In 1988 Professor Irving Zola, a member of the International Polio Network and himself a polio survivor, accepted an invitation to be keynote speaker at Australia's first post-polio seminar which was held in Sydney. The Network was officially established in 1989. Full membership is open to all people of 16 years of age and over who have had polio. Associate membership is available to all other people or organisations who are interested in the Network and its objects. The Network now has almost thirty support groups and over 750 members throughout Australia as well as several overseas countries.
Information is exchanged with post-polio networks within Australia and internationally.
In 1999 the Network celebrates 10 years of service to polio survivors. Local and international speakers address quarterly Seminars which are held in different parts of metropolitan Sydney and country New South Wales. The Network's quarterly Newsletter is the main organ of communication with members. The Newsletter informs members of the current research on the late effects of polio, publishes a wide range of articles from local and international sources, reports about information seminars, offers self-help tips, and exchanges news and views of Support Groups and individual members. The Network's quarterly Information Bulletin fills another role.