It is part of the national Australian Athletics Tour, alongside the Melbourne Track Classic.

[1][2] The history of the event emerged from a series of major athletics meetings which were held in the 1990s.

[3] The 1999 competition was the opening leg of the IAAF Grand Prix circuit and it formed part of the preparation towards the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

[3] By 2009 the competition was attracting top level domestic athletes (such as Steve Hooker and Sally McLellan) as well as a number of high-profile foreign athletes (including Asafa Powell, Melaine Walker, and Valerie Vili).

[3] Hooker, Dani Samuels and Tero Pitkämäki provided the highlights of the 2010 edition,[6] while Mitchell Watt and David Rudisha topped the bill in 2011.