By the late 70s the "growth through English" slogan, derived from John Dixon's account of the Dartmouth conference, had become popular around Australia. In 1980 the Sydney IFTE conference featured several Dartmouth veterans; but during that conference, Dartmouth-linked ideas from overseas mingled with lines of local influence, especially in the Literature Commission. British post-Dartmouth thinking had given only superficial attention to the role of literature in English, but by 1980 this topic was being subjected to serious critical enquiry in Australia, and innovative ideas about literature teaching emerged at the Sydney conference.