Sport Inclusion Australia Connects with International Sport Leaders at the 2026 Asian Para Games 

The 2026 Asian Para Games in Nagoya, Japan, provided a fantastic opportunity for Sport Inclusion Australia’s leadership team to experience high-performance para sport and connect with senior sport leaders from across Asia. 

Sport Inclusion Australia’s CEO Chantel Lewis and International Engagement Advisor Robyn Smith OAM met with representatives from ASEAN countries, China and India, as well as Commonwealth Sport, the Oceania Paralympic Committee and the Americas Paralympic Committee. 

With so many leaders gathered for the Games, it was a valuable opportunity to reconnect with existing partners and make new connections. These connections are about more than developing relationships. They are about sharing knowledge, strengthening sporting systems and creating greater opportunities for athletes with an intellectual impairment to participate, develop and compete internationally. 

It has been encouraging to see the shared commitment across different regions to advancing inclusive sport and exploring opportunities for future collaboration. 

This strategic engagement with sport leaders builds on Sport Inclusion Australia’s practical work with partners across ASEAN, India and South Asia, and China and East Asia. Across these regions, our work has focused on increasing knowledge of Virtus eligibility among psychologists, coaches and sport administrators – the people working directly with athletes and putting the eligibility process into practice. 

This year we have delivered eligibility and capacity building workshops with psychologists, coaches and sports managers in in Malaysia and Timor-Leste, Gujarat, Mumbai and Bengaluru. We are also preparing for our first visit to Beijing to work with the National Paralympic Committee of China (NPC China).  

As Australia’s member of Virtus, our work aligns with and contributes to the global movement for inclusive sport, while we continue to lead and develop our own national and international initiatives and partnerships. 

This work also contributes to Australia’s broader role in inclusive sport as we look towards Brisbane 2032. Stronger international pathways mean more opportunities for athletes, greater knowledge across sporting organisations and the potential for a lasting impact well beyond the Games. 

Our work across these regions has been supported through Australian Government initiatives, including the ASEAN-Australia Centre, the Centre for Australia-India Relations and the National Foundation for Australia-China Relations. This support has been important in helping us establish connections, deliver capacity-building activities and develop partnerships across the region. 

We thank everyone who has supported our work across these regions, as well as those who made time to meet with Chantel and Robyn in Nagoya. We look forward to continuing these conversations and progressing the work already underway to create more opportunities for athletes with an intellectual impairment.