The community awareness of disability sport has been significantly boosted thanks to a growing partnership between the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC).

As part of this relationship, the ASC’s National Sport Information Centre (NSIC) will now manage the APC’s audiovisual collection through a new initiative with the Australian Centre for Paralympic Studies (ACPS).

The collection incorporates technical and sport footage, Paralympic Games broadcast footage, historical footage and a growing collection of photographs and newspaper clippings from 1960 to the present day.

The ACPS aims to promote greater community awareness of Paralympic and disability sport in Australia through targeted information, research and knowledge development initiatives.

ASC Chief Executive Matt Miller said it is pleasing to see the two organisations forging closer ties at all levels.

‘Better access to this valuable resource will benefit a range of groups including students, the media, researchers, coaches, athletes and even sport scientists who often analyse Paralympic footage to develop new equipment and techniques to ensure Australia remains the leader in Paralympic competition,’ Miller said.

‘The ASC through the NSIC is striving to improve access to critical sport information resources for Australian sport, community and governments at all levels.

‘This exciting new partnership with the APC is in line with the ASC’s strategic shift towards a broader national focus whereby the Commission is seeking to build greater sport system capacity through shared projects and partnerships.

‘This new partnership model could potentially be used as a leading example to encourage other Australian peak sports bodies to pursue and leverage similar whole-of-sport information and research outcomes, by drawing on the capability and capacity that presently exists across the Australian sport system.’

Chief Executive of the APC Jason Hellwig welcomed the announcement saying the APC has an extensive audiovisual collection that will now be managed by the appropriate resources.

‘The APC sees its partnership with the ASC as a significant initiative to organise and preserve Australia’s Paralympic history,’ Hellwig said.

‘I’m confident in the ASC’s expertise, resources, facilities and staff to preserve and manage this important collection to ultimately ensure it is accessible for anyone involved in Paralympic sport.

‘This initiative further strengthens the APC’s growing relationship with the Commission in a very practical way, which utilises the strengths of each organisation and further complements the APC’s commitment to promoting our Paralympians and generating greater community awareness of disability sport in Australia.’