Australia officially became a member of the Commonwealth of Nations in 1931 under the Statute of Westminster having become independent of the United Kingdom in 1901. Australia is one of only six countries to have competed at all Commonwealth Games since 1930. It also participated in the Empire Games in 1911 as part of an Australasian team.
This impressive international record extends to Australia’s participation in every Olympic Games in the modern era as well as each edition of the Commonwealth Youth Games, which started in 2000.
At the Hamilton 1930 British Empire Games, Australia won eight medals against England’s 61 medals. Most recently, Australia ranked second overall in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games medal tally with 137 medals (49 gold, 42 silver and 46 bronze) to England’s 174 medals (58 gold, 59 silver, 57 bronze). However, Australia ranks #1 on the overall Commonwealth Games medal tally.