The Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) is the National Paralympic Committee in Australia for the Paralympic Games movement. It oversees the preparation and management of Australian teams that participate at the Summer Paralympics and the Winter Paralympics. APC played a major role in Australia's successful bid to host the 2000 Sydney Paralympics. Since the 1996 Summer Paralympics, Australia has finished in the top five nations on the medal tally. It is also a successful nation at the Winter Paralympics.
The APC is a company limited by guarantee and its shareholders are national sports federations and national sporting organisations for the disabled. These organisations are: Athletics Australia, Australian Shooting International Limited, AUSRAPID, Basketball Australia, Blind Sports Australia, Boccia Australia, Cerebral Palsy – Australian Sport and Recreation Federation, Cycling Australia, Disabled Winter Sport Australia, Equestrian Australia, Football Federation Australia, Rowing Australia, Swimming Australia, Table Tennis Australia, Tennis Australia, Wheelchair Sports Australia, and Yachting Australia.
The APC established in 1990 is governed by a Board of Directors which may include elected and appointed members.
Presidents
Marcus Einfeld 1990-1992.
Sally Anne Atkinson 1992
Ron Finneran 1993
Bob McCullough 1994–1996
Marie Little 1996-1997
Greg Hartung 1997–2013
Glenn Tasker 2013-
Secretary /Chief Executive Officers
Adrienne Smith 1990–1993
Frank Martin 1994–1997
Scott Derwin 1997–1999
Brendan Flynn 1999–2003
Darren Peters 2003–2009
Miles Murphy 2009
Jason Hellwig 2010–2015
Lynne Anderson 2015-
The APC undertakes a number of activities to assist Paralympic athletes. These include:
Team preparation – preparation of Australian teams for Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics
Sports programs – APC manages five sports programs (boccia, goalball, powerlifting, wheelchair rugby and winter sports).
Classification – APC provides Australian athletes with a disability with access to classification by a trained classifier at all levels of their development.
Paralympic Talent Search – identification of people with a disability who may have the ability to participate at the Paralympic Games.
Paralympic Education Program – a national program to educate Australian school children on Paralympic athletes and sport.
Paralympic Speakers Program – Paralympians visit businesses, schools and other workplaces to demonstrate the importance of workplace safety.
Milestones in the development of the Australian Paralympic movement and the APC :
1960 – Australia participated in the 1st Paralympic Games in Rome, Italy. The Australian team of 12 athletes won three gold, six silver and 1 bronze medals.
1962 – Perth hosted the 1st Commonwealth Paraplegic Games. It was the first international disability multi-sport held in Australia and raised the profile of disability sport.
1975 – Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled established.
1976 – 1st Winter Paralympic Games held in Sweden. Australia was unofficially represented at these Games by Ron Finneran, who competed but was not officially recognised as he did not fall into the amputee or visual impairment categories.
1977 – Sydney hosted the 2nd FESPIC Games, a multi-sport event for Far East and South Pacific athletes with a disability.
1981 - National Committee on Sport and Recreation established to make recommendations to the Minister for Sporton priority areas for the development of sport and recreation for disabled people including funding allocations.
1984 – Amputee swimmers and track and field athletes attended their first training camp at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in preparation for the 1984 New York/Stoke Mandeville Paralympics.
1985 - inaugural Australia Games provided events for disabled athletes in athletics, swimming, basketball, lawn bowls, netball and weightliftingcompetitions.
1988 – Russell Short, a vision impaired thrower, became the first athlete with a disability to be offered a scholarship at the AIS.
1990 – The Australian Paralympic Federation was established to coordinate elite Australian athletes with a disability participation in the Paralympic Games and liaise with the International Paralympic Committee.
1990 – Australian Sports Commission Disabled Sports Program offered three AIS scholarships to athletes with a disability – Russell Short, Rodney Nugent and Dean Barton-Smith.
1991 – Chris Nunn commenced as part-time coach of Aussie Able Program located at the AIS. ).
1993 – Sydney won the right to host the 2000 Paralympic Games. Ron Finneran and Adrienne Smith lobbied to ensure that the Paralympics were part of Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Olympics and they would be underwritten by the Federal and State Governments.
1993 – Michael Milton was the first winter Paralympian to receive an AIS scholarship.
1994 – Paralympic Preparation Program established by the Australian Sports Commission assist to athletes with a disability in their preparation for the 2000 Sydney Paralympics
1994 – Australian Paralympian of the Year established with wheelchair racer Louise Sauvage the first winner.
1998 – The Australian Paralympic Federation changed its name to the Australian Paralympic Committee. A new logo was created.
2000 – Sydney, New South Wales hosted the 11th Summer Paralympics, the first Games held outside the Northern Hemisphere. Australia finished first on the medal tally winning 149 medals – 63 gold, 39 silver and 47 bronze medals. It has been Australia’s most successful summer Paralympics to date. At the end of the Games, International Paralympic Committee, Robert Steadward declared Sydney the "best Games ever".
2001 – AIS and APC established a AIS/APC Alpine Ski Program. It was the first single sport AIS program for athletes with a disability.
2002 – APC adopted a policy of mainstreaming that resulted in national sports organisations being responsible for the preparation of their athletes to Paralympic level.
2002 – Australia’s best performance at Winter Paralympics winning six gold and one bronze medal at the Australia at the 2002 Winter Paralympics.
2005 – APC established the Paralympic Search Program to identify people with disabilities who had the athletic potential to represent Australia at Paralympic level competition. At the 2012 London Paralympics, 43 talent search program athletes represented Australia and won 28 medals.
2009 – APC and Australian Olympic Committee jointly submitted a National High Performance Plan for Olympic and Paralympic Sports in Australia to the Crawford Inquiry into Australian sport.
2009 – Greg Hartung, APC President, was elected the Vice President of the International Paralympic Committee Governing Board at a meeting of the IPC General Assembly in Kuala Lumpur.
2010 – The APC received an additional $3 million per annum as part of the Australian Government's sport reform package Australian Sport: The Pathway to Success.
2010 – The APC and Australian Defence Force (ADF) launched the ADF Paralympic Sport Program that aimed to direct ADF members, who acquired a disability during their employment, into Paralympic sport.
2011 – APC established Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame.
2011 – APC engaged the University of Queensland and the University of Canberra to write the History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia. This project is part of a larger project within the APC, to capture and archive valuable historical records of Australians at the Paralympics.
2012 – APC announced the Australian Institute of Sport as the country's first Centre for Paralympic Excellence.
2012 — Australia participated in the 14th Paralympic Games in London, England. The Australian team of 161 athletes won 32 gold, 23 silver and 30 bronze medals.
2013 - Greg Hartung steps down as President after 16 years in the position and replaced by Glenn Tasker.
2015 - Ski & Snowboard Australia took over the operation of the Paralympic winter sport. The APC had managed the program since 1994.
The APC recognises the achievements of athletes and the contribution of coaches and administrators through several awards including the Australian Paralympian of the Year, Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame and the Paralympic Medal.
In 2011, The APC engaged the University of Queensland and the University of Canberra to write the History of the Paralympic Movement in Australia. This project is part of a larger project within APC, to capture and archive valuable historical records of Australians at the Paralympics. Further, in cooperation with the National Library of Australia the APC has conducted several interviews with people who have played a significant role in the Paralympic movement in Australia. Finally, an Australian Paralympic Wikipedia user's group was established to expand the coverage of the Australian Paralympic movement in Wikipedia.
