Master track and field athletics was first introduced into Australia by a few Master athletes (mainly from Western Australia) who heard that USA athletes were competing in Master age groups of ten years. The first US Masters track and field competition was held in San Diego in 1968. In 1973 the first Australian Master track and field championships were held in Melbourne with a team also competing from the USA.
The first state to officially form a Master track and field club was South Australia on April 14, 1971. The inaugural meeting of the New South Wales club was held on April 20, 1971.
The Victorian and Queensland Master clubs were formed in 1973. In 1974 the first meeting of the Australian Association of Master Athletics Clubs was held, while a Masters club for men only was formed in Western Australia (women were admitted in 1977).
Master clubs were formed in Tasmania and Australian Capital Territory in 1979.
In 1983, Queensland women were given full membership of their state organisation.
The first Australian Grand Prix in which Master athletes were invited to compete was held in 1995.