The game was brought to Australia by English school teachers and there are records of inter-school games being played as early as 1913. Many changes to rules and court markings happened over the years and the modern international game is very exciting and fast. The game at the international level is controlled by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA), which was only formed in 1960. It is estimated that over Two million players are actively playing the game all over the world. Some of the smaller countries where netball is played today are: Barbados, Bahamas and Jamaica (in the West Indies), Fiji and Vanuatu (in the Pacific), Sri Lanka, India, Hong Kong and Singapore (in South East Asia), and Kenya and Tanzania (in Africa).

The best netball countries are Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, England and Trinidad and Tobago. Australia has won Eight of the Ten World Championships since 1960 and are currently ranked No. One in the world.

Netball is one of the most popular sports among young women in Australia. The controlling organization is the All Australian Netball Association (AANA) which was founded under another name in 1927. By 1977 all states and territories had become members of AANA.

Netball has traditionally been a female sport, although over the last Ten years it has become popular among men as well.