In 1995, the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) announced its commitment to developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines "to promote best practice linked to outcomes and effective cost management". To date, resources for dissemination and implementation have been identified for only two guidelines developed by the NHMRC as part of that commitment. Clinical practice guidelines for the management of men with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) were launched in 1997. We were members of the working party that developed these guidelines, and here we give our personal account, offering insights into the tensions and contradictions impeding the translation of political commitment to evidence-based medicine into policy and practice.