Canberra AIS Facts

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a world-class athletic training facility with headquarters in the Australian capital city of Canberra. It is a national institution that provides athletes with expert coaches, state-of-the-art facilities, and cutting-edge sports medicine services. AIS programs take place on campuses around the country in cities including Sydney, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Gold Coast. The Australian Institute of Sport is renowned worldwide for being the best practice facility for high performance development of athletes.

  1. History

    • Australia's prime minister, the Right Honorable Malcolm Fraser, set up the Australian Institute of Sport in 1981 after Australia failed to win any gold medals at the 1976 Montreal Olympic Games. Originally, the AIS was entirely based in Canberra and featured only eight sports, which included gymnastics, basketball, netball, tennis, swimming, weight lifting and track and field. Today, it consists of facilities in eight cities across Australia, along with 38 training programs. The AIS has help to develop and support athletes that have become Olympic and Paralympic medalists, NBA basketball players, tennis stars and Premier League football players.

    Facilities

    • The center of the Australian Institute of Sport is a 65 hectare site in Bruce, a suburb of Canberra. It features multipurpose indoor training facilities, two arenas, an indoor swimming center, a gymnastics hall, hockey and soccer fields, along with a sport science building, which incorporates the AIS bio-mechanics dome. Oversea athletes, touring international teams, national, state and regional sporting organizations use the facilities and services of the AIS.

    Sports

    • The Australian Institute of Sport now includes training programs for 29 different sports. In addition to the original sports, some of the sports programs now available include archery, cricket, sailing, squash, rugby, boxing, hockey and many more. There are also a variety of programs available for athletes with disabilities. Disabled athletes can train for the Paralympic Games through the swimming and alpine skiing programs.

    Scholarships

    • The Institute offers more than 700 scholarships to athletes annually. There are scholarships available for more than 35 programs, including those for athletes with disabilities. Athletes coming in on a scholarship have access to all of the AIS coaches and facilities as well as opportunities for study, work and travel. Criteria for scholarship applicants varies between sports, but they usually require Australian citizenship and national championship-level performance ability.

    Sports Science and Sports Medicine Services

    • Athletes have access to a wide range of services within the Sports Science and Sports Medicine department. Clinical services include medicine, physical therapy, psychology, skill acquisition, strength and conditioning. The sports sciences division encompasses nutrition, physiology, biomechanics and performance analysis. Technology and innovation are also a large part of AIS. The AIS Applies Research Centre provides sports scientists with the equipment and funding to research topics that will directly affect the performance of their athletes.