Australia first competed at the Games, then titled the British Empire Games, in 1930; and is one of only six countries to have sent athletes to every Commonwealth Games. The others are Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales. Australian athletes competed for Australasia at the 1911 Festival of the Empire, the forerunner to the British Empire Games.
Five of the 21 games have been hosted by Australia, with the city of Gold Coast hosting the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Australia has placed first at 13 out of the 21 games (compared with England 7 and Canada 1) and has been in the top three for all meets except the first games in 1930.
In all but one of the 18 Commonwealth Games held so far (excluding the 1978 Games), the Australian flag bearer has gone on to win a gold medal.
List of Games Host Nation Bids
Games Staged
Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games on five occasions but have only won once via an international vote. That vote was for the host of the 2018 games, won by the Gold Coast.
Sydney 1938 was simply awarded.
Perth 1962 was a contest between Adelaide and Perth which Adelaide originally won at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Adelaide first won 13 votes to Perth's 3. Two years later that was overturned by the Australian Commonwealth Games Association prior to the 1958 British Empire Games in Cardiff, Wales. A New Vote awarded Perth with a 9 to 7 vote.
Brisbane 1982 was awarded after Lagos, Nigeria; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and Birmingham, England all withdrew prior to the Bid vote that took place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during the 1976 Summer Olympics.
Melbourne 2006 was awarded to the city after Wellington, New Zealand, withdrew their bid prior to the Bid Lodgement Deadline.
Year Host city, State Years Between 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Coast, Queensland 12 2006 Commonwealth Games Melbourne, Victoria 24 1982 Commonwealth Games Brisbane, Queensland 20 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Perth, Western Australia 24 1938 British Empire Games Sydney, New South Wales -
Failed bid Results Year Australian Candidate City Winning City Vote Tally 1974 Commonwealth Games Melbourne Christchurch 2-36 1998 Commonwealth Games Adelaide Kuala Lumpur 25-40 2026 Commonwealth Games Hobart Regional Victoria Unanimous 2030 Commonwealth Games Perth Ahmedabad Withdrew
Medals
Overall Medal Tally Positions are calculated by the number of gold medals earned, then the number of silvers is taken into consideration and then the number of bronze.
Figures from Commonwealth Games Foundation website. Those represented in bold are the highest scoring medal tally for each individual medal.
The 2006 Games saw the highest overall medal tally, including the highest number of silver and bronze medals. The 1994 Games remains the Games with the highest number of gold medals won for Australia.
Total Australia 1001 8327632596
Games Summary 1911 Festival of the Empire Australasian athletes representation GamesGoldSilverBronzeTotalRankCompetitorsOfficialsFlag Bearer OpeningFlag Bearer ClosingChe de Mission/General Manager 1911 London 2 2 4 8 71 Richard Coombes
Commonwealth Games GamesGoldSilverBronzeTotalRankCompetitorsOfficialsFlag Bearer OpeningFlag Bearer ClosingChe de Mission/General Manager 1930 Hamilton 3 4 1 8 5 9 2 Bobby Pearce Hugh Weir 1934 London 8 4 2 14 3 17 2 Noel Ryan Herbert Maxwell 1938 Sydney 25 19 22 66 1 154 11Edgar 'Dunc Gray Wilfred Kent Hughes 1950 Auckland 34 27 19 80 1 144 20 Mervyn Wood Harold Wikes 1954 Vancouver 20 11 17 48 2 7813 Dick GarrardJim Eve 1958 Cardiff 27 22 17 66 2 10414 Ivan Lund Jim Eve 1962 Perth 38 36 31 105 1 20730 Tony Madigan Edgar Tanner 1966 Kingston 23 28 22 73 2 101 23 David Dickson Bill Young 1970 Edinburgh 36 24 22 82 1 107 25 Pam Kilborn Michael WendenArthur Tunstall 1974 Christchurch 29 28 25 82 1 162 34 Michael Wenden Bill Young 1978 Edmonton 24 33 27 84 3 148 42 Remo Sansonetti and Salvatore Sansonetti Tracey Wickham Les Martyn 1982 Brisbane 39 39 29 107 1 206 54 Rick Mitchell Lisa CurryJim Barry 1986 Edinburgh 40 46 35 121 3 227 69 Michael Turtur Gael Martin Arthur Tunstall 1990 Auckland 52 54 58 164 1 247 68 Lisa Curry-Kenny Phillip AdamsArthur Tunstall 1994 Victoria 87 52 43 182 1 245 92Ian Hale Gary NeiwandArthur Tunstall 1998 Kuala Lumpur 80 61 57 198 1 318 130 Kieren Perkins Susan O'NeillDon Stockins 2002 Manchester 82 62 63 207 1 352 131 Damian Brown Ian ThorpeDon Stockins 2006 Melbourne 84 70 67 221 1 417 168Jane Saville Leisel JonesJohn Devitt 2010 Delhi 74 55 48 177 1 366 179Sharelle McMahon Alicia CouttsSteve Mongehetti 2014 Glasgow 49 42 46 137 2 414 184 Anna Meares Mark KnowlesSteve Mongehetti 2018 Gold Coast 80 59 59 1981 473 Mark KnowlesKurt FearnleySteve Mongehetti 2022 Birmingham 6757 56 180 1 429 Eddie Ockenden & Rachael GrinhamMelissa Wu Petria Thomas Total 1001 833 766 2600 1
Overall Medal Tally by Sport Overall total of medals achieved for each individual Commonwealth Games sporting area from 1911-2018. Includes 1911 Festival of the Empire.
Progressive Medal Tally
Commonwealth Games Progressive Medal Tally Year Gold Silver Bronze Total201893677771424272014 856 718 654 22282010 807 676 608 20912006 733 621 560 19142002 649 552 492 16931998 567 490 429 14861994 487 429 372 12881990 400 377 329 11061986 348 323 273 9441982 308 277 238 8231978 269 238 209 7161974 245 205 182 6321970 216 177 157 5501966 180 153 135 4681962 157 125 113 3951958 119 89 82 2901954 92 67 65 2241950 72 56 48 1761938 38 29 29 961934 13 10 17 401930 5 6 4 1519112248
Note - 1911 Games includes medals won by all Australasia athletes
Numbers of athletes and sports
This list shows the total number of athletes, male and female, and the total sports they were selected to compete in.
Year Athletes Male Female Sports202625510202242921201847318201441420103652006 419 220 206 182002 352 1998 318 15 1994 225 10 1990 247 11 1986 227 150 77 11 1982 206 141 65 11 1978 148 109 39 11 1974 162 115 47 10 1970 107 72 35 10 1966 101 71 30 10 1962 207 159 48 10 1958 104 82 22 10 1954 78 65 13 11 1950 144 121 23 12 1938 154 124 30 9 1934 17 15 2 6 1930 9 9 0 4
Team & Individual Competitor Achievements
Notable Achievements
Represented at most Games Arthur Tunstall has represented Australia as an official at 8 Commonwealth Games (1962, 66, 70, 74, 78, 86, 90, 94). Runner Steve Moneghetti has represented Australia as an athlete in four Games (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998) and an official at four Games (2002, 2010, 2014, 2018) Donald Stockins has represented Australia as an official at 8 Commonwealth Games (1974, 78, 82, 86, 90, 94, 98, 2002). Badminton player Rhonda Cator has represented Australia as an athlete in five Games (1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002) and an official at three Games (2004, 2010, 2014) Shooter Bruce Quick has represented in 7 Commonwealth Games (1990, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018) Shooter Phillip Adams has represented in 6 Commonwealth Games (1982, 86, 90, 94, 98, 2002). Shooter Russell Mark has represented in 6 Commonwealth Games (1990, 1994, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014) Shooter James Corbett has represented in 6 Commonwealth Games (1986, 1990, 1998, 2006, 2010, 2014) Squash player David Palmer has represented in 6 Commonwealth Games (1998, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018)
Best Individual Medal Achievements
Most gold medals won Swimmer Emma McKeon won 14 gold medals at three successive Games (2014, 18, 22). Swimmer Susie O'Neill won 10 gold medals at three successive Games (1990, 94, 98). Swimmer Ian Thorpe won 10 gold medals at two successive Games (1998, 2002). Swimmer Leisel Jones won 10 gold medals at three successive Games (2002, 06, 10). Swimmer Kyle Chalmers won 10 gold medals at three successive Games (2018, 22, 26).
Most gold medals won at a single Games Swimmer Susie O'Neill won 6 gold medals at the 1998 Games. Swimmer Ian Thorpe won 6 gold medals at the 2002 Games. Swimmer Emma McKeon won 6 gold medals at the 2022 Games. Swimmer Meg Harris won 6 gold medals at the 2026 Games.
Most medals won by a competitor Swimmer Emma McKeon won 20 medals (14 gold, 1 silver, 5 bronze) at three Games (2014, 18, 22). Shooter Phillip Adams has won 18 medals (7 gold, 9 silver, 2 bronze) at five Games (1982, 86, 90, 94, 2002). Swimmer Susie O'Neill has won 15 medals (10 gold, 5 silver) at three Games (1990, 94, 98). Swimmer Emily Seebohm has won 15 medals (7 gold, 4 silver, 4 bronze) at three Games (2010, 14, 18) Shooter Bruce Quick has won 14 medals (1 Gold, 9 Silver and 4 Bronze) at 6 games (1990, 1998, 2002, 2006, 2010 and 2014).
Oldest gold medal winner Dorothy Roche, was 61 years and 10 months old when she won a gold medal in the women's fours in Bowls at the 1990 Games.
Youngest gold medal winner Jenny Turrall, was 13 years, 8 months old when she won a gold medal in the 400m freestyle at Christchurch, New Zealand in 1974. Jenny Turrall also won Silver medals in the 200m Freestyle, 800m Freestyle and the women's 4x100 Freestyle Relay at the 1974 Christchurch Games.
Winning Streaks Australia has won gold in the following events for each consecutive Games since the beginning of each individual streak.
Swimming, Men's 4 × 200 m Freestyle (13 Games - 1954, 58, 62, 66, 70, 74, 78, 82, 86, 90, 94, 98, 2002) Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Medley (10 Games - 1990, 94, 98, 2002, 06, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26) Swimming, Men's 1500 m Freestyle (9 Games - 1970, 74, 78, 82, 86, 90, 94, 98, 2002) Swimming, Women's 4 × 100 m Freestyle (8 Games - 1998, 2002, 06, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26) Men's Hockey (7 Games - 1998, 2002, 06, 10, 14, 18, 22) Swimming, Women's 100 m Freestyle (7 Games - 2002, 06, 10, 14, 18, 22, 26)
Australian Records Achieved at Commonwealth Games Record Types listed follow this Key: WR: World Record CR: Commonwealth Record AR: Australian Record GR: Games Record
Record Summary
This list shows a summary of known Australian records and totals for each year and overall. A world record also covers all other records (Commonwealth, Australian and Games) but is not included in each individual tally. This also goes for each other section overlapping. The hierarchy is defined by the record key.
Year WR CR AR GR Total2006 104 109 2142002 6 44 501998 20 201994 29 291990 7 71986 6 61982 2 21978 1 11974 1 11970 3 31966 14 141962 5 51958 0 01954 3 31950 2 21938 0 01934 2 21930 0 0Total 6 139 145
2002 6 World Records were set during these Games. 44 Commonwealth Games Records were set in the 2002 Games.