Launching on International Day of People with Disability, the partnership will see the AIS Mental Health Referral Network (MHRN) become more accessible for emerging Paralympic pathway athletes.

The MHRN currently offers independent and confidential mental health and wellbeing support to more than 2500 categorised athletes, as well as alumni athletes, coaches and support staff. The service provides access to a team of dedicated experts who help connect those seeking support with one of 47 AIS-endorsed mental health practitioners.

The MHRN is the only high performance sport-specific mental health referral service available in the world, and AIS Director Matti Clements said it was pleasing to see the service continue to grow.

“Our ultimate aim is for every Australian athlete to be their very best in life as well as sport, and this partnership will ensure that more athletes will have access to the support they need, when they need it,” Clements said.

“We are excited to be working together with Paralympics Australia to make the Mental Health Referral Network accessible to more Para-athletes, from those first joining a national program all the way through to our Tokyo medal hopefuls.

“Since launching in 2018, the Mental Health Referral Network continues to adapt and expand to meet the needs of Australian sport, and with the support of partner organisations such as Paralympics Australia we can keep this momentum going.”

Paralympics Australia CEO Lynne Anderson said “At a time of much uncertainty, securing access to this vital mental health referral service for all elite Para-athletes, is a wonderful step towards ensuring an ongoing focus on the mental health and wellbeing of our athletes as they prepare for Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 and beyond.”

The AIS launched the nation-wide mental health support service in late 2018 to provide specialised and timely support to the Australian high performance sport community. In just two years the service has grown from supporting 1000 athletes to more than 2500 athletes and expanded to include retired athletes, coaches and support staff. The services available have also been bolstered with increased specialist support from psychologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists and dieticians.

The partnership is part of the AIS’s ongoing commitment to supporting Australia’s Para-athletes. Since 2012, the AIS has increased funding to Paralympic sports by 40 per cent and in October announced an increase of more than $3million funding to Paralympic sports for 2021/22, benefitting 13 sporting programs.

Paralympic swimmer and Commonwealth Games gold medalist Jesse Aungles said: “People with a disability often have additional barriers or obstacles to overcome in their day to day life, but are also often some of the happiest people I know because they know how to overcome adversity,” Aungles said. “A common misconception is that asking for support is a sign of weakness. I think having the self-awareness to seek a little bit of extra help when you need it shows incredible strength of character.”

To find out more about the MHRN visit www.ais.gov.au/mhrn