APC Corporate

Australia tastes shooting success in Germany

Australia’s Paralympic Shooting Team has enjoyed a good start to the 2012 international season, winning two bronze medals in Hannover, Germany over the weekend.

High scores and high stakes

Australia’s top Para-Equestrian riders have been put through their paces at the fourth and final Para-Equestrian Paralympic nomination event in Sydney this weekend.

Australia names Paralympic goalball team

For the first time in more than a decade, Australia is set to compete in goalball at a Paralympic Games.

Pararoos gain plenty of experience in Ukraine

The Pararoos have gone down 0-5 to USA in their final match of the International Tournament in Football 7-a-side which was held in Yevpatoriya City, Ukraine.

Australia sweeps Japan in wheelchair rugby series

The Australian Steelers have sent a resounding warning to their rivals ahead of the London 2012 Paralympic Games, by sealing a five-nil series victory over Japan in Sydney.

APC welcomes Para-Snowboarding for Sochi 2014

Snowboarding will make its Paralympic debut at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games, following an announcement on Wednesday by the International Paralympic Committee.

Australian 2012 Paralympic Team uniform unveiled

The Australian Paralympic Team uniform for the London 2012 Paralympic Games was unveiled today, as Paralympians took to the catwalk in Sydney as part of Fashion Week Australia.

Run for the APC

Be part of the APC’s first City2Surf team! We are looking for the most passionate supporters to be our Gold Champions and raise at least $1000 to help get the Australian Paralympic team to London 2012.

Support the APC

LONDON GAMES TRAVEL

The Paralympics Australia Travel Office manages travel arrangements and travel packages for the London 2012 Paralympic Games for family, friends and supporters of the Australian Paralympic Team.

Book now

About the APC

We help Australians with disabilities participate in sport and compete at the Paralympic Games through partnerships with governments, business, sporting bodies and the community.

More about APC

Classification is a term used frequently when referring to Paralympic Sport. Classification in Paralympic sport exists to support as fair competition as possible, amongst athletes with different impairments. It forms the structure for all Paralympic competition, by grouping athletes with similar levels of functional ability into classes for equivalent competition. The outcomes of Paralympic competition then become based on athletic performance rather than on differences that exist in athletes disabilities.

Learn more about Classification

Sport profile

Wheelchair Rugby

Wheelchair rugby is an intense, physical team sport for male and female athletes with quadriplegia (tetraplegia). The sport can be very physical as athletes attempt to carry the ball over the opponent's goal line.

The players are classified according to their level of functional ability and are assigned a point value from 0.5 to 3.5 points – the higher the points, the more functional ability the athletes have.

Sport profile

Swimming

Since the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, swimming has been one of the main sports of the Paralympics. Like the Olympic Games, competitors measure their skills in freestyle, backstroke, butterfly, breaststroke and medley events.

Sport profile

Goalball

Goalball is a sport exclusively for athletes who are blind or have a visual impairment. It was invented in 1946 in an effort to rehabilitate the blind veterans from World War II and made its Paralympic debut in 1976 in Toronto.

Click here to learn more about Goalball

Sport profile

Toby Kane

At age 19, Toby Kane was the youngest member of the Australian Paralympic Team when he won a bronze medal in the Super G at the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in Torino.

While such a result came as a surprise to some of his more experienced rivals, there is no doubt that the Sydney-sider has always been a star in the making.

Athlete profile

Matthew Cowdrey

Matthew Cowdrey is on the verge of becoming Australia’s most successful Paralympian in history, cementing him as one of the biggest names in Australian and world swimming. With eight gold medals, five silver, and two bronze to his name from two Games, the 23-year-old needs just three more gold medals in London to surpass athletics star Tim Sullivan (10 gold from three Games) as Australia’s most prolific Paralympic gold medallist.

Athlete profile

Jessica Gallagher

In 2010, Jessica Gallagher created history at the Winter Paralympics in Vancouver, becoming the first Australian woman to ever win a Winter Paralympic Games medal. With guide Eric Bickerton, Jessica claimed bronze in the women’s vision-impaired slalom, capping an amazing rise in the sport after joining the APC’s Alpine Skiing program in 2009. And to make her momentous Paralympic medal even more special, she was able to win it on her 24th birthday.

Athlete profile