Sport, at its best, brings people together, builds confidence, creates friendships and supports physical and mental wellbeing.
But for many people with disability, sport is not automatically accessible.
Before reaching the field, court, pool, gym or community hall, there can be many questions.
Can I get there? Is there accessible parking? Is the facility designed for me? Is equipment available? Can I afford it? Will the coach know how to adapt the activity? Will I feel welcome?
These questions matter because participation depends on whether environments, equipment, programs, people and systems make it possible.
About one in five people in Australia live with disability – that’s about 5.5 million people across the country.
People with disability can experience the same benefits from sport and physical activity as people without disability but often face additional barriers to participation.
As Australia looks toward the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, there is an opportunity to ask: how can the momentum of 2032 create lasting change in community sport, not only in elite sport?
Dr Dan van den Hoek with an attendee at a UniSC x Sporting Wheelies event
Brisbane 2032 has committed to accessibility and legacy, including an ambition to deliver a highly accessible Games.
The national Play Well Strategy also provides a sport participation roadmap to 2032 and beyond.
Its vision: Everyone has a place in sport.
The challenge is ensuring the vision reaches local clubs, schools, rehabilitation services, gyms, community programs and informal recreation spaces.
Technology has enormous potential to make sport – as an athlete, coach, official or volunteer – more accessible.
But technology alone will not solve the problem. It works best alongside inclusive facilities, affordable equipment, skilled coaching, community partnerships and genuine input from people with disability.
Adaptive sport has always involved innovation
Adaptive sport is not new. People have always modified games, equipment and environments to create opportunities for participation and competition.
Wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, para powerlifting, boccia, goalball, para-athletics and para-swimming have grown through innovation, persistence and community leadership.
Some adaptations are easy to see, such as sport-specific wheelchairs, throwing frames, prosthetic running blades and adaptive bikes.
Others are less visible, including rule modifications, classification systems, communication supports and coaching practices.
What is changing is the speed and sophistication of the tools available.
Sensors, wearable devices, video analysis, digital platforms, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, 3D printing, adaptive equipment design and accessible communication tools are creating new ways to support participation, performance, safety and confidence.
Assistive technology includes products, systems and services that maintain or improve a person’s functioning, independence, inclusion and participation.
In sport, this includes both high- and low-tech solutions: from racing wheelchairs and prosthetic limbs through to modified grips, tactile maps, communication aids, visual schedules, accessible booking systems and venue information.
These tools can make participation safer, personalised and empowering but must be designed around participant needs.
The barriers are not just physical
Accessibility is often associated with ramps, lifts, parking and toilets. These are only part of the picture.
Accessible sport depends on transport, cost, equipment, information, attitudes, coaching capability, scheduling, support workers, insurance, classification, communication and whether people feel a genuine sense of belonging.
A venue may have an accessible entrance, but without accessible transport, clear signage, available equipment and trained staff, participation may remain out of reach.
Cost is another major barrier. Adaptive sport equipment can be expensive, particularly when it needs to be customised and may be unaffordable for many.
Technology can help remove some of these barriers.
Digital maps can show accessible entrances, parking and toilets. Online videos can introduce the venue, equipment and coaches. Apps can support communication preferences or provide visual instructions. Wearables can help monitor fatigue, exertion or workload. Modified equipment can be designed through 3D printing or rapid prototyping. Remote coaching and online communities can help people stay connected between sessions.
But technology can also create new barriers if it’s expensive, difficult to use, poorly explained, inaccessible, or designed without input from the people it’s meant to support.
An app that is not screen-reader compatible is not inclusive. A high-performance wheelchair may be life-changing for one athlete but financially out of reach for others. A wearable device may track speed, distance and power but ignore comfort, fatigue, pain or confidence.
The goal should not be technology for its own sake. The goal should be better access, experiences and outcomes.
Technology can build confidence, not just measure performance
One promising opportunity is using technology to support confidence and engagement, not just performance.
For someone trying an adaptive sport or inclusive physical activity program for the first time, the biggest barrier may not be fitness or skill. It may be uncertainty.
UniSC student Emily Beecroft taking home the silver medal at the 2026 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, with gold medalist Lakeisha Patterson and Bronze medalist Toni Shaw from Scotland (Quinn Rooney-Getty Images)
Digital tools, including AI agents and chatbots, could play a useful role alongside better training for coaches, venue staff and other participants.
A well-designed chatbot may answer common questions about parking, transport, accessible entrances, toilets, change rooms, equipment, session structure, staff training, communication preferences, support workers, costs and what to expect.
It could direct people to a human contact when a question is complex or confidential.
This technology could reduce the emotional labour of repeatedly explaining access needs and help others better understand how to support someone to attend.
AI tools could also help clubs and organisations communicate more clearly.
For example, an AI-supported information assistant trained on its own venue, program and accessibility information could answer questions at any time.
Importantly, these tools should not replace human connection but make it easier to reach it.
The best use of AI may be helping people feel prepared before they arrive, so that their first interaction begins with greater confidence and less anxiety.
Other digital tools including short videos, virtual venue tours, participant stories, visual schedules, accessible information packs and online orientation resources can also help people understand the environment before they attend.
Inclusive sport technology needs to move beyond a narrow focus on speed, power and performance.
For many participants, success might mean asking a question before attending, feeling prepared enough to arrive, returning for another session, making a friend or learning a new skill, feeling safe in a group, or gaining confidence to try another activity.
The 2032 opportunity
Brisbane 2032 provides both a deadline and an opportunity to bring transformative change.
The Games can inspire more people to watch para sport.
But the bigger legacy will be whether more people with disability can access sport in their own communities before, during and after the Games.
The Australian Sports Commission’s developing a Disability Sport Action Plan so people with disability can access, participate and progress in sport in ways that suit them.
Paralympics Australia has highlighted Brisbane 2032 as an opportunity for an enduring legacy of accessibility and inclusion, aiming for another 500,000 people with disability to participate in sport by 2032.
The Federal Government has already invested an extra $54 million in Paralympic athletes and sports ahead of LA in 2028 and Brisbane. But there also needs to be a concentrated investment in grassroots community sport.
Strategies need to translate to action now, to maximise the opportunity.
We need inclusive local facilities, affordable adaptive equipment, trained coaches, accessible information, transport solutions, school and community pathways, and stronger links between sport, health, rehabilitation, education and disability services.
We also need to make high-performance adaptive technology more affordable and widely available. That will require partnerships between universities, sport organisations, engineers, designers, health professionals, manufacturers, funders, athletes and community organisations.
Universities have an important role to play testing and evaluating new technologies, supporting co-design with people with disability, developing evidence-informed programs, and training the future workforce in inclusive practice.
Keeping inclusion at the centre
Inclusive sport technology should be accessible, affordable, adaptable and meaningful.
It should support participation across ages, abilities, communities and levels of sport. It should work in real environments, not just laboratories or elite settings. It should help coaches and organisations include people more effectively, rather than placing extra responsibility on participants to adapt to systems never designed for them.
There are also important safeguards.
AI agents and chatbots need accurate information, clear boundaries, privacy protections and accessible design. Wearables and performance tracking tools need to avoid reducing people to data points. Equipment innovation needs to consider affordability, repair, transport, storage and comfort. Digital systems need to be usable for people with different communication preferences, sensory needs, literacy levels and access.
The future of inclusive sport will not be built by technology alone but via partnerships, trust, research, lived experience, practical design and long-term commitment.
Technology can help open the door. But people, programs and communities determine whether participants feel welcome enough to come through it, and supported enough to stay.
