The SEABL was established in 1981 as a men's league.[1][2] Separate South and East conferences were introduced in 1986.[1] In 1990, a women's competition was introduced[3] after the SEABL adopted the Women's Basketball Conference (WBC).[4][5] The SEABL was closely linked with the Australian Basketball Association (ABA) during the 1980s and 1990s.[6][7] In 2012, the women's competition was divided into two conferences for the first time.[8]
In December 2014, Basketball Australia took over the operations of the SEABL.[3] Less than four years later, in August 2018, Basketball Australia disbanded the SEABL after they withdrew its support of the league and denied the proposal of a club-managed league.[9][10][11]
In October 2018, Basketball Victoria created a new senior elite league and later in partnership with the National Basketball League (NBL) produced the NBL1 which debuted in 2019.[12][13][14]
