Well, the London Games are all but here, and it’s now up to them. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of everyone who supported Australia’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes, ensuring they have every opportunity to succeed. The Olympics and Paralympics is the pinnacle for many of our high performance athletes and our great achievements are a reflection of our committed staff and the collaborative efforts across the entire sport network.

As you might expect, it has been a busy time here at the Australian Sports Commission. This month the AIS was announced as a Centre of Paralympic Excellence by the Minister for Sport, Senator the Hon Kate Lundy and the President of the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC), Greg Hartung. This winning partnership with the APC recognises the Institute’s significant contribution to Australia’s Paralympic success over 30 years.

The AIS provides world class coaching and support to scholarship programs for Paralympians in athletics, swimming, rowing, sailing and alpine skiing and a number of other targeted sports. Beyond those, the AIS, with funding support from the Australian  Government, provided AUD$13.5 million to support the Paralympics for goalball, cycling, and weightlifting, with an additional AUD$2.25 million going to grants to support Paralympians directly through the Direct Athlete Support scheme.

We also had the privilege of a visit by the Governor-General, Her Excellency Quentin Bryce last week. Ms Bryce visited the AIS to congratulate and farewell AIS and Australian Paralympic swimmers and rowers who have been training in Canberra. It was a privilege to introduce the Governor General, who is a patron of the Australian Paralympic team, to some of the athletes bound for London.

You may be interested to know that earlier this month I launched the ASC Values, namely: R.I.T.E. This was a milestone for the Commission as it reflects our commitment to these values in how we work in the Commission and with our sport partners.

I wish everyone involved with the Games every success and enjoy the incredible display of sport that will be on offer at the Games for all to see.