The comp was created in 1990 by members of the volunteer organisation, Australian Association of Campus Activities, which later became a part of the Tertiary Access Group (TAG).
During that year, campuses in every state ran competitions on a local level, with the finalists playing it off at the University of NSW.
Since then, the National final has travelled around the country (Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Lismore, Adelaide, and Wollongong) and the competition has attracted more and more bands, as well as receiving commendations from the music industry.
[1] In 2006, the overall winner of the competition received $8,000 worth of equipment, 3 days studio time, and 3,000 mastered and duplicated CDs.
"Other notable bands which have competed in the Competition but didn't win the final for their respective year but have gone on to achieve national recording success include: Frenzal Rhomb, george, Spiderbait, The Mavis's.