Who We Are
About Disability Sports Australia
65 years of building disability sport in Australia
Disability Sports Australia (DSA) is a national charity dedicated to increasing grassroots sport participation for people with disability.
We are an Australian Sports Commission-recognised National Sporting Organisation for people with disability, and a founding member of Paralympics Australia.
In Australia, one in five Australians, more than five million people, live with disability. Only one in four play sport weekly.
High costs, inaccessible facilities and limited programs continue to exclude too many from the physical, social and mental benefits of participation.
Disability Sports Australia grew from some of Australia’s earliest national disability sport movements.
These organisations governed competitions, coordinated national championships and supported athletes to represent Australia internationally.
They were founding members of Paralympics Australia.
In 2003, three national disability sport organisations merged, and in 2013 those movements unified under one national identity as Disability Sports Australia.
Today we work across all disability and all sport.
What We Do
Today we work across all levels of sport, from local clubs and schools through to national sporting organisations and councils, to build capability, remove barriers and create environments where people with disability can take part.
We help people understand their options for getting involved in sport, so they can participate in the way that suits them best.
Every year, thousands of people with disability connect to sport in their local community through Abilities Unleashed and Try Para Sport.
In the Northern Territory, our team works directly with communities to strengthen local participation opportunities.
We equip coaches, volunteers and clubs through resources including the Accessibility Champion Course and Building Inclusive Sport Clubs, providing simple, practical tools to increase confidence.
Through our Sports Incubator program, we provide tailored support to national sporting organisations to strengthen accessibility and participation across their operations.
Our Disability Advisory Committee ensures lived experience is central to our work, shaping how we design, deliver and measure what we do.
Through the Changing Lives Through Sport campaign we raise awareness of the social, health and community benefits of sport for people with disability, reaching more than one million Australians.
Our 2025–2028 Strategic Plan sets out how we deliver this work across grassroots participation, sector capability and system change.
Supported by government and our partners, our work is co-designed with communities to deliver change.
Our Vision, Mission and Purpose
Our Purpose
To build the capability of sport to enable the meaningful participation of people with disability.
Our Mission
To improve opportunities for people with disability to be involved in sport in the way they choose.
Our Vision
Lives and communities changed through the power of sport.