Australia at the Paralympics

Australia at the Paralympics
IPC code	AUS
NPC	Australian Paralympic Committee
Website	www.paralympic.org.au
Medals Ranked 6th	Gold 401 Silver 428 Bronze 411 Total 1,240
Summer appearances
1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winter appearances
1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022

Australia has participated officially in every Paralympic Games since its inauguration in 1960 except for the 1976 Winter Paralympics.

The Paralympic Games are held every four years, following the Olympic Games and are governed by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC). The Paralympic Games have been contractually tied to the Olympic Games since 2001, however, they have taken place at the same venues since the 1988 Seoul Summer Games and the 1992 Albertville Winter Games.^[1]

In order to compete at the Paralympics, athletes must have an eligible impairment that leads to a permanent activity limitation, and athletes will compete in the classification appropriate to their impairment.^[2] These impairments are physical, vision and intellectual impairments.

The Australian Paralympic Committee, established in 1990, is responsible for selecting and preparing the Australian Paralympic Teams for both the Summer and Winter Paralympic Games. This committee assists with funding the athletes and competition in addition to talent identification.^[3]

Many of Australia's gold medals have come from Athletics,^[4] a sport which has been popular amongst Australian Paralympic athletes, such as Tim Sullivan and Louise Sauvage.^[5] The other sport from which many medals have come is Swimming.

Australia has hosted the Paralympic Games on one occasion in 2000.^[6] Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales hosted the Summer Paralympics from 23 to 31 October 2000.^[6] There were 3879 participants from 123 countries across 19 sports and 550 events.^[6] Australia won the most medals with 149 overall.^[7]