Uplifting Para Sport: From Launch to
Delivery Submission to the Association
of Sport Performance Centres Oceania( ASPCO) Report – May 2026
Launched in March 2025 and delivered in partnership with the Australian Sports Commission( ASC) and Paralympics Australia( PA), the Australian Para Sport Uplift a national program, delivered through the National Institute Network, designed to reduce barriers to entry, fast-track athlete development, and connect Para athletes with the sports and support that best match their potential. The National Para Uplift efforts are aligned to Australia’ s Win Well HP 2032 + strategy, with horizons set firmly on Los Angeles 2028, French Alps 2030 and Brisbane 2032.
The Victorian Institute of Sport( VIS) Para Sport Unit has moved decisively from establishment to delivery in its first full year of operation. With a clear three-stream pathway, growing athlete numbers, regional expansion in the pipeline and a first major selection success already on the books, the unit is demonstrating that a coordinated, multi-sport approach to Para talent identification can produce results inside a single cycle.
A three-stream pathway
The Unit operates a three-stream model so that athletes can enter at the level appropriate to their current development:
• Stream 1( Talent) confirms eligibility and athlete potential through up to two months of multi-sport sampling, taking up to 20 athletes per program.
• Stream 2( Accelerate) is a sport-refinement phase of up to six months, with intakes of up to 40 athletes on Training Agreements.
• Stream 3( Pre-categorisation) is sport-specific high performance development supporting up to 30 athletes per year for as long as two years. The structure is intentionally porous; athletes can be identified at any point and moved between streams as their development warrants.