07	Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre	Brisbane
2007–08	Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre	Brisbane
2008–09	Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre	Brisbane
2009–10	Western Australian Athletics Stadium	Perth
2010–11	Olympic Park	Melbourne
2011–12	Lakeside Stadium	Melbourne
2012–13	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2013–14	Albert Park	Melbourne
2014–15	Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre	Brisbane
2015–16	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2016–17	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2017–18	Carrara Stadium	Gold Coast
2018–19	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2019–20	Main championships not held  [iv]
2020–21	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney [12][13]
2021–22	Sydney Olympic Park	Sydney
2022–23	Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre	Brisbane [14]
2023–24	SA Athletics Stadium	Adelaide
2024–25	Western Australian Athletics Stadium	Perth

Notes

1. - held in New Zealand as part of the Australasian Athletics Championships
2. - women's championship only
3. - men's championship only
4. The main championships were not held but eight events were completed prior to the cancellation.^[10][11]

Championships records

Men

Event	Record	Athlete/Team	Date	Meet	Place	Ref.
100 m	10.02 (±0.0 m/s)	Rohan Browning	1 April 2023	2022–23 Championships	Brisbane
800 m	1:43.79 NR	Peter Bol	13 April 2025	2024–25 Championships	Perth	[15]
Discus throw	69.35 m NR	Matthew Denny	13 April 2024	2023–24 Championships	Adelaide	[16]

Women

Event	Record	Athlete/Team	Date	Meet	Place	Ref.
800 m	1:58.32	Catriona Bisset	30 March 2023	2022–23 Championships	Brisbane	[17]
1500 m	4:04.19	Jessica Hull	1 April 2023	2022–23 Championships	Brisbane
5000 m	15:05.87	Jessica Hull	2 April 2023	2022–23 Championships	Brisbane
High jump	2.00 m NR	Nicola McDermott	18 April 2021	2020–21 Championships	Sydney	[18]
Pole vault	4.75 m	Eliza McCartney	1 April 2023	2022–23 Championships	Brisbane