By Disability Sports Australia Media Team
Disability Sports Australia (DSA) members have voted to modernise the organisation’s constitution, including updating its Objects.
The changes were passed at an Extraordinary General Meeting on 19 May 2026.
The updated constitution introduces changes to Board composition, committee requirements, and member categories. It aligns with the Australian Sports Commission’s governance principles and best practice standards.
The updated Objects reflect DSA’s national role in developing sport for people with disability across participation, visibility, capability and education.
They also reflect the diversity of DSA’s member network, which includes specialist disability sport organisations and those working across different disabilities, sports and participation opportunities.
DSA’s national initiatives and resources support participation across disability specific sport, mainstream sport and sports that provide particular opportunities for people with disability, recognising that participation looks different for different people.
Disability Sports Australia CEO Ayden Shaw thanked members for their engagement throughout the review process.
“People with disability have the right to take part in sport on an equal basis with others, in ways that work for them,” Mr Shaw said.
“The updated constitution reflects both that principle and the role Disability Sports Australia plays in building the capability of sport across Australia so participation is possible in every community.
“The role we play today is not a departure from our history. It is a contemporary continuation of it.”
Disability Sports Australia and its predecessor organisations have been building disability sport in Australia for more than 65 years across wheelchair sport, amputee sport and cerebral palsy sport.
While our predecessors’ formal remit focused on physical disability, their influence was far broader. Across several decades, they coordinated Australian Paralympic teams, developed national championships, built participation programs and helped establish the systems that made ongoing participation possible across Australia.
The update follows the release of DSA’s Play Well Participation Plan 2026–2029 earlier this month.
DSA’s focus remains on increasing meaningful participation opportunities for people with disability and improving how sport is delivered through capability building, education and systems change.
ENDS
Media contact:
Ayden Shaw
CEO
Disability Sports Australia
About Disability Sports Australia:
Disability Sports Australia (DSA) is a national non-profit, registered charity, and National Sporting Organisation for people with disability, dedicated to increasing participation in grassroots sport.
For more than 65 years, DSA and its predecessor organisations have helped shape disability sport across Australia. Today DSA works with its members, sporting organisations, governments, clubs and communities to increase participation opportunities for people with disability and strengthen how sport is delivered nationally.
