Australia competed at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 7 to 18 September 2016. Australia repeated its 2012 Summer Paralympics achievement in finishing fifth of the medal tally.
Notable achievements at the Games:
Jessica Gallagher became the first Australian Paralympian to win medals at both the Summer Paralympics and Winter Paralympics by winning a bronze medal in cycling. Kurt Fearnley finished Paralympic his career with 13 medals including a silver and bronze in Rio. His silver medal in the Men's Marathon T52-54 meant he had won medals in this event at four successive Paralympics (2004-2016). Ellie Cole joined the list of leading Australian Paralympic medallists by winning six medals - 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze. Her medal tally at the end of Rio was 6 gold, 4 silver and bronze. Kieran Modra won a bronze medal in cycling and this meant that he had medalled at six Paralympics. Samuel Von Einem won Australia first medal in table tennis since Terry Biggs won gold in 1984. Jonathon Milne won Australia's first medal in archery since 1968. Curtis McGrath and Katie Kelly became Australia's first gold medallists in paracanoe and paratriathlon respectively. Dylan Alcott became only the fifth Australian Paralympian to win gold medals in two sports by winning two gold medals in wheelchair tennis. He previously won gold in wheelchair basketball. Athletes and teams that won their event again in Rio were: Ellie Cole (swimming), Brenden Hall (swimming), David Nicholas (cycling), Carol Cooke (cycling), Daniel Fitzgibbon/Liesl Tesch (sailing) and the wheelchair rugby team.
Administration
In May 2015, the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) announced Kate McLoughlin as the Chef de Mission. She replaced Jason Hellwig, the former APC CEO, who stepped down from the role. The APC appointed Kurt Fearnley and Daniela Di Toro as team captains. Wheelchair basketballer Brad Ness was announced as the Opening Ceremony flag bearer at a ceremony at the Paralympic Village on 5 September 2016. Curtis McGrath who lost his legs in the Afghanistan war and won Australia's first gold medal in paracanoe at the Games carried the Australian flag in the closing ceremony.
Fundraising The APC stated that it needed to raise $7 million to fund its Rio 2016 campaign. The majority of APC's funding to send Australian teams to major events originates from fundraising. In January 2016, it launched the Australian Paralympic Foundation to manage its fundraising. Cadbury made the first major donation of $1 million. In the four-year period leading up to Rio, the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) provided $62 million in funding. At the Team Launch, Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull stated that the Australian Government had provided nearly $65 million direct funding for the athletes as they prepared to compete in Brazil. To assist with funding raising, its broadcast partner Seven Network organized a Parathon on 5 March 2016.
Medallists The following Australian competitors won medals at the games.
| style="text-align:left; width:78%; vertical-align:top;"|
Medal Name Sport Event Date Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S9 Cycling Men's individual pursuit C3 Swimming Men's 400 metre freestyle S9 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S4 Triathlon Women's PT5 triathlon Athletics Men's Long Jump - T36 Athletics Men's 100 m T42 Athletics Men's 800 m T36 Swimming Men's 100 metre freestyle S9 Heath Davidson Wheelchair tennis Men's quad doubles Wheelchair tennis Men's quad singles Cycling Women's Time Trial T1-2 Paracanoe Men's KL2 Swimming Women's 100m Breaststroke SM6 , Maddison Elliott, Lakeisha Patterson, Ashleigh McConnell Swimming Women's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay 34 points Cycling Women's Road Race T1-2 , Liesl Tesch SailingSKUD 18 – 2 person keelboat , Jonathon Harris, Colin Harrison SailingSonar – 3 person keelboat , Chris Bond, Cameron Carr, Andrew Edmondson, Nazim Erdem, Ben Fawcett, Andrew Harrison, Josh Hose, Jason Lees, Matt Lewis, Ryan Scott, Jayden Warn Wheelchair RugbyWheelchair Rugby Athletics Men's 1500 m T38 Athletics Women's Long Jump T38 Athletics Men's 100m T38 Athletics Women's 100m T35 Athletics Women's 200m T35 AthleticsWomen's 800 m T53 Cycling Women's individual pursuit C4 Cycling Women's 500m time trial C1-3 Cycling Men's individual pursuit C4 Cycling Men's road time trial C4 Cycling Men's individual pursuit C5 Cycling Men's road time trial C5 Cycling Men's road time trial H5 Swimming Women's 400 metre freestyle S9 Swimming Men's 50 metre freestyle S9 Swimming Women's 100 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle S8 Swimming Women's 400 m freestyle S10 Swimming Men's 100 metre breaststroke SB7 Swimming Women's 50 m Freestyle S9 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S8 Rowing Men's Single Sculls - ASM1x , Madeleine Scott, Maddison Elliott, Lakeisha Patterson Swimming Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay 34 points Table tennis Men's Singles class 11 Athletics Men's 100m - T34 Swimming Men's 100 metre freestyle S9 Paracanoe Women's KL3 , Madison de Rozario, Jemima Moore, Christie DawesAthleticsWomen's 4x400m Relay - T53-54 Sailing Single person 2.4mR Athletics Men's Marathon - T52/53/54 ArcheryMen's Individual Compound - Open AthleticsWomen's long jump T45/46/47 AthleticsWomen's 100 m T53 AthleticsWomen's 400 m T53 AthleticsMen's 100 m T13 AthleticsWomen's Shot Put F41 AthleticsMen's Shot Put F20 AthleticsWomen's Long Jump - T37 , Isis Holt, Jodi Elkington-Jones, Erin CleaverAthleticsWomen's 4x100m Relay - T35-38 Athletics Men's 800m - T34 Madison Janssen (pilot) Cycling Women's 500m time trial B Cycling Women's road time trial C4 David Edwards (pilot) Cycling Men's road time trial B Swimming Women's 50m Butterfly S6 Swimming Women's 50m Freestyle S6 Swimming Women's 200m Individual Medley SM6 Swimming Men's 200 m Freestyle S14 Swimming Men's 200m Individual Medley SM9 Athletics Men's 5000m - T53/54 Swimming Women's 100 m Freestyle S9 Swimming Men's 200 m Individual Medley SM7 Swimming Men's 100 metre backstroke S9 Paracanoe Women's KL2 Athletics Men's 1500m - T46 Athletics Men's High jump - T45-47 Swimming Women's 200 m individual medley SM8 Swimming Women's 100 m backstroke S13 AthleticsWomen's Shot Put F36 AthleticsWomen's Shot Put F32
| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" | Medals by sportSport Archery0011Athletics391426Cycling37313Rowing0101Paracanoe1113Sailing2103Swimming9101029Table tennis0101Paratriathlon1001Wheelchair rugby1001Wheelchair tennis2002Total22302981
Medals by dateDate Total8 Sep11249 Sep214710 Sep052711 Sep234912 Sep232713 Sep141614 Sep2451115 Sep432916 Sep323817 Sep4341117 Sep1102Total22302981
Medals by genderGender TotalMale13141337Female9241639Mixed1001Total 22 30 29 81
Multiple medallists
The following Australian athletes won multiple medals at the 2016 Paralympic Games:
Name Medal Sport EventWheelchair tennis Men's quad doubles Men's quad singles AthleticsWomen's 4x400m Relay - T53-54 Women's 100 m T53 Women's 400 m T53Cycling Men's individual pursuit C4 Men's road time trial C4 Swimming Women's 4 x 100m freestyle relay 34 points Women's 100 metre backstroke S9 Women's 4 x 100m Medley Relay 34 points Women's 400 metre freestyle S9 Women's 50 metre freestyle S9 Women's 100 metre freestyle S9Cycling Women's road race T1–2 Women's road time trial T1-2 AthleticsWomen's 800 m T53 Women's 4x400m Relay - T53-54Cycling Men's individual pursuit C5 Men's road time trial C5 Swimming Men's 100 metre freestyle S9 Men's 50 metre freestyle S9 Men's 200 m Individual Medley S9 Swimming Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay 34 points Women's 50 metre freestyle S8 Women's 100 metre freestyle S8 Women's 100 metre backstroke S8 Women's 4 x 100 metre medley relay 34 points AthleticsMen's Marathon - T54 Men's 5000m - T54 Swimming Men's 400 m freestyle S9 Men's 100 m freestyle S9 Men's 100 m backstroke S9 AthleticsWomen's 100m - T35 Women's 200m - T35Women's 4×100m relay - T35-38 AthleticsMen's 100m - T34 Men's 800m - T34 Swimming Women's 4 x 100 metre freestyle relay 34 points Women's 400 metre freestyle S8 Women's 50 metre freestyle S8 Women's 100 metre freestyle S8 Women's 4 x 100 metre medley relay 34 points Women's 200 metre individual medley SM8Susan PowellCycling Women's individual pursuit C4 Women's road time trial C4 Swimming Women's 100m Breaststroke SM6 Women's 50 metre butterfly S6 Women's 50 metre freestyle S6 Women's 200 metre individual medley SM6
Team List of team members as of 17 September 2016.
In the by discipline sections below, medallists' names are bolded.
* – Indicates the athlete competed in preliminaries but not the final relay. SportMenWomenTotalParalympics debutArchery1 0 1 1Athletics23 22 45 20Boccia1 1 2 2Cycling8 7 15 6Equestrian0 4 43Goalball0 6 61Paracanoe3 3 6 6Paratriathlon3 4 7 6Rowing4 4 8 5Sailing5 1 6 0Shooting4 2 6 2Swimming21 15 36 22Table tennis23 5 3Wheelchair basketball12 0 12 5Wheelchair rugby12 0 12 4Wheelchair tennis4 1 5 2Total1037317688
Australia was given additional qualification slots in the sports of goalball (six athletes), athletics (two athletes) and wheelchair tennis (one athlete) after Russia was suspended from the Games by the International Paralympic Committee. Two athletes from the original team of 178 did not attend - Emily Tapp due to injury and Michael Gallager due to doping violation.
Several team members have changed their previous Paralympic sports at these Games: Dylan Alcott (wheelchair tennis), Jessica Gallagher (cycling), Daniela Di Toro (table tennis) and Claire McLean (paratriathlon).
Archery
Jonathon Milne earned Australia a spot at the Rio Games following his performance at the 2015 World Archery Para Championships and he was selected to make his debut in the Australian team on 29 July 2016.
|align=left|Jonathon Milne||align=left|Individual compound open||672 ||9 ||align="center" | W 143-136|| align="center" | W 137-129|| align="center" | W 139-128 || align="center" | L 138-139|| align="center" | W 145-142 ||
Milne won Australia first archery medal since 1984 by winning a bronze medal.
Athletics
Australian Paralympic Committee announced a team of 44 athletes on 2 August 2016. An additional two athletes - Tamsin Colley and Jessee Wyatt were added after the Russian suspension. Emily Tapp was selected but forced to withdraw after a burnt leg did not heal in time for the Games.
Men WomenSam Carter (d), Aaron Chatman, Jaryd Clifford (d), Gabriel Cole, Richard Colman, Brayden Davidson (d), Guy Henly (d), Todd Hodgetts, Nicholas Hum (d), Kurt Fearnley, Deon Kenzie (d), Jake Lappin, Rheed McCracken, Sam McIntosh, Evan O'Hanlon, Chad Perris (d), Scott Reardon, Michael Roeger, Jayden Sawyer (d), Russell Short, Brad Scott, James Turner (d), Jessee Wyatt (d)Rae Anderson (d), Angie Ballard, Carlee Beattie, Erin Cleaver (d), Tamsin Colley (d), Brianna Coop (d), Christie Dawes, Madison de Rozario, Taylor Doyle (d), Jodi Elkington-Jones, Louise Ellery, Nicole Harris (d), Madeleine Hogan, Isis Holt (d), Torita Isaac, Claire Keefer (d), Rosemary Little, Brydee Moore, Jemima Moore, Ella Pardy (d), Kath Proudfoot, Sarah Walsh (d) (d) Paralympic Games debut Australia won 26 medals – 3 gold, 9 silver and 14 bronze. Gold medalists were – Brayden Davidson, Scott Reardon and James Turner. Russell Short attended his 8th Games, Christine Dawes her 6th Games and Kurt Fearnley his fifth Games.
Track events - women