Sport in Australia the country. January February – March February – August March – September April April – August June – July September September – November October October – January October – March October – April November Sport in Australia Sport is an important part of Australian culture dating back to the early colonial period. Cricket, Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, soccer and horse racing are among the earliest organised sports in Australia . Sport has shaped the Australian national identity through events such as the Ashes, the Melbourne Cup and the America's Cup . There are a number of professional
Sport in Australia identity as a sport-obsessed country, an identity which was embraced inside the country. This was so well known that in a 1962 edition of "Sports Illustrated", Australia was named the most sports obsessed country in the world. In 1967, Australia hosted the second World Netball Championships in Perth. That same year, South Australia became the last state to lift its ban on the playing of sports on Sunday. Starting in the early 1970s, Australian sport underwent a paradigm shift with sponsorship becoming one of the fundamental drivers of earnings for Australian sport on amateur and professional levels. By the mid-1980s,