{{Short description|Athletic competitions in Melbourne, Australia}} '''Australia Games''' was held in Melbourne, Victoria, from 26 January to 5 February 1985.<ref name=abs>{{cite book|last1=Australian Bureau of Statistics|title=Year Book of Australia 1986|date=1986|publisher=AGPS|location=Canberra|pages=678–679}}</ref>
==Background==
The concept of the national festival of sport was first raised in John Bloomfield's report ''Role and Scope and Development of Recreation in Australia'' published in 1973.<ref name=operationsreport>{{cite book |title=Inaugural Australia Games Melbourne 1985: Operations Report|date=1985|publisher=Australia Games Organising Committee|location=Melbourne}}</ref> In 1981, a report titled ''Report on the Feasibility of Australia Games'' resulted in the Fraser government approving the staging of a national sports festival in 1983.<ref name=souvenir>{{cite book|title=Australia Games: Melbourne January 26 - February 3, 1985: Official Souvenir Program|date=1985|publisher=Time Inc. |location=Melbourne}}</ref> The Australia Games Foundation was established and registered in Victoria as a trustee company in 1982.<ref name=operationsreport/> The Games were part of Victoria's 150th anniversary.<ref name=souvenir/> The Games had several objectives: improve access to international competition for Australian athletes in their own environment, increase media exposure to non high-profile sports and to encourage the construction of new multi-purpose facilities of international standard.<ref name=brown>{{cite book|title=Report on the feasibility of Australia Games.|date=1981|publisher=J.F. Brown|location=Mt Waverley, Vic.}}</ref>
Victoria was due to host the 1987 Games after Sydney and Brisbane decided not to host them due to the cost overruns on the inaugural Games.<ref name=cloud/> The 1987 Games did not occur due to cost issues. In 1986, it was estimated that the 1987 Games would cost $3.2 million. But the Games did not proceed after the Hawke government decided not to provide $500,000 in funding due to budgetary pressures and the Victorian Government decided not to fund the 1987 Games after uncertainty in its overall funding.<ref name=theage>{{cite news|title=Australia Games may be called off, says Trezise|work=The Age|date=10 June 1986}}</ref>
==Funding== The cost of staging the Games was estimated at $2 million. The Australian Government allocated $800,000 in the 1984-1985 budget and the Victorian Government provided $375,000.The balance came from the business sector. The major expenditure items were $700,000 international air travel, $200,000 for Domestic air travel and $300,000 for University of Melbourne accommodation charges.<ref name=souvenir/>
Victorian auditor-general in a 1986 report detailed massive cost overruns in the management of the Games. The Victorian Government provided the Australia Games Foundation $920,000 more than the initial grant of $375,000.<ref name=cloud>{{cite news|title=Funding cloud over Australia games' future|work=Launceston Examiner|date=27 March 1986}}</ref>
Victorian Government estimated that the economic impact of the 1985 Games to the Victorian economy was $18.1 million.<ref name=abs/>
==Summary== * 1,848 athletes (including 804 from overseas) from 31 countries.<ref name=abs/><ref name=operationsreport/><ref name=asc>{{cite journal|title=Australian Sports Commission |journal=Annual Report |date=1984–1985 |page=7 |url=https://secure.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/291743/ASC_AR_1984-1985.pdf |accessdate=20 February 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331052436/https://secure.ausport.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/291743/ASC_AR_1984-1985.pdf |archivedate=31 March 2012 }}</ref> * 928 officials and 1,396 volunteers<ref name=operationsreport/> *Spectator attendance - 92,767<ref name=operationsreport/> * Gate receipts - $364,966<ref name=operationsreport/> * Integration of disabled athletes in to athletics, swimming, basketball, lawn bowls, netball and weightlifting competitions.<ref name=abs/> * Capacity crowds at the opening ceremony, basketball, gymnastics, aquatics, netball and surf life saving.<ref name=abs/> * Seven Network provided 70 hours of television coverage.
==Sports and venues==
{|class=wikitable |- !Sport !Venue |- |Athletics||Olympic Park Stadium |- |Badminton||Monash University <br/>Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre |- |Basketball||Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre |- |Boxing ||Festival Hall |- |Cycling||Northcote Cycling Velodrome |- |Diving||State Swimming Centre |- |Field hockey||Royal Park |- |Gymnastics||Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Centre |- ||Judo||Albert Park |- |Lawn bowls||Doncaster Bowling Club |- |Netball||Festival Hall |- |Shooting sports||Geelong Small Bore Range <br/> Melbourne Gun Club <br/> Springvale Moving Target Range |- |Softball||Gilbert Park, Knox |- |Squash||Albert Park Squash Courts |- |Surf lifesaving||Ocean Grove |- |Swimming||State Swimming Centre |- |Synchronized swimming||State Swimming Centre |- |Trampolining||Croydon Leisure Centre |- |Volleyball||Morwell Sports Stadium <br/> Corio Leisure Centre |- |Water polo||State Swimming Centre |- |Weightlifting||Hawthorn Recreation Centre |- |Wrestling||Footscray Institute of Technology |}
==References== {{reflist}}
Category:Sports competitions in Melbourne Category:Multi-sport events in Australia Category:International sports competitions hosted by Australia Category:1985 in Australian sport