The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's 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 The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Governmen ...

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 Mark Victor Arbib (born 9 November 1971) is an Australian former Labor Party politician and trade unionist, who was an Australian Senator for New South Wales from 2008 to 2012. Arbib rose within the New South Wales Labor Party, and was even ...

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.

Institute

The AIS employs a number of staff who primarily work in

Sports Science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

and Sports Medicine, which includes disciplines such as sports nutrition, performance analysis, skill acquisition,

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemic ...

, recovery, biomechanics, athlete career education, strength and conditioning, psychology,

physical therapies Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...

, 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 John Robinson may refer to: Academics *John Thomas Romney Robinson (1792–1882), Irish astronomer and physicist * John J. Robinson (1918–1996), historian and author of ''Born in Blood'' * John Talbot Robinson (1923–2001), paleontologist *Joh ...

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 5,200 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 Landor is a brand consulting firm founded in 1941 by Walter Landor, who pioneered some research, design, and consulting methods that the branding industry still uses. Headquartered in San Francisco, the company maintains 26 offices in 20 countr ...

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 The Volleyball Australia, formerly known as Australian Volleyball Federation, is the national governing body for volleyball in Australia. Founded in 1963, the AVF is responsible for maintaining national Volleyball competitions, alongside state ...

Centre of Excellence and

Swimming Australia National Training Centre Swimming Australia National Training Centre ("NTC") (formally the AIS Swimming Program) is an Olympic and Paralympic swimming scholarship program based at the Australian Institute of Sport. Set up as one of the eight founding program of the AIS i ...

. 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 Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

, rowing, football (men & women),

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

, swimming,

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

(men) and

water polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with th ...

(women) administered from Canberra * Diving, squash,

softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

and

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...

(men & women) administered from

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

and slalom canoeing administered from Sydney * Hockey administered from

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

* Sprint canoeing, triathlon and

BMX BMX, an abbreviation for bicycle motocross or bike motocross, is a cycle sport performed on BMX bikes, either in competitive BMX racing or freestyle BMX, or else in general street or off-road recreation. History BMX began during the earl ...

administered from the Gold Coast * Road cycling,

track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles. History Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling was in its infancy, it ...

and beach volleyball administered from

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

* Australian rules football,

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...

and

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

are camps based programs *

Winter sports Winter sports or winter activities are competitive sports or non-competitive recreational activities which are played on snow or ice. Most are variations of skiing, ice skating and sledding. Traditionally, such games were only played in cold a ...

(in partnership with the

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia The Olympic Winter Institute of Australia (OWIA) is an Olympic & federal government-funded elite sports training institution of Australia for the purpose of training athletes and coaches in sports involved in the Winter Olympics. The Australian ...

) administered from

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

Sports that previously had an AIS program but were discontinued prior to 2013 included:

weightlifting Weightlifting generally refers to activities in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells or barbells. People lift various kinds of weights for a variety of different reasons. These may include various types of competition; pro ...

(men),

(women),

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat s ...

shooting Shooting is the act or process of discharging a projectile from a ranged weapon (such as a gun, bow, crossbow, slingshot, or blowpipe). Even the acts of launching flame, artillery, darts, harpoons, grenades, rockets, and guided missiles ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In ...

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined ...

(1997 - 2010) and

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping wi ...

. . 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 Francois Robert "Rob" de Castella (born 27 February 1957) is an Australian former world champion marathon runner. De Castella is widely known as "Deek" or "Deeks" to the Australian public, and "Tree" to his competitors due to his thick legs an ...

, John Eales,

Simon Fairweather Simon John Fairweather, OAM (born 9 October 1969) is an archer born in Adelaide, South Australia. He is tall and weighs . Fairweather won the individual gold medal at the World Championships in Poland in 1991. Fairweather was declared the ...

, Neil Fuller,

Bridgette Gusterson Bridgette Marie Gusterson (born in Perth, Western Australia), also known as Bridgette Ireland, is an Australian water polo player, at the 1995 FINA World Cup, and from the gold medal team of the 2000 Summer Olympics. She was a captain of th ...

Rechelle Hawkes Rechelle Margaret Hawkes, (born 30 May 1967 in Albany, Western Australia) is the former captain of the Australian Women's Hockey Team, best known as the '' Hockeyroos'',she was captain for eight years and became the seco ...

Shane Kelly Shane John Kelly OAM (born 7 January 1972) is a former professional Australian track racing cyclist. Kelly specialized in the men's 1000 m time trial, commonly known as the Kilo. Kelly announced his retirement from international competition ...

, Luc Longley, Michelle Martin, Glenn McGrath, Michael Klim, Michael Milton, Clint Robinson,

Louise Sauvage Alix Louise Sauvage, OAM (born 18 September 1973) is an Australian paralympic wheelchair racer and leading coach. Sauvage is often regarded as the most renowned disabled sportswoman in Australia. She won nine gold and four silver medals at f ...

Kate Slatter Kate Elizabeth Slatter OAM (born 10 November 1971; married name Kate Allen) is an Australian former rower, a sixteen time national champion, world champion and Olympic champion from Adelaide, South Australia. She is a three-time Olympian who i ...

, Zali Steggall, Mark Viduka,

Vicki Wilson Vicki Wilson, OAM, (born 11 February 1965 in Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian netball coach and retired international player. She is the current head coach of the Netball Fiji side. Netball career Wilson was a part of the Australian nat ...

, Todd Woodbridge, Lauren Jackson, Chantelle Newbery,

Petria Thomas Petria Ann Thomas, (born 25 August 1975) is an Australian swimmer and Olympic gold medallist and a winner of 15 national titles. She was born in Lismore, New South Wales, and grew up in the nearby town of Mullumbimby. Career In 1993, at the a ...

Kerry Saxby-Junna Kerry-Anne Saxby-Junna, born Kerry Saxby AM (born 2 June 1961) is a retired Australian race walker. She was born in Young, New South Wales and grew up in Ballina, New South Wales. She represented Australia 27 times in international competit ...

Jamie Dwyer Jamie Dwyer (born 12 March 1979) is an Australian field hockey player. He currently plays for YMCC Coastal City Hockey Club in the Melville Toyota League in Perth, Western Australia. He also played for the Queensland Blades in the Australian ...

Anna Meares Anna Maree Devenish Meares (born 21 September 1983) is an Australian retired track cyclist. She currently resides in Adelaide in South Australia where the Australian Institute of Sport's Track Cycling program has its headquarters at the Adelaid ...

, Malcolm Page, Ricky Ponting,

Oenone Wood Oenone Wood (born 24 September 1980 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) is a retired professional cyclist, who commenced her cycling career in 2001 at the age of 21. She was an Australian Institute of Sport scholarship holder. She was a ...

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.

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 William Sweetenham AM (born 23 March 1950) is an elite swimming coach. He has coached swimming teams of Australia, Britain, Hong Kong and the Argentina national swimming team. During his career, Sweetenham was Head National Team Coach at five Ol ...

and

Dennis Pursley Dennis Pursley was a competitive swimmer and is a retired American swimming coach who served as head coach of the combined men's and women's teams at the University of Alabama from 2012 to 2019 and was a five time Olympic coach. Several athletes ...

(swimming),

Wilma Shakespear Wilma Joyce Shakespear (born 4 March 1943), previously known as Wilma Ritchie, is a former Australia netball international, Australia head coach and sports administrator. As a player, she represented Australia at the 1963 World Netball Cham ...

in netball,

Adrian Hurley Adrian Hurley OAM (born 21 April 1944) is an Australian former basketball player and coach. His major achievements include establishing the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) basketball program and leading the Perth Wildcats to the NBL title ...

and Patrick Hunt (basketball), Peter Lloyd and Kazuyu Honda (gymnastics), Jimmy Shoulder (football), Ray Ruffels and

Helen Gourlay Helen Gourlay Cawley (''née'' Gourlay; born 23 December 1946) is a retired tennis player from Australia. Personal Helen Gourlay was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. She married Richard Leon Cawley in January 1977, and married William ...

(tennis), Kelvin Giles,

Gary Knoke Gary James Knoke (4 February 1942 – 9 July 1984) was Australians, Australian Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games competing track and field athlete who was ranked third in the world in 400 metres hurdles during 1966. National representative Kn ...

and Merv Kemp (track and field), and Lyn Jones (weightlifting). Other notable AIS coaches -

Charlie Walsh David Barry Vivian Walsh, , better known as Charlie Walsh, is an Australian former racing cyclist, cycling coach and academic. Racing career Walsh's placings in Australian Amateur and then Professional Championships were : 1st place - once 2nd ...

(cycling),

Barry Dancer Barry John Dancer (born 27 August 1952 in Brisbane, Queensland) is a former Australian field hockey player and coach of Australian men's national field hockey team. As a player he competed in 48 international matches for Australia between 197 ...

and Richard Charlesworth(hockey),

Terry Gathercole Terrence Stephen Gathercole (25 November 1935 – 30 May 2001), was an Australian breaststroke swimmer of the 1950s and 1960s, who won a silver medal in the 4x100-metre medley relay at the 1960 Summer Olympics. He later became a swimming co ...

(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 Keith Lyons (7 May 1952 – 13 May 2020) was an educator and sport scientist who specialized in the observation and analysis of performance in sport. He was the author of the first book on the use of video in sport. Lyons founded the Centre for ...

. The current Chief Medical Officer of the AIS is Dr David Hughes. The AIS Sports Medicine department in 2020 released guidelines on th
management of COVID-19 in athletes
and a template fo
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-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.

Olympic Winter Institute of Australia

The AIS and the

Australian Olympic Committee Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

formed the Australian Institute of Winter Sports after the

1998 Winter Olympics The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the and commonly known as Nagano 1998 ( ja, 長野1998), was a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Japan, with some events taking place in th ...

. 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 Short-track speed skating is a form of competitive ice speed skating. In competitions, multiple skaters (typically between four and six) skate on an oval ice track with a length of . The rink itself is long by wide, which is the same size as ...

and

figure skating Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter sport to be included in the Olympic Games, when contested at the 1908 Olympics in London. The Olympic disciplines are me ...

. It is also a partner with the AIS in skeleton (toboganning).

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 champion Andrew Bogut, the AIS won the 2002 East Conference championship. They went on to lose 98–93 to the

Hobart Chargers Hobart Chargers is a NBL1 South club based in Hobart, Tasmania. The club fields a team in both the Men's and Women's NBL1 South. The Chargers play their home games at the Derwent Entertainment Centre and Kingborough Sports Centre. Club history Ea ...

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 program returned to the SEABL under a new moniker, the Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence (BA CoE) Men's Team. The AIS women's team originally played in the WNBL from 1983 to 2012, before being resurrected in 2014 alongside the men's Basketball Australia National Centre of Excellence 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 NBL1 is a semi-professional basketball league in Australia, consisting of South, North, Central, West and East Conferences with both men's and women's competitions. Each conference is run by their respective state governing body, with the leag ...

season in 2019. In 2020 and 2021, both BA Centre of Excellence teams competed in the

Waratah League The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, comprising both a men's and women's competition. In 2021, Basketball New South Wales and the National ...

. 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 will play in the

NBL1 East The NBL1 East, formerly the Waratah League, is a semi-professional basketball league in New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory The Australian Capital Territory (commonly abbreviated as ACT), known as the Federal Capital Terri ...

References

Bibliography

* Daly, John, Quest for Excellence : the Australian Institute of Sport, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1991 * Australian Sports Commission, Excellence : the Australian Institute of Sport. 2nd ed. Canberra, Australian Sports Commission, 2002. * Bloomfield, John, Australia's sporting success : the inside story, UNSW Press, Sydney, 2003 * Ferguson, Jim, More than sunshine and vegemite : success the Australian way, Halstead Press, Sydney, 2007

External links

*
Australian Institute of Sport Annual Report 1981-1988

Australian Sports Commission Annual Reports
include AIS activities since 1988.
Sports funding: federal balancing act
–Detailed summary of Australian Government funding and policies related to sport {{Authority control National Institutes of Sport Sport in Canberra Education in Australia Sports organisations of Australia 1981 establishments in Australia