Australian Institute of Sport (AIS)

The strategic partnership between the Department of Defence, led by Army, and the AIS emphasises the importance of Human Performance Optimisation (HPO) in achieving the competitive advantage. It is based on three key shared objectives – to explore learning opportunities, share knowledge and experience, and foster collaborative activities.

There are three goals and five objectives of the partnership.

Learning opportunities

To invest in joint activities that translates mutually beneficial HPO knowledge into practical learning and implementation opportunities for athletes and soldiers and other stakeholders.
To establish a worldwide network of HPO experts and promote Australia as a country at the cutting edge of HPO.

Knowledge sharing

To share HPO knowledge being generated within both organisations.
To provide the AIS and Army with ways to measure HPO.

Collaborative activities

To foster collaborative activities that explore HPO both internal and external to the AIS and Army with may benefit both organisations.

Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, AO, DSC, MVO (centre), and Australian Institute of Sport Director, Peter Conde, signing the relationship intent statement between Army and the Australian Institute of Sport regarding human performance practices.

Recent Meeting

In November 2020 Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Rick Burr, hosted a virtual meeting with CEO AIS, Mr Peter Conde, to discuss the opportunities for collaboration in 2021 and beyond. The AIS partnership has been running since August 2018 and is a testament to our investments in the preparedness of our soldiers and athletes and represents our structured and coherent approach to generating excellence. The partnership so far has focused around SOCOMD and their collaboration with the AIS. Moving forward the partnership will extend to be more collaborative with more of Army involved.

Although the COVID-19 pandemic created challenges for both organisations, support and a solid foundation between partners allowed continual development and realisation of future potential. This year has shown a clear path for extension into 2021, with the three objectives proving successful.

The annual collaborative activities between SOCOMD and AIS have seen some great results. The Gold Medal Ready Program and Commando Reinforcement Cycle recovery week at AIS have both proven to be highly successful engagements. The latter has greatly enhanced the performance of Army soldiers and increased their foundational knowledge.

Additionally, the mini Masters of Applied Clinical Epidemiology – Sport (MACE) is to be conducted at the end of this year, with a trial sponsor from Army set to attend the full MACE at a later date. This course is a great example of sharing education and best practice in performance optimisation and health.

With the partnership extending into wider Army and the AIS, the sharing of education and best practise around Human Performance Optimisation (HPO) will reach further and wider than before. Increased annual collaborative activities between Army and AIS will include a PTI Education Programs, an AIS Recovery Centre for RMC-D Exercises, and an AIS NSO Adventure Training Camp.

The future of this partnership is focused on sharing knowledge and advice around acquiring and maintaining a Human Performance Management System (HPMS) and reciprocal sharing of DST information. The HPMS will support data collection, contributing to injury prevention through better injury surveillance. The shared DST information in the area of HPO will also allow sharing of innovations, opportunities and knowledge to enhance the benefits of this partnership to both organisations.

The meeting concluded with LTGEN Burr and Mr Conde signing a Memorandum of Understanding to support the strategic intent of both organisations to holistically optimise human capabilities that enable individual soldiers and athletes achieve world best standards. The partnership will be reviewed again in 2024.