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"There is a natural inclination that people want to play, they don't want to let down their team mates but the consequences of going back and risking further injury is quite well known now.

"In fact you're much more likely to have another concussion soon after the first one, it's important to give the body time to recover."

Concussions in elite sport were brought into focus in 2011 when former gridiron players in the US NFL brought a class action against the league, alleging it knew about the the dangers of concussions but hid the fact.

Since then sports around the world, including the NRL and AFL, have implemented rules teams must adhere to if one of their players gets a suspected concussion.

The Australian Institute of Sport has comprehensive guidelines on its website and current thinking is if there is any doubt about whether an athlete is concussed they should be removed from the game.

Professor Fitzgerald was optimistic attitudes were changing.

"I think the governing bodies of these sports are taking it more seriously, far more so than they have in years past," she said.

"There is an appetite for those governing bodies to train their coaches and clinical staff in the various clubs. There is an increasing awareness and desire to follow the guidelines.

"But it is important that flows down to each individual team and people take it seriously on the ground."

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Professor Fitzgerald said despite the high-profile nature of sports concussions they only made up about 10 per cent of all concussions.

"It's really important to look at concussion that arises from falls and motor vehicle accidents because that's far more common actually," she said.

Perron and Professor Fitzgerald are about to begin a groundbreaking study looking at whether medical staff can better predict persisting symptoms after a concussion.

"Our next step will be to do clinical trial of early intervention so we can actually prove that early intervention works," she said.