APC played a major role in Australia's successful bid to host the2000 Sydney Paralympics.[2] Between the 1996 to 2016 Summer Paralympics, Australia has finished in the top five nations on the medal tally. It is also a successful nation at theWinter Paralympics.[3]
Paralympics Australia was established in 1990 as the Australian Paralympic Federation. It is governed by a board of directors which may include elected and appointed members.
Milestones in the development of the Australian Paralympic movement and Paralympics Australia:
1960 – Australia participated in the1st Paralympic Games in Rome, Italy. The Australian team of 12 athletes won three gold, six silver and 1 bronze medals.
1962 –Perth hosted the1st Commonwealth Paraplegic Games. It was the first international disability multi-sport held in Australia and raised the profile of disability sport.[20]
1975 – Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled established.[21]
1976 –1st Winter Paralympic Games held in Sweden. Australia was unofficially represented at these Games byRon Finneran, who competed but was not officially recognised as he did not fall into the amputee or visual impairment categories.[22]
1977 –Sydney hosted the2nd FESPIC Games, a multi-sport event for Far East and South Pacific athletes with a disability.[23]
1981 – National Committee on Sport and Recreation established to make recommendations to theMinister for Sport on priority areas for the development of sport and recreation for disabled people including funding allocations.[24]
1985 – inauguralAustralia Games provided events for disabled athletes in athletics, swimming, basketball, lawn bowls, netball and weight lifting competitions.[26]
1988 –Russell Short, a vision impaired thrower, became the first athlete with a disability to be offered a scholarship at the AIS.[27]
1990 – The Australian Paralympic Federation was established to coordinate elite Australian athletes with a disability participation in the Paralympic Games and liaise with theInternational Paralympic Committee.[21]
1991 –Chris Nunn commenced as part-time coach of Aussie Able Program located at the AIS. ).[29]
1993 – Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Paralympic Games. Ron Finneran andAdrienne Smith lobbied to ensure that the Paralympics were part of Sydney's bid for the 2000 Olympics and they would be underwritten by the Federal and State Governments.[30]
1993 –Michael Milton was the first winter Paralympian to receive an AIS scholarship.
2001 – AIS and APC established anAIS/APC Alpine Ski Program. It was the first single sport AIS program for athletes with a disability.[35]
2002 – APC adopted a policy of mainstreaming that resulted in national sports organisations being responsible for the preparation of their athletes to Paralympic level.[35]
2005 – APC established theParalympic Search Program to identify people with disabilities who had the athletic potential to represent Australia at Paralympic level competition. At the2012 London Paralympics, 43 talent search program athletes represented Australia and won 28 medals.[36]
2009 – APC andAustralian Olympic Committee jointly submitted aNational High Performance Plan for Olympic and Paralympic Sports in Australia to the Crawford Inquiry into Australian sport.[37]
2009 – Greg Hartung, APC President, was elected the Vice President of theInternational Paralympic Committee Governing Board at a meeting of the IPC General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur.[38]
2010 – The APC received an additional $3 million per annum as part of theAustralian Government's sport reform packageAustralian Sport: The Pathway to Success.[39]
2010 – The APC andAustralian Defence Force (ADF) launched theADF Paralympic Sport Program that aimed to direct ADF members, who acquired a disability during their employment, into Paralympic sport.[40][41]
2011 – APC establishedAustralian Paralympic Hall of Fame.[42]
2011 – APC engaged theUniversity of Queensland and theUniversity of Canberra to write the History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia. This project is part of a larger project within the APC, to capture and archive valuable historical records of Australians at theParalympics.[43] as the country's firstCentre for Paralympic Excellence.[44]
2019 – Changed named toParalympics Australia (PA) with a new logo.
2019 – Australian Government announced $12 million in funding to Paralympics Australia – $8 million forAustralian Team at 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and $4 million for the development of training centre in Melbourne.[47]
2024 - Australian Government $54.9 million investment in the lead up to 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games.[48]
2025 - Paralympics Australia released Strategic Plan Horizon 2 – LA 2028 – ‘UPLIFT’ - plan for 2032 Brisbane Paralympics Games.[49]
Australia
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