Australian Sports Commission
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is the Australian Government agency responsible for supporting and investing in sport at all levels.
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) is a Commonwealth entity within the Australian Government’s Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts portfolio.
Resources
- Inclusive sport toolkit – a section of this toolkit focuses on strategies to consciously include everyone and create an environment where people feel a sense of belonging.
- Sports Ability activity cards – designed for all levels of ability and to develop children's skills, confidence and motivation for sports-based activities. The cards outline what is required to plan and execute activities, as well as ways to modify elements of each activity (e.g. rules, equipment, techniques) to ensure that everyone can participate, have fun, and achieve success.
Programs
- Sporting Schools. Deaf Sports Australia and Special Olympics Australia have partnered with National Sporting Organisations to deliver programs for deaf or hard of hearing students and students with intellectual disability or autism in special education environments. A full list of participating sports is available on the Sporting Schools website.
- Previous programs
- Aussie Sports program – launched in 1986, the program included resources for primary school teachers to assist them in delivering physical education and sport programs for children with disability. More information about the legacy of the Aussie Sport program can be found in the Clearinghouse for Sport Aussie Sports topic.
- Willing and Able – launched in 1995 the program was designed to provide training for sport providers and included a comprehensive set of resource materials.
- NSOD recognition criteria. In 2024 the ASC finalised a new set of criteria for the recognition of National Sporting Organisations for people with Disabilities (NSODs). These criteria were developed to better suit the unique purpose and structure of NSODs within the sporting landscape and marked a departure from the previous process in which NSODs were assessed against the same criteria as NSOs.
Grants and funding
- Local Para Champions – provides financial assistance for coaches, officials, and competitors with disability aged 12-24 participating in state, national or international championships.
- Compensation Grant program – provides financial support to Paralympians whose Disability Support Pension (DSP) payments have been affected due to travelling outside Australia for training and/or competitions exceeding the general travel allowance of 28 days in a financial year.
- dAIS Athlete Grant – provides athletes with direct financial support to enable them to focus on training and competitions to achieve the strategy targets in Olympic, Paralympic and Commonwealth Games sports. Athletes must be nominated by their NSO.
