Athletes with a disability 

Athletics Australia, in consultation with its member associations, is committed to enhancing the opportunities for all Australians to be involved in the sport of athletics, including athletes with a disability (AWDs). It does this by providing access to competition and associated support structures through its interclub, regional, state and national competition pathways.
 
To provide a High Performance pathway for AWDs, Athletics Australia has conducted National Championships for AWDs since 1992.  For the open age AWD events these Championships have been included in the Open ‘able-bodied’ National Championships since 2001.  In 2006 and 2007 Athletics Australia also conducted Underage AWD National Championships.  In 2008 underage AWD events were included in the Pacific Schools Games (this event replaced the Underage AWD National Championships for that year).
 
Athletics Australia has formal partnerships with the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) and AUSRAPID (Australian Sport and Recreation Association for Persons with Integration Difficulties Inc) to prepare athletics teams for key events including the 2002 Lille IPC World Athletics Championships, 2004 Athens Paralympic Games, 2006 Assen IPC World Athletics Championships, 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games, 2009 INAS Global Games, the 2011 IPC World Athletics Championships and the 2012 London Paralympic Games. 
 
The key programs that drive this process are:
• the Athletics Australia Paralympic Preparation Program (AA-PPP), and
• the Athletics Australia Global Games Preparation Program (AA-GGPP).