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Athlete Accelerate Program

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) mission is to lead and enable a united high performance (HP) system that supports Australian athletes/teams to achieve podium success.

The AIS Accelerate program provides a unique experience for retired women athletes who are pursuing career options in the sport sector. The program, which is funded through the Australian Government's 23/24 Federal budget, has a career and personal development focus and provides opportunities to acquire knowledge, skills and tools to navigate a professional career in sport.

The program will be tailored to meet the needs of the successful group applicants, ensuring that learning opportunities are directed to have the greatest impact. The program will be delivered through a mixture of in-person residential workshops, online learning and one-on-one career practitioner support.

The program will cover areas such as:

  • debriefing the athletic experience
  • personal values, purpose and strengths
  • understanding the 2025 sport landscape and opportunities
  • career transitions and expert career support
  • developing a career action plan
  • fast tracking career advice
  • building professional networks

Applications for the 2025 AIS Athlete Accelerate Program have now closed.

Congratulations to the successful applicants of this year's program who can be viewed under the 'participants' tab of this page.

The key objectives of the Athlete Accelerate Program are to:

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Understand ways to navigate career pathways in sport

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Equip participants with knowledge, skills and tools to navigate diverse roles in sport

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Provide opportunities to leverage the talent and experience of high performance women athletes in the wider sports sector

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"I really valued having this group of professionals come in and give us tips around what we can add to our little toolbox to really move forward in our career and how we can start giving back to future generations."

Kylie Palmer, retired swimmer

Program dates

  • 10 Feb - Applications close
  • 17 Feb - Applicants notified of outcome
  • 17-21 Feb - Needs analysis conducted (online survey)
  • 17-21 Feb - Strength profiling conducted (online survey)
  • 24 Feb-14 March - Strength profiling individual debriefs
  • 3-14 March - Individual consultations
  • 25 March - Launch and online session #1
  • 1 April - Online session #2
  • 8-11 April - In-person residential experience #1 (Melbourne)
  • 29 April - Online session #3
  • 13 May - Online session #4
  • 27 May - Online session #5
  • 3-6 June - In-person residential experience #2 (Canberra)
  • 17 June - Online session #6
  • 27 June - Program evaluation

Note: online sessions will be held in the evening from 7pm-8pm AEDT/AEST.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for the program, participants will need to be:

  • A retired, former podium level (ready, potential or podium) categorised athlete and/or a national team representative of a recognised funded sport.
  • A woman aged 18 years or over.
  • An Australian citizen or have been granted permanent residence status.
  • Available for all program dates.
  • Not be an employee of Australian Sports Commission when applying for the program with the exception of applicants engaged on a casual arrangement.

Contact

For further information please contact: accelerateprogram@ausport.gov.au

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