Commonwealth Games Australia announce new partnership with Australian Paralympic Committee

Parathlete Jess Gallagher, CGA Chef de Mission Steve Moneghetti & Paralympic swimmer Ashleigh McConnell

Commonwealth Games Australia and the Australian Paralympic Committee today announced a new ground-breaking partnership aimed at providing Australian athletes the best possible environment for success at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

The first of its kind between peak bodies, the partnership will see a new level collaboration between Commonwealth Games Australia and the Australian Paralympic Committee, with the benefits shared by Australian athletes.

As part of the agreement, the APC will contribute to the successful planning, organisation and management of the Australian Commonwealth Games Team, with the CGA in turn providing team service support for the Paralympic Games Teams.

Commonwealth Games Australia CEO Craig Phillips said that the partnership was ultimately a win for Australian Sport.

“Commonwealth Games Australia believes that we stand the best chance of success by working collaboratively with our high performance partners,” he said.

“The Australian Paralympic Committee have done great work preparing Australian teams for success, so we are really thrilled to formalise a partnership and to be able to call on their expertise in preparing our team for Gold Coast 2018.

“Gold Coast 2018 will feature the most extensive integrated para-sport program in Commonwealth Games history with some 60 athletes competing in 38 events across seven sports.

“The job of Commonwealth Games Australia is to prepare our team as best we can and create an environment where athletes have every chance to achieve success and I am sure that by working together with the APC, we can achieve that,” Phillips said.

APC chief Executive Lynne Anderson believes the initiative has the potential to give Australian athletes a strong competitive edge for many Commonwealth Games and Paralympic Games to come.

“CGA and the APC share many similar objectives and face similar challenges, and we feel strongly that by joining forces, we will be better equipped to overcome those challenges,” Anderson said.

“CGA recognizes that the APC has developed the capability to successfully plan and deliver large-scale, multi-sport national teams that achieve performance success within a positive, cohesive team environment.

“We are very excited to be invited to share our expertise with CGA during the Gold Coast 2018 campaign, and we look forward to strengthening our relationship as we look towards achieving success at the Tokyo Paralympic Games in 2020.

“We hope this ground-breaking partnership sets the platform for greater collaboration among Australia’s peak sporting bodies.”