In 2020, the Virtus sports programme included 15 annual events across both summer and winter sports with more than 7,000 athletes registered to compete at an international level. Events for Athletes with a Disability were first included on the Commonwealth Games programme as an exhibition sport at the 1994 Victoria Commonwealth Games in Canada. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, para-athletes were fully integrated into their national teams, making them the first fully inclusive international multi-sport Games. By 2020 the Paralympic Games had grown to more than 4,400 athletes and the same organisational structure was being used for both the Olympics and the Paralympics. With the growth of the Paralympic Games, a range of Paralympic and non-Paralympic sports were adapted for people with disabilities and new events and sports developed. Designed to help clubs, coaches, school and volunteers welcome and involve people who are blind or have a vision impairment to join and play sport.
State and territory governments
- Raises money which is distributed in the form of grants to children with disability, so they can participate in sporting activities.
- The Victorian Regional Academy of Sport Network includes six regional academies for emerging athletes beginning the high-performance pathway to elite competition.
- WADSA empowers people living with a disability through meaningful participation in sport, recreation and a range of fun disability services across WA.
- Each No Limits Netball Program site delivers weekly training programs and/or competitions to advance social and physical skills as well as drive overall mental wellbeing.
- Their goal is to encourage more children and young adults with learning and perceptual disabilities to play Rugby through their touch-only format.
Rugby Australia is a proud supporter of the team whose motto is ‘’inclusiveness’’ and prove that no matter what your level of hearing is you can pick up a Rugby ball and have some fun. In April 2018 Australia hosted the World Deaf Rugby 7s tournament which attracted more than 180 athletes from all corners of the world including England, Ghana, Japan and Wales. It was also the first International Deaf Women’s tournament ever staged with three female teams battling it out in Sydney.
Federal government
They also provide them with a way of saying ‘thank you’ to those who made it all possible – the donors, their families, health professionals, researchers and carers… Without them, there would be nobody on the starting line. World Abilitysport was formed after the merger of the International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation (IWAS) and the Cerebral Palsy International Sports and Recreation Association (CPISRA). Invictus Games Foundation through the Invictus Games uses the power of sport to inspire recovery, support rehabilitation and generate a wider understanding and respect for wounded, injured and sick Servicemen and women. UQ partners with Paralympics Australia to put Brisbane on track for 2032 Gold, Paralympics Australia, (23 June 2023).
SIA will also provide support to NSO/NSODs through the Integrity Manager Network, along with a suite of resources including policy fact sheets, eLearning courses, staff information packs, training courses and promotional materials. “This will help ensure that disputes relating to breaches of integrity policies are handled in a transparent and fair manner for all parties, and importantly be independent find out more of the sport itself. The Sport Governance Standards (SGS) are the measures by which sporting organisations at both the National and State level can evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of their governance systems and processes.
Ensuring fairness and safety at Pony Club®
The GCAS relies on the support of its major business partners, community partners and sponsors aligned to each of the sporting programs on offer. The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is the first legally binding international instrument to address the rights of persons with disabilities and sport. It also calls upon Governments, States party to the Convention, to ensure that persons with disabilities have access to sport and recreational venues — as spectators and as active participants. This also requires that children with disabilities be included in physical education within the school system “to the fullest extent possible” and enjoy equal access to “play, recreation and leisure and sporting activities”. Australian Government recognised sporting organisations are required to have approved national integrity policies, including member protection and child safeguarding, in practice to receive recognition and/or funding.
It also involves protecting young people from those who are deemed unsuitable to be working with children, and from harmful practices. Tenpin Bowling is a sport that can be played for recreation or competition, which can usually be enjoyed by the blind and the sighted on an equal basis. Blind or vision impaired bowlers can usually bowl in most bowling centres, the same as sighted bowlers, many bowlers who have no or little sight, may need sighted guidance or use a guide rail to help them in their deliveries. Tennis Australia partners with Special Olympics Australia to increase access, Tennis Australia, (22 October 2021).