It is considered to have played an important role in raising awareness of the status of women, and established new standards in terms of content, design and photography.
The magazine first appeared in Sydney in 1968, produced by Gareth Powell, an eccentric, entrepreneurial British publisher who knew, above anything else, how to employ talented people and give them the freedom to work.
The photographers Colin Beard, Greg Barrett, Anthony Crowell, Rennie Ellis, Douglas Holleley, Brett Hilder, Graham McCarter, Jacqueline Mitelman, Lewis Morley, Dieter Muller, Grant Mudford, Robyn Stacey Wesley Stacey and Greg Weight[2] were among the best that Australia had produced, and they were given the opportunity with both POL and Chance to choose the photographs used and to decide how they should be displayed.
The star of this Centrefold long before Cleo was launched was Paul du Feu, the former husband of feminist icon Germaine Greer.
She was revered as a ground breaker with coverlines during the days of Number 96 which featured actress Pat McDonald as Dorrie Evans in evening gown and the line "Charity is not all Balls.