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.
Classification – APC provides Australian athletes with a disability with access to classification by a trained classifier at all levels of their development.[17]
Paralympic Talent Search – identification of people with a disability who may have the ability to participate at the Paralympic Games.[17]
Paralympic Education Program – a national program to educate Australian school children on Paralympic athletes and sport.[17]
Paralympic Speakers Program – Paralympians visit businesses, schools and other workplaces to demonstrate the importance of workplace safety.[18]
Milestones
Milestones in the development of the Australian Paralympic movement and Paralympics Australia:
1960 – Australia participated in the 1st Paralympic Games in Rome, Italy. The Australian team of 12 athletes won three gold, six silver and 1 bronze medals.
1962 – Perth hosted the 1st Commonwealth Paraplegic Games. It was the first international disability multi-sport held in Australia and raised the profile of disability sport.[19]
1975 – Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled established.[20]
1976 – 1st Winter Paralympic Games held in Sweden. Australia was unofficially represented at these Games by Ron Finneran, who competed but was not officially recognised as he did not fall into the amputee or visual impairment categories.[21]
1977 – Sydney hosted the 2nd FESPIC Games, a multi-sport event for Far East and South Pacific athletes with a disability.[22]
1981 – National Committee on Sport and Recreation established to make recommendations to the Minister for Sport on priority areas for the development of sport and recreation for disabled people including funding allocations.[23]
1985 – inaugural Australia Games provided events for disabled athletes in athletics, swimming, basketball, lawn bowls, netball and weight lifting competitions.[25]
1988 – Russell Short, a vision impaired thrower, became the first athlete with a disability to be offered a scholarship at the AIS.[26]
1990 – The Australian Paralympic Federation was established to coordinate elite Australian athletes with a disability participation in the Paralympic Games and liaise with the International Paralympic Committee.[20]
1991 – Chris Nunn commenced as part-time coach of Aussie Able Program located at the AIS. ).[28]
1993 – Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Paralympic Games. Ron Finneran and Adrienne 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.[29]
1993 – Michael Milton was the first winter Paralympian to receive an AIS scholarship.
1994 – Australian Paralympian of the Year established with wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage the first winner.[31]
1998 – The Australian Paralympic Federation changed its name to the Australian Paralympic Committee. A new logo was created.[32]
2000 – Sydney hosted the 11th Summer Paralympics, the first Games held outside the Northern Hemisphere. Australia finished first on the medal tally winning 149 medals – 63 gold, 39 silver and 47 bronze medals. It has been Australia's most successful summer Paralympics to date.[33] At the end of the Games, International Paralympic Committee, Robert Steadward declared Sydney the "best Games ever".[33]
2001 – AIS and APC established an AIS/APC Alpine Ski Program. It was the first single sport AIS program for athletes with a disability.[34]
2002 – APC adopted a policy of mainstreaming that resulted in national sports organisations being responsible for the preparation of their athletes to Paralympic level.[34]
2005 – APC established the Paralympic Search Program to identify people with disabilities who had the athletic potential to represent Australia at Paralympic level competition. At the 2012 London Paralympics, 43 talent search program athletes represented Australia and won 28 medals.[35]
2009 – APC and Australian Olympic Committee jointly submitted a National High Performance Plan for Olympic and Paralympic Sports in Australia to the Crawford Inquiry into Australian sport.[36]
2009 – Greg Hartung, APC President, was elected the Vice President of the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board at a meeting of the IPC General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur.[37]
2010 – The APC received an additional $3 million per annum as part of the Australian Government's sport reform package Australian Sport: The Pathway to Success.[38]
2010 – The APC and Australian Defence Force (ADF) launched the ADF Paralympic Sport Program that aimed to direct ADF members, who acquired a disability during their employment, into Paralympic sport.[39][40]
2011 – APC established Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame.[41]
2011 – APC engaged the University of Queensland and the University 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 the Paralympics.[42] as the country's first Centre for Paralympic Excellence.[43]
2019 – Changed named to Paralympics Australia (PA) with a new logo.
2019 – Australian Government announced $12 million in funding to Paralympics Australia – $8 million for Australian Team at 2020 Tokyo Paralympics and $4 million for the development of training centre in Melbourne.[46]
The Paralympics Australia recognises the achievements of athletes and the contribution of coaches and administrators through several awards including the Australian Paralympian of the Year, Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame and the Paralympic Medal.[47][48]
History Project
Audio recording of Tony Naar, general manager Knowledge Services at the APC, talking to students at the University of Canberra about the HoPAu project.
In 2011, The APC engaged the University of Queensland and the University of Canberra to write the History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia. This project is part of a larger project within APC, to capture and archive valuable historical records of Australians at the Paralympics.[42] Further, in cooperation with the National Library of Australia the APC has conducted several interviews with people who have played a significant role in the Paralympic movement in Australia.[49] Finally, an Australian Paralympic Wikipedia user's group was established to expand the coverage of the Australian Paralympic movement in Wikipedia.[42]
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