The HP 2032+ Strategy and its vision, we win well to inspire Australians, has driven work to uncover the barriers that Para athletes face when entering and progressing through High Performance (HP) pathways, and take meaningful action on feedback provided by Para athletes, coaches, role holders, and the broader Para sport community. The outcome of this project is to understand the barriers and take aligned, actionable steps in working towards addressing them to break the cycle and create the change that the system and Para athletes need.
In June 2024, the Australian Government announced the biggest ever Paralympic spend to address systemic and structural barriers to performance for para athletes. The $54.9 million additional para sport funding, doubling the existing support, will address better classification opportunities, access to fit-for-purpose training environments, and specialised coaching and performance support.
To create an inclusive and equitable HP sports system where Para athletes can fully realise their potential and unite, inspire, and motivate Australians for generations to come.
Classification is the cornerstone of the Paralympic Movement as it determines who is eligible to compete in Para-sport. Classification provides meaningful competition structures by grouping athletes into classes based upon the impact of their impairment on the functional activities of the sport. However, Classification has traditionally been poorly understood and under-resourced throughout the Australian High Performance (HP) Sport System. In response to the identified need to uplift system knowledge and implement a new model of Classification, a Win Well HP 2032+ Strategy project was established to focus upon Para Classification Knowledge and Models of Operation.
Para Sport Units are being established at state and territory institutes and academies of sport (SIS/SAS) to allow more Para-athletes opportunities in sport through access to fit-for-purpose training environments, specialised coaching and performance support. Four units have been launched so far at the Victorian Institute of Sport, New South Wales Institute of Sport, Queensland Academy of Sport and South Australian Sports Institute, with more to come in Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.