Anderson worked with the Australian Commonwealth Games Association (ACGA) as an administrator since the 1974 edition and received life membership during the organisation’s annual general meeting at the Gold Coast on November 17.

According to the ACGA constitution, “life membership may be bestowed on those persons who, in the opinion of the association, have rendered exceptional service to the association”.

Anderson said on Monday that it was nice to be singled out after having dedicated four decades to the Commonwealth Games movement.

“I’ve been involved with the Commonwealth Games for a long time,” he said.

“I’ve seen some good people pass through in that time but not a lot of them get (life) memberships, so I was pretty chuffed about that.

“I think it’s pretty rewarding when I look at some of the other names who have received life membership.”

Anderson, who has a deep passion for competitive shooting, first became involved with the Commonwealth Games at the 1974 Christchurch event, which was when his sport of choice was first included in the program. 

It was in Christchurch when he became one of the first senior technical officials invited by  organisers to ensure shooting ran smoothly.

From there, he was involved as an official in every event up to and including the 2006 Melbourne Games.

Anderson retired from his position as director of the Australian Commonwealth Games Foundation in 2010, which was a position he had held since the foundation’s inception in 1999).

When asked which Games were his favourite, Anderson said the 1982 Brisbane Games and the 2006 Melbourne edition stood out, while the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games also held lots of “fond memories”. 

In what was an incredible career, Anderson also held the position of Commonwealth Shooting Federation honorary secretary from 1982 to 2006. 

During that time, he was the “architect” of a campaign to have separate events for women added to the Commonwealth Games program. 

Despite fierce opposition from some countries, Anderson successfully implemented this change, which was a major coup for female shooters in the Commonwealth.

Anderson also coordinated the campaign to have shooting re-instated to the 2002 Manchester event after Games organisers decided to drop the sport from the program.