The 1996 Summer Paralympics were held in the United States city of Atlanta. Australia competed in 13 of the 17 sports, winning medals in 10 of those sports. At the 1996 Summer Paralympics, Australia had the second highest medal tally of any country competing. It won 42 gold, 37 silver and 27 bronze medals. It surpassed the 24 gold medals that Australia won at the 1992 Paralympics. The sports of athletics, swimming and cycling provided Australia with the majority of its medals.

Background In September 1993 the IOC announced that Sydney was the winning bid for the 2000 Summer Olympics, and the International Paralympic Committee announced Sydney would also be the host of the 2000 Summer Paralympics. This led to the Australian Government establishing the Olympic Athlete Program (OAP), funded and supported through the Australian Sports Commission, to prepare Australia's competitors for these games.

The Australian Paralympic Federation (APF) started receiving money from the OAP in October 1994, leading to the establishment of the Paralympic Preparation Program (PPP), with a full-time staff member – Jenni Banks – to develop and implement the program. The increased funding was used to contract more experienced coaches, arrange international tours for teams, run training camps and acclimatisation programs and purchase performance improving suits and equipment.

Opening ceremony

The opening ceremony saw a large explosion of colour, introducing 104 nations across 20 sports, totalling 3529 athletes. Australia was represented by 166 competitors. The opening ceremony saw the mascot (Blaze) flown proudly, signifying strength and survival.

There was a very strict and large security presence with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the Olympic Games just a month earlier.

Libby Kosmala was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony, wheeled by the basketball wheelchair mechanic Graham Gould. Libby has represented Australia at 12 Paralympic games in shooting, amassing 13 medals, 9 of which are gold.

Team

The Australian team consisted of 166 athletes. This was much smaller than other countries such as the US, Germany, Britain and Spain. The Australian Sports Commission provided financial support to the Australian Paralympic Federation to make it possible for all athletes to travel to the games. The team mascot, Banjo, was unveiled in May. The Chef de Mission was George Dunstan and the flag bearer at the opening ceremony was Libby Kosmala.

The Team Headquarters staff were: George Dunstan (Chef de Mission), Paul Bird, Michael Godfrey-Roberts, Tony de Leede, Susan Mathew, Cornelis van Eldik, Jenny Banks, Dawn Fraser, Peter Kelly, John Sherwell Sports Medicine and Sports Science staff: Dr Susan White (Director), Norma Beer, Joanne Sayers, Jane Buckley, Donald Perriman, Barbara Denson, Greg Ungerer, Alan Thomas, Jo-anne Hare Personal Care Attendants: Craig Jarvis, Trevor Goddard, Andre Juricich, Rod Stubbs, Joan Stevens, Joanne Titterton, Don Blackman, Jodie Worrall, Patricia Bignall .

Some States and Territories held official farewell ceremonies for their local athletes competing at the Paralympics. In Canberra, the athletes were officially sent off at a meeting of the Legislative Assembly during the last week of July.

Medalists

| width="78%" align="left" valign="top" | Medal Name Sport Event Athletics Men's 100 m T32 Athletics Men's 100 m T52 Athletics Men's 1500 m T44–46 Athletics Men's 1500 m T50 , Bradley Thomas, Neil Fuller, David Evans Athletics Men's 4 × 100 m relay T42–46 Athletics Men's Long jump F34–37 Athletics Men's Discus F36 Athletics Men's Javelin F34/37 Athletics Men's Shot put F32–33 Athletics Men's Shot put F53 Athletics Women's 100 m T36–37 Athletics Women's 200 m T34–37 Athletics Women's 200 m MH Athletics Women's 200 m T42–46 Athletics Women's 400 m T53 Athletics Women's 800 m T53 Athletics Women's 1500 m T52–53 Athletics Women's 5000 m T52–53 Athletics Women's Long jump MH Cycling Mixed 5000 m time trial bicycle CP4 Cycling Mixed 20k bicycle CP4 , Kieran Modra Cycling Mixed 200 m sprint tandem open , Teresa Poole Cycling Women's time trial tandem open , Teresa Poole Cycling Women's individual pursuit tandem open Judo Men's 95 kg Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle S9 Swimming Men's 100 m breaststroke B2 Swimming Men's 200 m breaststroke B2 Swimming Men's 200 m medley B2 Swimming Men's 100 m butterfly B2 Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle B2 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S8 Swimming Women's 200 m medley SM8 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly B1 Swimming Women's 200 m medley B1 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly S10 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S10 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S9 , Priya Cooper, Janelle Falzon, Gemma Dashwood Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S9 Wheelchair Basketball Men's tournament Athletics Men's 100 m T34 Athletics Men's 100 m T43–44 Athletics Men's 200 m T43–44 Athletics Men's 200 m T52 Athletics Men's 800 m T44–46 Athletics Men's 800 m T50 Athletics Men's 5000 m T51 Athletics Men's Discus F12 Athletics Men's Shot put F12 Athletics Men's Pentathlon P42 Athletics Women's Long jump F34–37 Athletics Women's Shot put F10–11 Cycling Mixed 5000 m time trial bicycle CP4 Cycling Mixed 20k bicycle CP4 , Paul Clohessy Cycling Men's individual pursuit tandem open Cycling Mixed omnium LC1 Cycling Mixed omnium LC2 Lawn bowls Women's Singles LB3-5 Powerlifting Men's Up To 90 kg Shooting Mixed sport pistol SH1 Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle MH Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle MH Swimming Men's 100 m butterfly B2 Swimming Men's 100 m freestyle B2 , Brendan Burkett, Paul Gockel, Dominic Collins, Cameron de Burgh Swimming Men's 4 × 100 m freestyle S7–10 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle B1 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S10 Swimming Women's 100 m breaststroke SB10 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly S10 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S7 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly S9 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S9 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S10 Swimming Women's 200 m medley SM10 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle MH , Mick Connell Wheelchair tennis Men's doubles Athletics Men's 100 m T12 Athletics Men's 100 m T43–44 Athletics Men's 200 m T37 Athletics Men's 400 m T52 Athletics Men's Long jump F44 Athletics Men's Discus F32–33 Athletics Men's Discus F42 Athletics Men's Javelin F53 Athletics Men's Shot put F55 Athletics Women's 100 m T36–37 Athletics Women's 100 m T42–46 Athletics Women's 200 m MH , Tu Huyhn Boccia Pairs C1 wad Lawn bowls Women's Singles LB3-5 Swimming Men's 50 m freestyle S10 Swimming Men's 100 m butterfly S10 Swimming Men's 200 m medley B2 Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle B2 Swimming Women's 50 m butterfly S6 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S6 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S10 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S8 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S9 Swimming Women's 100 m butterfly S8 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle MH Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S8 Wheelchair tennis Men's singles | | width="22%" align="left" valign="top" |

Medals by disciplineDisciplineTotalArchery0000Athletics19121243Wheelchair basketball1001Boccia0011Cycling55010Equestrian0000Wheelchair fencing0000Football seven-a-side0000Judo1001Powerlifting0101Lawn bowls0112Shooting0101Swimming16161244Table tennis0000Volleyball0000Wheelchair tennis0112Total423727106

Events

Athletics

Australia represented by: Men – Anthony Biddle, Fabian Blattman, Damien Burroughs, Geoffrey Clarke, Leroi Court, Mark Davies, Michael Dowling, Stephen Eaton, John Eden, Don Elgin, David Evans, Neil Fuller, Terry Giddy, David Goodman, Adrian Grogan, Brian Harvey, Lachlan Jones, John Lindsay, Hamish MacDonald, Tim Matthews, Kerrod McGregor, Paul Nunnari, Sam Rickard, Jaime Romaguera, Russell Short, Greg Smith, Bradley Thomas, Darren Thrupp, Bruce Wallrodt, Paul Wiggins, Matthew van Eldik Women – Marsha Green, Lisa Llorens, Alison Quinn, Sharon Rackham, Louise Sauvage, Christie Skelton, Frances Stanley, Leana Viero, Katrina Webb, Jodi Willis-Roberts, Amy Winters Coaches – Kathryn Lee (Head), Chris Nunn, Lyndall Warry, Andrew Dawes, Scott Goodman.

Louise Sauvage, from Perth, won gold in the Women's 1,500 m T52-53 (time of 3:30.45, a world record), gold in the Women's 400 m T53, with a result of 54.96, a Paralympic record, gold in the Women's 5,000 m T52-53 time of 12:40.71, a world record, and a final gold in the Women's 800 m T53 (time of 1:52.80, a Paralympic record).International Paralympic Committee. Athlete Search Results. Retrieved 12 July 2011 Louise's world record in the 1500 m took 6 seconds off the previous record, and her record in the 5000 m took place only an hour after winning the 400 m.

David Evans earned gold in the Men's 1,500 m T44-46, with a result of 3:59.68, another gold (along with Tim Matthews, Bradley Thomas, and Neil Fuller) in the Men's 4 × 100 m Relay T42-46, with a team result of 45.40, a world record, and silver in the Men's 800 m T44-46, with a result of 1:55.81.

Fabian Blattman from New South Wales, won gold in the Men's 1500 m T50, with a result of 5:09.41, a Paralympic record, and silver in the Men's 800 m T50, with a result of 2:46.67.

Katrina Webb from South Australia, was 19 years old when the 1996 Games took place. In 1995 she had accepted a year-long netball scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport, where she was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. People at the Australian Institute of Sport encouraged her to compete in the Paralympics in Atlanta, but Webb initially resisted because she did not view herself as disabled. She changed her mind and went on to win a gold medal in the 100 m sprint. Her gold medal was controversial in some Paralympic circles because many did not believe she was disabled enough. Webb won a silver medal in the long jump, with a distance of . This distance was better than her previous personal best.

Lisa Llorens from the Australian Capital Territory, won a gold and a bronze in track and field events.Legislative Assembly for the ACT, Hansard, 25 June 1996 Legislative Assembly for the ACT, Hansard, 4 September 1996

Lachlan Jones from Melbourne Victoria, competed in the 100 m wheelchair race and won the gold medal. This came after two false starts and a protest in the medal race. Jones claims the two false starts were intentional on the part of his competitors in an attempt to distract him. The protests were dropped before they were formally considered by the judges. Jones had to compete against more able athletes in the 400 m race because there were not enough participants with cerebral palsy to have a separate competition class at the Games.

Brian Harvey won a gold medal in the cerebral palsy class of javelin with a distance of .

Darren Thrupp won a gold medal in the Men's Long Jump F34-37 with a distance of . Darren also won bronze in the Men's 200 m T37, with a result of 25.52 seconds.

Boccia

Australia represented by: Men – Kris Bignall, Scott Elsworth, Tu Huyhn, John Richardson Women – Lynette "Lyn" Coleman, Fiona Given Coaches – Thomas Organ (Head), Ricky Grant .

The 1996 result was the best ever for an Australian team in Boccia. The Australian team had six athletes who competed individually, as pairs and in a team event in the C1, C2 and C/WAD categories. Prior to the start of the Games, the team was ranked eleventh in the world. The team's fifth-place finish in the team event was the best the country had ever done in the event. The team was captained by Fiona Given.

The pairs C/WAD team of Kris Bignall and Tu Huyhn were ranked as the seventh best pair in the world prior to the start of the games. They surprised the world when they won a bronze medal after beating Spain and New Zealand in the preliminaries, and after beating an American pair in the bronze medal match. Their medal was the first medal Australia had won in this sport in international competition.