Background

While sports clubs for the deaf existed in the 19th century, and some sport activities were established for soldiers blinded in the First World War, the systematic promotion and delivery of sporting opportunities for people with a disability was a legacy of the rehabilitation of soldiers after the Second World War.

In Australia and internationally, the early years of sport for people with a disability were characterised by a medical-therapeutic approach. Sport and training were seen as an extension of treatment and normally conducted by paramedical staff. [source: Participation in sport by people with disabilities, a national perspective, Lockwood R, Australian Sports Commission, 1996, p.9].

Stoke Mandeville Games

At the Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England, Dr Ludwig Guttmann encouraged sport as a vehicle to assist in the rehabilitation of soldiers with spinal cord injuries. It wasn’t long before the desire for formalised competition led to the first annual Stoke Mandeville Games in 1948. The Stoke Mandeville Games grew to include international teams from 1952 onward, and in 1960 they were moved from England to Rome, Italy and held following the Olympic Games. These Games became recognised as the first Paralympic Games.

During a visit to Perth in 1956, Guttmann challenged the head of Australia’s first spinal unit, George Bedbrook, to bring an Australian team to the Stoke Mandeville Games. Bedbrook, who is credited as the father of Paralympic sport in Australia, accepted the challenge and in 1957 the first Australian Team of athletes with a disability competed overseas. All team members except one came from the Royal Perth Hospital’s spinal injuries unit.

Paralympic Games

Australian athletes attended the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, establishing a tradition of unbroken Paralympic participation by Australia. The 1962 Commonwealth Paraplegic Games in Perth became the first multi-sport international disability games held in Australia. The event raised the profile of people with disabilities and their achievements through sport. A biennial Australian Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Games was established in 1960 as the first domestic multi-sport competition to provide opportunities for interstate competition and serve as a vehicle for selection onto teams for the Paralympic Games and the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games.

In 1975, the FESPIC Games for countries in Asia and the Pacific replaced the defunct Commonwealth Paraplegic Games for Australian athletes. In 1977 the Australian Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Sports Federation hosted the FESPIC Games in Sydney. This was the last major international multi-sport event for athletes with a disability held in Australia until the 2000 Paralympic Games.

The second Paralympic Games were held in Tokyo in 1964 following the Olympic Games, but the Paralympic Games were not conducted in the Olympic Games host city again until 1988 in Seoul. During this period the Paralympic Games grew from wheelchair athletes to include vision impaired athletes and amputees (1976), and athletes with cerebral palsy (1980). The Paralympic Winter Games were also introduced in 1976.

By 2012 the Paralympic Games had grown to more than 4,000 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.

Growth of Australian organisations

Because sport for people with disabilities grew from a rehabilitation and disability-specific environment, few generic sporting organisations incorporated opportunities for people with disabilities until recent years. The upshot was the creation of a large number of organisations at national, state and local levels that catered for specific sports (such as riding for the disabled) or specific disabilities (such as the Australian Blind Sports Federation). Many of these organisations are very small and service niche populations.

In the 1960s, wheelchair sport organisations were established in each Australian state, generally evolving as sub-committees of the state paraplegic and quadriplegic associations established to assist the general welfare of people with spinal cord injuries. At the same time, competitions moved from hospital settings to sporting clubs.

The responsibility for selecting and organising international teams resided with the Australian Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Council, established in 1960, and then from 1971 with the Australian Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Sports Sub-Committee. This committee became the basis for the Australian Wheelchair Sports Federation, the first National Sporting Organisation for the Disabled (NSOD) in Australia.

The Australian Confederation of Sport for the Disabled was established in 1975 as a vehicle for co-operation between the various international and national sports organisations for the disabled. The role of the Confederation was to collate and disseminate information, act as a united lobbying voice, and assist in organising and funding Australian Teams to the summer and winter Paralympic Games. [Source: 1988 Paralympics Appeal Report published by the Australian Confederation of Sports for the Disabled Inc., (1989).]

The number of organisations formed to provide advocacy, delivery, and coordination of programs for persons with disability increased during the decades of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. National Sporting Organisations (NSOs) were being encouraged by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) to include persons with a disability into their existing programs as well as planning and/or developing specific programs.

From a government perspective, there was very little involvement with disability sport until the 1980s. 1981 was declared the ‘International Year of Disabled Persons’ and a number of Government reviews were conducted to assess the needs of disabled persons. The Commonwealth Government established a National Committee on Sport and Recreation for the Handicapped which later became the National Committee on Sport and Recreation for the Disabled (NCSRD) to advise the federal Minister responsible for sport on the priority areas for development and allocation of funds for sport and recreation for persons with a disability.

In the lead-up to the Australian Bicentenary in 1988, the Australian Bicentennial Authority also provided $500,000 in funding through the NSODs to support programs for athletes with a disability. In the late 1980s the NCSRD’s advisory role was taken over by the Australian Sports Commission through the Disability Sport Program.

In 1990 the Australian Confederation of Sport for the Disabled was disbanded and replaced by the Australian Paralympic Federation. Its founding members were the NSODs. In 1991 the ASC established the Aussie Able Program to assist elite Australian athletes with a disability to compete in international events. Assistance included the appointment of a dedicated coach and the awarding of Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarships.

The ASC also introduced the Willing and Able program, aimed at helping teachers to integrate children with a disability into school sport programs. In 1999 Willing and Able was merged with Aussie Able to create a new Disability Education Program. [source: More than Sunshine and Vegemite, Jim Ferguson, Halstead Press, (2006).]

National Sporting Organisations for the Disabled (NSODs) were established to provide sporting opportunities for people with specific disabilities or to support a disabled component of a generic sport. They continue to play a role in the delivery of sport to persons with a disability.

Blind Sports Australia. Formerly known as the ‘Australian Blind Sports Federation’, this organisation was formed in 1980 and works with National Sporting Organisations to develop their sport specific programs to meet the needs of vision impaired Australians.
Deaf Sports Australia. Affiliated in 1955 as the ‘Australian Deaf Sports Federation’, this is the peak body dedicated to facilitating participation by deaf and hearing impaired Australians at all levels of sport.
Disability Sports Australia. Established in 2003 with three founding NSODs. Membership was expanded in 2012 to include many State Sporting Organisations serving persons with disability. The founding member organisations are: Australian Sports Organisation for the Disabled; Cerebral Palsy Australian Sports and Recreation Federation, and; Wheelchair Sports Australia.
Disabled WinterSport Australia. Established in 1979 as the ‘Australian Disabled Skiers Federation’, they promote opportunities for disabled Australians to enjoy winter sports.
Riding for the Disabled Association of Australia. Formed in 1979 by agreement among five state riding associations.
Special Olympics Australia. Established in 1976, provides opportunities for all intellectually disabled Australians, regardless of ability, to participate in sport as part of the global Special Olympics movement.
Sport Inclusion Australia. Established in 1986 as AUSRAPID, Sport Inclusion Australia is a national sporting organisation dedicated to the inclusion of people with an intellectual disability into the mainstream community, using sport as the medium. Sport Inclusion Australia works within the Australian sporting sector to assist sporting organisations and clubs with strategies that focus on ability and are based on social inclusion principles.
Transplant Australia. Works in areas of advocacy, awareness and support for persons experiencing organ and tissue transplantation.

See more on this topic:

Overview Background Paralympics Australia Legislation, programs and resources Participation Case studies International practice

Is this information complete?

The Clearinghouse for Sport is a sector-wide knowledge sharing initiative, and as such your contributions are encouraged and appreciated. If you would like to suggest a resource, submit a publication, or provide feedback on this topic, please contact us.

Alternatively, if you would like to be kept up to date with research and information published about this topic, please request a research profile setup.