[6] Basketball arrived in Melbourne in 1905, but the first major international women's tournament was the 1953 FIBA World Championships held in Chile.

[10] Sixteen year-old Bronte Cockburn led the scoring for Australia with an average of 9.5 points per game, but the inexperienced team ultimately finished in 10th place.

[12] Australia would not get the opportunity to participate at the 1959 World Championship held in Moscow because at the time, the Australian Government would not allow the team to travel to the USSR.

[13] Team captain, Jean Forster, led the scoring for Australia with an average of 21.2 points per game, with a tournament high of 34 against Brazil.

Led by new head coach Merv Harris, and featuring Jill Hammond, the team made several improvements with only three players from the 1967 squad selected.

Despite a 74–25 confidence building win over Senegal, as well as victories over Japan, Brazil and Hungary, the team finished in 10th place.

The coach again was Jim Madigan, and the squad featured some of the faces of the Opals for the next decade such as Jenny Cheesman, Robyn Maher, Julie Nykiel, Karin Maar and Patricia Mickan.

[27] The Opals bounced back and defeated Bulgaria, meaning that only the powerful Soviet Union stood between them and a semi-finals berth.

The team won their first two games against Malaysia and Italy, before suffering a string of losses to Bulgaria, the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia.

[12] In their final game, the Opals came back from seven-point halftime deficit to beat Bulgaria 73–71 and finish in sixth place.

[30] Fifteen teams competed for the five open spots at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and despite a respectable 4–2 record at the preliminary tournament, the Opals did not qualify.

[32] Led by guard Shelley Sandie's 11.9 points per game, the team scored victories over Japan, Italy, Slovakia and Canada to set up a semi-finals match against China.

[12] Captained by Robyn Maher, the Opals started off with strong wins over South Korea, Zaire, and Cuba before losing to eventual gold medalist United States and Ukraine.

The team featured 17-year-old future star Lauren Jackson, and was led by Michelle Brogan's average of 13.1 points per game.

[44] Captained by Michele Timms, the team started out with dominating performances winning all of their first seven games, sending them to their first ever gold medal match, against the US.

In the semi-finals, the Opals lost to eventual gold medalist United States, but recovered the next day to capture the bronze medal with a convincing 91–63 win over South Korea.

[48] At the 2004 Olympics held in Athens, Greece, the Opals were led by Lauren Jackson's tournament best 22.9 points and 10 rebounds per game.

[49] The Opals headed to Brazil for the 2006 World Championships looking to win their sixth straight medal in international competitions.

In the gold medal game against Russia, the Opals led throughout, paced by Penny Taylor's 28 points and Lauren Jackson's 11 rebounds.

In the lead up, Australia went undefeated against Belarus, Brazil, South Korea, Latvia, Russia, Czech Republic and host China to set up a third straight gold medal match against the United States.

Those players included Kristi Harrower, Jenni Screen, Kristen Veal, Abby Bishop, Kathleen MacLeod, Samantha Richards, Suzy Batkovic and Jenna O'Hea.

[78] On 31 March 2016, Lauren Jackson announced her retirement from basketball, citing a chronic knee injury as the reason for her decision.

[80] Notable exclusions included three-time Olympic medallist Suzy Batkovic, reigning WNBL MVP Abby Bishop and Rebecca Allen.

[81] Despite slow starts which had plagued Australia throughout the tournament, the Opals finished on top of their group with a 5–0 record, outscoring Japan 33–15 in the final quarter to win by six points.

[83] One highlight was Liz Cambage breaking Lauren Jackson's Australian Olympic record of points scored in a single game with 37 against Japan.

[85] Following the early exit from the Rio Olympics, Brendan Joyce was replaced in April 2017 by former Opals player and Phoenix Mercury head coach, Sandy Brondello.

They then defeated China 83–42 in the quarter-final and Spain 72–66 in the semi-final to set up a gold-medal final with their long-time rivals United States.

The Opals lost the game 73–56 with head coach Sandy Brondello stating a lack of offence proved their downfall.

[99] The following is a chronological list of Australian players who have played at official senior FIBA international tournaments (Olympic Games and World Cups).