The committee was announced by the then Minister for Sport Rod Kemp and the Australian Parliament after extensive media publicity surrounding alleged mismanagement and corruption in the previous governing body, Soccer Australia.
The impetus for reform was more acute after the public had witnessed the spectacle of the 2002 FIFA World Cup, held in a similar timezone to Australia, which contrasted with the near-bankrupt state of the local game.
In particular, resistance to reforms at the National level were largely destroyed by the threat of the Australian Sports Commission to withhold funding to Soccer Australia.
Restructuring of the governance of the Associations has led to a more democratic approach and the enfranchisement of groups not previously represented (e.g. referees, women's players, etc.).
Having ensured his son Steven Lowy would take over the role in 2015 following his term limit enforced exit, Steven quit after a protracted conflict which culminated in the Lowy family and their supporters failing to stop the movement to split the A-League into an English Premier League style structure independent from the federation, that had one stage caused FIFA to threaten a normalisation committee.