# Australian Institute of Sport

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's 66-hectare (163-acre) headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC), part of the Australian Government under the Department of Health and Aged Care.

## History

Two reports were the basis for developing the AIS: The Role, Scope and Development of Recreation in Australia (1973) by John Bloomfield and Report of the Australian Sports Institute Study Group (1975) (group chaired by Allan Coles). The need for the AIS was compounded in 1976 when the Australian Olympic team failed to win a gold medal at the Montreal Olympics, which was regarded as a national embarrassment for Australia. The institute's well-funded programs (and more generally the generous funding for elite sporting programs by Australian and State Governments) have been regarded as a major reason for Australia's recent success in international sporting competitions.
In 2011, Minister for Sport Mark Arbib announced the AIS would take responsibility for the strategic direction of high performance sport in Australia. In November 2012, the ASC released "Australia's Winning Edge 2012–2022", a high performance sport plan, which highlighted a new role for the AIS particularly in terms of developing coaches and talent identification but not directly managing national sports organisations elite athlete programs as it had done since 1981.

### Timeline

A brief overview of the history of the AIS follows.
| Year | Event |
| 1980 | Establishment of the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) announced by Bob Ellicott, the Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment, on 25 January |
| 1981 | AIS officially opened by Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser on 26 January. |
| 1981 | Don Talbot appointed inaugural director of the AIS and Kevan Gosper Chairman of the AIS Board. |
| 1981 | Eight founding sports were basketball, gymnastics, netball, swimming, tennis, track and field, football, and weightlifting |
| 1982 | Commonwealth Games, Brisbane – 37 current and former AIS athletes competed three sports and won 12 gold, 12 silver and 7 bronze medals. Australia won 107 medals. |
| 1983 | Facility development – Gymnastics training hall, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, and swimming complex completed |
| 1984 | Facility development – Frank Stewart Training Centre for netball, basketball and weightlifting completed |
| 1984 | Diving program in Brisbane and hockey program in Perth established |
| 1984 | Dr John Cheffers appointed director of the AIS |
| 1984 | Olympic Games, Los Angeles, United States – 33 current and former competed in four sports and won 5 silver and 2 bronze medals. Australia won 24 medals. |
| 1985 | Squash program in Brisbane and men's water polo and rowing in Canberra established |
| 1985 | Facility development – Sports Science and Sports Medicine, Halls of Residence and administration buildings completed |
| 1985 | John Bloomfield replaces Kevan Gosper as AIS Chairman. |
| 1986 | Men's cricket program in Adelaide established |
| 1986 | Commonwealth Games, Edinburgh, Scotland – 75 current and former AIS athletes competed in five sports and won 19 gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze medals. Australia won 121 medals. |
| 1987 | Cycling program in Adelaide established |
| 1987 | Announcement of the merger of Australian Sports Commission and AIS. |
| 1987 | Ronald Harvey appointed director of the AIS |
| 1988 | Rugby Union program in Brisbane, Sydney and Canberra established |
| 1988 | Olympic Games, Seoul, South Korea – 118 current and former athletes competing in thirteen sports and won 1 gold, 2 silver, 3 bronze medals. Australia won 14 medals. |
| 1988 | Paralympic Games, Seoul, South Korea – 1 current athlete and won 2 gold medals. Australia won 96 medals. |
| 1989 | Facility development – AIS canoeing facility opened on the Gold Coast |
| 1990 | Men's volleyball program in Sydney established |
| 1990 | Robert de Castella appointed director of the AIS |
| 1990 | National Sport Information Centre launched |
| 1990 | Commonwealth Games, Auckland, New Zealand – 87 current and former AIS athletes competed in six sports and won 25 gold, 25 silver and 27 bronze medals. Australia won 162 medals |
| 1991 | Oceania Olympic Training Centre established in Canberra |
| 1991 | Men's Road Cycling program established in Canberra |
| 1991 | Lifeskills for Elite Athletes Program (LEAP) commenced |
| 1992 | Olympic Games, Barcelona, Spain – 139 current and former athletes competed in thirteen sports and won 3 gold, 5 silver and 6 bronze medals. Australia won 27 medals. |
| 1992 | Golf program in Melbourne program established |
| 1992 | Paralympic Games, Barcelona, Spain – 12 current and former athletes competed in two sports and won 10 gold, 8 silver and 6 bronze medals. Australia won 76 medals. |
| 1993 | Women's Road Cycling in Canberra, Women's Softball in Brisbane and Women's volleyball in Perth programs established |
| 1994 | Commonwealth Games, Victoria, Canada – 87 current and former AIS athletes competed in five sports and won 35 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze medals. Australia won 184 medals. |
| 1995 | Mountain Biking program in Canberra established |
| 1995 | John Boultbee appointed as AIS director |
| 1996 | Olympic Games, Atlanta, United States – 207 current and former AIS athletes competed in thirteen sports and won 4 gold, 7 silver and 17 bronze medals. Australia won 41 medals. |
| 1996 | Paralympic Games, Atlanta, United States – 26 current and former AIS athletes competed in seven sports and won 22 gold, 22 silver and 5 bronze medals. Australia won 106 medals. |
| 1997 | Boxing, Wrestling, Archery, Shooting in Canberra and Australian Football in Melbourne programs established. |
| 1998 | Women's Football began as an Olympic Athlete Program (OAP) initiative July 1998. In May 2000, Women's Football was made a permanent program. |
| 1998 | Australian Institute of Winter Sports (AIWS) established by the Australian Olympic Committee and the AIS. |
| 1998 | Commonwealth, Games Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – 138 current and former AIS athletes competed in twelve sports and won 34 gold, 29 silver and 21 bronze medals. Australia won 200 medals. |
| 1998 | Winter Olympic Games, Nagano – 8 athletes competed in three sports and won 1 bronze medal for Australia. |
| 2000 | Olympic Games, Sydney – 319 current and former athletes competed in nineteen sports and won 8 gold, 11 silver and 13 bronze medals. Australia won 58 medals. |
| 2000 | Paralympic Games, Sydney – 54 current and former athletes won 29 gold, 17 silver and 15 bronze medals. Australia won 149 medals. |
| 2000 | Sailing and Slalom Canoeing in Sydney, and camps based Women's Cricket and triathlon programs established. |
| 2001 | Michael Scott appointed director of the AIS |
| 2001 | Rugby league (decentralised) and Alpine Skiing for Athletes with Disabilities Programs established. |
| 2002 | Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City, United States – 23 current and former athletes competed in five sports and won 2 gold medals. Australia won 2 medals. |
| 2002 | Winter Paralympics, Salt Lake City, United States – 6 current and former athletes competed in one sport and won 6 gold and 1 silver medal. Australia won 7 medals. |
| 2002 | Commonwealth Games, Manchester, England – 168 current and former athletes competed in fifteen sports and won 45 gold, 23 silver and 34 bronze medals. Australia won 207 medals. |
| 2003 | Facility development – Archery Centre and AIS Rowing Centre extension opened. AIS Golf facility located at Moonah Links, near Rye on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula opened. |
| 2004 | Olympic Games, Athens, Greece – 289 current and former athletes competed in twenty sports and won 10 gold, 10 silver and 12 bronze medals. Australia won 49 medals. |
| 2004 | Paralympic Games, Athens, Greece – 47 current and former athletes won 13 gold, 27 silver and 23 bronze medals. Australia won 100 medals. |
| 2004 | The Cricket Academy moves to Brisbane. |
| 2005 | Professor Peter Fricker appointed director of the AIS |
| 2005 | Facility development – New extension to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) Diving dry land training facility at the Sleeman Centre in Chandler, Queensland opened. |
| 2005 | AIS/AVF Beach Volleyball National Centre of Excellence launched |
| 2006 | Facility development – New $17 million Aquatics Training and Recovery Centre was constructed. The 50 metre training pool has a range of high-tech performance analysis devices and biomechanical systems including instrumented start blocks and turn walls, timing gates, strategically placed cameras, filming dolly and tracks. |
| 2006 | Winter Olympics, Turin, Italy – 23 current and former athletes competed in six sports and won 1 gold and 1 bronze medal. Australia won 3 medals. |
| 2006 | Winter Paralympics, Turin, Italy – 9 current and former athletes competed in one sport and won 1 silver and 1 bronze medal. Australia won 2 medals. |
| 2006 | Commonwealth Games, Melbourne – 177 current and former athletes competed in thirteen sports and won 42 gold, 34 silver and 34 bronze medals. Australia won 222 medals. |
| 2007 | Facility development – AIS Hub opened. The AIS hub features a 110-metre indoor running track (with jumping pit), new physiology laboratories and an enhanced strength and conditioning gymnasium. New AIS Athlete Residences opened. |
| 2008 | Olympic Games, Beijing, China – 263 current and former AIS athletes won 7 gold, 9 silver and 7 bronze medals. Australia won 46 medals. |
| 2008 | Paralympic Games Beijing – 47 current and former AIS athletes won 18 gold, 12 silver and 13 bronze medals. Australia won 79 medals. |
| 2010 | Olympic Winter Games, Vancouver, Canada – 22 current and former AIS athletes won 1 gold, and 1 silver medal |
| 2010 | Paralympic Winter Games, Vancouver, canada – 9 current AIS athletes won 1 silver and 3 bronze medals. Australia won a total of 4 medals. |
| 2010 | Commonwealth Games, New Delhi, INdia – 158 current and former (including Paralympic scholarship holders) competed in 12 sports and won 88 medals; 41 gold, 23 silver and 24 bronze. Australia won a total of 177 medals. |
| 2011 | -European Training Centre opened in Gavirate, province of Varese, Italy |
| 2012 | Matt Favier commenced as director of the AIS in March. |
| 2012 | Australia's Winning Edge strategy provides a new leadership direction for the AIS, with national sports organisations taking full responsibility for AIS sports programs at the end of 2013. |
| 2013 | AIS Combat Centre established. |
| 2014 | Australian Institute of Sport launched a new brand and logo. |
| 2014 | Annual awards renamed AIS Sport Performance Awards. |
| 2014 | The former archery centre converted to the Football Centre. |
| 2017 | Matt Favier resigns as AIS director in June. |
| 2017 | Peter Conde appointed ninth AIS director in August. |
| 2017 | The NBA Academy opened at the AIS in Canberra, sharing facilities with Basketball Australia's Centre of Excellence. |
| 2018 | Australian Government launched the National Sport Plan, Sport 2030 |
| 2019 | The AIS, in partnership with Volleyball Australia launched the first Australian all-weather beach volleyball training facility on the AIS Canberra campus. |
| 2020 | The AIS helped to deliver the $6.5m water jump in Brisbane for Australian aspiring Winter Athletes to train at home. |
| 2022 | The AIS/ASC published the National Sport Research Agenda. |
| 2022 | The AIS became an active partner in one of 11 IOC Research Centres for 2023–2026, led by La Trobe Sport and Exercise Medicine (LASEM). |

## Institute

The AIS employs a number of staff who primarily work in Sports Science and Sports Medicine, which includes disciplines such as sports nutrition, performance analysis, skill acquisition, physiology, recovery, biomechanics, athlete career education, strength and conditioning, psychology, physical therapies, talent identification, and applied performance research.
There are a number of sculptures located throughout the Bruce Campus, such as 'Acrobats', 'Gymnast', 'Pole Vaulter' and 'Soccer Players' by John Robinson and the 'Swimmer' by Guy Boyd. After the Sydney 2000 Olympics, two of the three sculptures - ' Gymnast' and 'Wheelchair Basketballer' - that were located on the Sydney Tower Eye prior to the Olympics were installed at the AIS.
The AIS Arena is a 4,200 capacity indoor stadium which has been used for sports such as basketball, gymnastics and volleyball as well as music concerts. Directly adjacent to, but not strictly part of the institute is the 25,000 capacity outdoor Canberra Stadium which has hosted matches of all the major forms of football played in Australia.
In 2005, 2009, and 2010 the institute won awards at the prestigious Canberra and Capital Region Tourism Awards. These awards were given in recognition of the daily public tours that are available. Each tour, which takes in several different buildings of the institute as well as the arena and the Sportex zone, is led by an athlete currently training there.

## Logo

Shortly after its inception in 1981, the AIS held a competition for a symbol that would depict the AIS aim of "achieving supremacy in sport". Over 500 designs were submitted. The winner was Rose-Marie Derrico, a design student from Bendigo, Victoria. Her design showed an athlete with hands clasped above the head in recognition of victory. The colours of the logo were red, white and blue, which are the same colours as the Australian flag.
On 3 February 2014, the AIS launched a new logo in line with its new direction as outlined in its Winning Edge program that was launched in 2012. Landor Associates designed the new brand and logo. The gold in the brand representing Australia's pursuit of gold.

## National Training Centres

From 2014, as a result of Australia's Winning Edge 2012-2023 strategy, the AIS no longer directly offered scholarships to athletes. As a result of the strategy, many national sporting organisations are utilizing the AIS facilities and services on an ongoing or regular basis. Several national sports organisations have located their national centres for excellence at the AIS. These include: Basketball Australia Centre for Excellence, Netball Australia Centre for Excellence, Football Federation of Australia Centre of Excellence, Rowing Australia National Training Centre, Volleyball Australia Centre of Excellence, and Swimming Australia National Training Centre.
The AIS does continue to support other athletes in other sports however they are self funded and not under the National Training Centre banner.

## Former sports programs

Up until 2013, the AIS offered scholarships to athletes across 36 programs in 26 different sports:
* Artistic gymnastics, athletes with disabilities - swimming, athletics and winter sports, basketball, netball, rowing, football (men & women), tennis, swimming, track and field, volleyball (men) and water polo (women) administered from Canberra
* Diving, squash, softball and cricket (men & women) administered from Brisbane
* Sailing and slalom canoeing administered from Sydney
* Hockey administered from Perth
* Sprint canoeing, triathlon and BMX administered from the Gold Coast
* Road cycling, track cycling and beach volleyball administered from Adelaide
* Australian rules football, rugby union and rugby league are camps based programs
* Winter sports (in partnership with the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia) administered from Melbourne
Sports that previously had an AIS program but were discontinued prior to 2013 included: weightlifting, water polo (men), volleyball (women), wrestling, shooting, archery, boxing (1997 - 2010) and golf. .
The head coach for the AIS boxing program from 1997 to 2010 was Bodo Andreass.

## Notable athletes

Many prominent Australian athletes have taken up AIS scholarships. In 2001, the AIS established the Best of the Best Award to recognise highly performed AIS athletes. As of 2011, the following athletes have been recognised - Alisa Camplin, Robert De Castella, John Eales, Simon Fairweather, Neil Fuller, Bridgette Gusterson, Rechelle Hawkes, Shane Kelly, Luc Longley, Michelle Martin, Glenn McGrath, Michael Klim, Michael Milton, Clint Robinson, Louise Sauvage, Kate Slatter, Zali Steggall, Mark Viduka, Vicki Wilson, Todd Woodbridge, Lauren Jackson, Chantelle Newbery, Petria Thomas, Kerry Saxby-Junna, Jamie Dwyer, Anna Meares, Malcolm Page, Ricky Ponting, Oenone Wood and Matthew Cowdrey. In August 2013, Stuart O'Grady was indefinitely suspended from the 'Best of the Best' due to his admission to doping in 1998.
The Australian Institute of Sport Alumni highlights the many prominent Australian athletes that the AIS has assisted.

### Athlete of the Year

Since 1984, the AIS has named an Athlete of the Year. For the first twenty years, the award was predominately made to one athlete only. In 2004 a male and female athlete were awarded with the accolade; and the awarding has varied over the ensuing years.
| Year | Female athlete(s) | Female athlete(s) | Male athlete(s) | Male athlete(s) | Notes |
| Year | Name | Sport | Name | Sport | Notes |
| 1984 | Karen Phillips | Swimming | no award | no award | |
| 1985 | Michele Pearson | Swimming | no award | no award | |
| 1986 | no award | no award | James Galloway | Rowing | |
| 1987 | Kerry Saxby | Track and field | no award | no award | |
| 1988 | Kerry Saxby | Track and field | no award | no award | |
| 1989 | Kerry Saxby | Track and field | no award | no award | |
| 1990 | no award | no award | Steve McGlede | Track cycling | |
| 1991 | Linley Frame | Swimming | no award | no award | |
| 1992 | no award | no award | Clint Robinson | Flatwater canoeing | |
| 1993 | World Junior Female Basketball Team | World Junior Female Basketball Team | Men's Track Cycling Pursuit Team | Men's Track Cycling Pursuit Team | |
| 1994 | Australian Women's Hockey Team | Australian Women's Hockey Team | no award | no award | |
| 1995 | no award | no award | Shane Kelly | Track cycling | |
| 1996 | Megan StillKate Slatter | Rowing | no award | no award | |
| 1997 | Louise Sauvage | Track and field | no award | no award | |
| 1998 | no award | no award | Michael Klim | Swimming | |
| 1999 | no award | no award | Michael Klim | Swimming | |
| 2000 | no award | no award | Simon Fairweather | Archery | |
| 2001 | Petria Thomas | Swimming | Philippe Rizzo | Gymnastics | |
| 2002 | Petria Thomas | Swimming | no award | no award | |
| 2003 | no award | no award | Nathan Baggaley | Flatwater canoeing | |
| 2004 | Petria Thomas | Swimming | Ryan Bayley | Track cycling | |
| 2005 | no award | no award | Peter RobertsonRobin Bell | Triathlonslalom canoeing | |
| 2006 | no award | no award | Philippe Rizzo | Gymnastics | |
| 2007 | Anna Meares | Track cycling | Nathan Deakes | Track and field | |
| 2008 | no award | no award | Ken WallaceHeath Francis | Flatwater canoeingTrack and field | |
| 2009 | Emma Moffatt | Triathlon | Brenton Rickard | Swimming | |
| 2010 | Lydia Lassila | Freestyle skiing | no award | no award | |
| 2011 | Anna Meares | Track cycling | no award | no award | |
| 2012 | Alicia Coutts | Swimming | Tom Slingsby | Sailing | |
| 2013 | Caroline BuchananKim Crow | CyclingRowing | no award | no award | |
| 2014 | Jessica Fox | Slalom canoeing | no award | no award | |
| 2015 | Emily Seebohm | Swimming | Jason Day | Golf | |
| 2016 | Kim Brennan | Rowing | Kyle Chalmers | Swimming | |
| 2017 | Sally Pearson | Athletics | Scott James | Winter sport | |

## Notable coaches

AIS was established to provide high level coaching to Australian athletes. Since its establishment in 1981, the AIS has employed highly credentialed Australian and international coaches. Original coaches were - Bill Sweetenham and Dennis Pursley (swimming), Wilma Shakespear in netball, Adrian Hurley and Patrick Hunt (basketball), Peter Lloyd and Kazuyu Honda (gymnastics), Jimmy Shoulder (football), Ray Ruffels and Helen Gourlay (tennis), Kelvin Giles, Gary Knoke and Merv Kemp (track and field), and Lyn Jones (weightlifting).
Other notable AIS coaches - Charlie Walsh (cycling), Barry Dancer and Richard Charlesworth(hockey), Terry Gathercole (swimming), Marty Clarke (basketball).

## Sports medicine and sport science

AIS established sports medicine and sports science services and research programs when established in 1981. Dr Dick Telford was its first Co-ordinator of Sports Science and Medicine. Other notable staff have included: Dr Peter Fricker, Professor Allan Hahn, Professor Louise Burke, Dr Bruce Mason and Keith Lyons.
The current Chief Medical Officer of the AIS is David Hughes. The AIS Sports Medicine department in 2020 released guidelines on the management of COVID-19 in athletes and a template for return to sport in Australia after the Coronavirus lockdown. These guidelines were used by the Australian government National Cabinet and the various Australian state governments to recommend stages for recommencing sport after the vast majority closed down in late March to early May 2020. Generally the doctors working at the AIS have been sports medicine specialists qualified through the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians.
In March 2022 the AIS released the National High Performance Sport Research Agenda, designed to prioritise resources in areas of critical importance to Australia's high performance sport system. In July 2022 the AIS awarded grants to six Australian research teams, aimed at optimising the performance of alite athletes, coaches and support staff. The document "Recommendations for conducting AIS-supported research in high performance sport" was also released in 2022. The National Sport Research Agenda was released in December 2022.

## Olympic Winter Institute of Australia

The AIS and the Australian Olympic Committee formed the Australian Institute of Winter Sports after the 1998 Winter Olympics. The organisation was renamed to the Olympic Winter Institute of Australia on 1 July 2001. It provides training in alpine skiing, freestyle skiing (including aerial and mogul), snowboarding, short track speed skating and figure skating. It is also a partner with the AIS in skeleton (toboganning).

## Elite Athlete Education Network

The Elite Athlete Education Network (EAEN), formerly known as the Elite Athlete Friendly Universities (EAFU) network, is a network of universities and other education providers who are committed to supporting elite student athletes in partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport. The guiding principles which underpin the network include:
* Appointing a dedicated staff contact to support elite student athletes during their studies. This contact is responsible for advising student athletes in regard to academic planning, as well as supporting flexible arrangements to fulfil academic requirements.
* Tailoring or developing flexible study options to support the needs of elite student athletes.

## Basketball program

The AIS Men's Basketball Program played in the South East Australian Basketball League (SEABL) between 1982 and 2010. The team was coached by Patrick Hunt from 1982 to 1992, then Gordie McLeod (1993–97), Frank Arsego (1998–2002), and Marty Clarke (2003–10). They made the playoffs just six times, but behind coach Arsego and future NBA player Andrew Bogut, the AIS won the 2002 East Conference championship. They went on to lose 98–93 to the Hobart Chargers in the 2002 National Championship game. Following the 2010 season, the program had a change of direction and withdrew from the SEABL.
In 2014, after Basketball Australia assumed responsibility of the AIS basketball program, the team returned to the SEABL under a new moniker, the Basketball Australia Centre of Excellence (BA CoE). The AIS women's team originally played in the WNBL from 1983 to 2012, before being resurrected in 2014 alongside the men's team, thus entering the SEABL for the first time.
Both teams were ineligible for the playoffs between 2014 and 2017 due to not playing full seasons. With a change to playing full seasons in 2018, both teams became eligible for the playoffs for the first time. Following the demise of the SEABL, both BA Centre of Excellence teams played in the inaugural NBL1 season in 2019.
In 2020 and 2021, both BA Centre of Excellence teams competed in the Waratah League. The men's team were crowned co-champions of the 2021 season.
In 2022, both BA Centre of Excellence teams were entered into the NBL1 as part of a Wildcard conference playing against the top teams from all five NBL1 State Conferences.
In 2023, both BA Centre of Excellence teams played in the NBL1 East.