About the Association

At Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association we are making active goals accessible to enhance the lives of people with a disability through health and fitness, sport, active recreation and building inclusive communities, so that every Queenslander with a disability will have opportunities to live a more active and healthy life. 

Making active has always been a part of Sporting Wheelies’ culture and focus. Understanding and championing the importance and benefits of physical activity, we have been inspiring and enabling people to be active for over 40 years. Our Values aid us in making positive change and ensure that we continue helping people to be active in their communities. 

Active goals can take many forms. At Sporting Wheelies, we believe that all ambitions are equal and valid. We support the variety of active goals people may have, from increasing their mobility and independence, improving their health, socialising, participating recreationally, to representing their country. And, of course, we love it when our members score actual goals in their sports. 

Accessible is what it looks like when inclusion is prioritised. We work towards a world of greater opportunities for people with all abilities to live life to the fullest. We have a role to play in normalising a culture that proactively considers and accommodates people with disability to participate fully in all spheres of life. We model member-focused, convenient, and user friendly service delivery ensuring that our members’ goals are accessible and achievable.

Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association has its origins in the 1960s as a small sports club within the Paraplegic Welfare Association in Queensland. Sport for people with spinal cord injuries was gaining in popularity as a result of the first Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, and the ‘Queensland Sports and Social Club for the Disabled’ played an active role in promoting disability sport and raising funds for Queensland athletes selected for national and international competitions.

In 1977, the club became a registered charity in its own right as the Paraplegic and Quadriplegic Sport Association of Queensland and by the following year, the Association had extended its programs and services to include people with physical disabilities other than spinal cord injuries, including people with vision impairment. The decision was made to change to the current name to reflect the Association’s broader mission and capitalise on the popular term ‘sporting wheelies’ to describe wheelchair athletes.

Today, we are widely recognised as a leader in the field of sport and healthy activity for people with a disability by national bodies such as Sport Australia and Paralympics Australia.

To read more about the story of disability sport in Queensland, you can order our 25th anniversary book, “Step by Step we Conquer” here. 

Under section 23 of the Association’s Constitution, the general control and management of the administration of Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association is rested in a Management Committee (Board) of seven – President, Secretary, Treasurer and four other members.

The Boards’ Sub Committee include:

• An Advisory Council, made up of Queensland business and community leaders, which meets on a regular basis to advise and assist the Board in the development of Association strategy and policies.
• Risk, Audit and Finance Committee
• Nominations and Remuneration Committee