Research and development to provide systems for effective derivation and use of selection indexes has been conducted for the Australian beef industry since the late 1980s. This paper reports on development successes and presents evidence of increasing rates of industry genetic gain in beef production profitability. Key factors in success are identified and include the ability of the index development process to capture the full context of selection. The level of performance recording in many cases is the primary limitation to effective index use. Issues that will be more important in future applications of indexes are discussed. They include the need for more specific selection for environments, for extending the breeding objective to encompass additional industry sectors and aims, for greater account of industry supply and demand flow-on effects, and for combining gene marker tests with other criteria in indexes of economic merit. The critical role of selection indexes in targeting multiple-trait economic merit is likely to increase further with the availability of new gene marker test information.