ARCHERY AUSTRALIA Inc

The sport of archery was introduced to Australia by
the European settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries and is known to
have been a flourishing social activity in the mid-1800s. However, it
wasn't until the late 1930s that organised archery on an Australia-wide
basis was first proposed by Dudley Preston, a leading archer in Western
Australia.

After an enforced interruption due to the Second
World War, his proposal came to fruition at a conference of State
delegates held in Sydney on 17-18 January, 1948. After the normal
preliminaries, the first major item on the agenda was the motion that:

"The Archery Association of Australia be and is hereby formed."

This motion was carried and therefore has to be
regarded as the official date of birth of the Association. The meeting
went on to consider matters of national and international associations
and competitions, including a resolution to affiliate with FITA the
interantaiona archery federation.

The first Annual General Meeting of the Association
was held in Sydney on the same weekend as the first National
Championships - 3,4,5 October 1948.

In 1993, the Archery Association of Australia changed
its name to Archery Australia. The Association has been governed by a
Board comprised of eight societies (Archery Society of NSW, Archery
ACT, Archery Victoria, Archery Society of Tasmania, Archery South
Australia, Archery Society of Western Australia, Archery Society of
North Queensland and Archery Society of South Queensland). The day to
day affairs of the association were managed by a Executive Committee.

In 2001 the Board dramatically changed the
constitution, allowing for a more streamlined modern structure
following best practice governace principles. The Archery Board now
comprises of four elected and up to three appointed Board members. The
day to day affairs of the association are managed by a full time Chief
Executive Officer.

Annually Archery Australia conduct National
Championships; Junior National  Championships (Target Field and Clout),
Open National Championships (Target, Field , Clout and Match Play) and
Indoor National Championships. A wide variety of disciplines and
equipment styles are catered for duing National Championships.

Australia first entered international competition at
the FITA World Target Championships in 1965 and its first international
medals were won by Graeme Telford and Hans Wright in 1969 (bronze
medals in the Target and Field Championships respectively).

Australia was represented when Archery re-entered the
Olympics in Munich in 1972 and has been represented at each Olympic
Games since.

 In 1977, Australia hosted the 29th FITA Target World
Championships in Canberra and again in 1987, the 34th FITA World Target
Championships in Adelaide. In Adelaide that the Grand FITA event was
introduced which was the first attempt at a progressive elimination
competition and the forerunner of the current Match Play event
conducted at World Championships and Olympic Games.

Australia has produced many medalists in international competition.