Commonwealth Games champion Jesse Aungles has welcomed Paralympics Australia's partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport to provide support for athletes' mental health ©Getty Images

Paralympics Australia has announced a partnership with the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) to provide the next generation of Paralympic athletes with access to mental health and well-being services.

The agreement is set to see the AIS Mental Health Referral Network (MHRN) become more accessible for emerging Para-athletes.

The MHRN currently offers independent and confidential mental health and well-being support to more than 2,500 athletes as well as coaches and support staff.

Athletes will be able to access a team of experts who can connect them with one of 47 AIS-endorsed mental health practitioners.

According to the AIS, the MHRN is the only high-performance, sport-specific mental health referral service available in the world.

"Our ultimate aim is for every Australian athlete to be their very best in life as well as sport, and this partnership will ensure that more athletes will have access to the support they need, when they need it," said AIS director Matti Clements.

"We are excited to be working together with Paralympics Australia to make the Mental Health Referral Network accessible to more Para-athletes, from those first joining a national program all the way through to our Tokyo medal hopefuls.

"Since launching in 2018, the Mental Health Referral Network continues to adapt and expand to meet the needs of Australian sport, and with the support of partner organisations such as Paralympics Australia we can keep this momentum going."



Paralympics Australia chief executive Lynne Anderson added: "At a time of much uncertainty, securing access to this vital mental health referral service for all elite Para-athletes, is a wonderful step towards ensuring an ongoing focus on the mental health and wellbeing of our athletes as they prepare for Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022 and beyond."

The AIS launched the mental health support service in late 2018 to provide specialised and support to the Australian high-performance sport community.

The services available have also been bolstered with increased specialist support from psychologists, psychiatrists, neuropsychologists and dieticians.

Since 2012, the AIS has increased funding to Paralympic sports by 40 per cent.

In October, it pledged a inject more than AUD3 million (£1.7 million/$2.3 million/€1.9 million) to Paralympic sports from 2021 to 2022.

Swimmer Jesse Aungles, who won gold in the men’s SM8 200-metre individual medley at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, has welcomed the extra support.

"People with a disability often have additional barriers or obstacles to overcome in their day to day life, but are also often some of the happiest people I know because they know how to overcome adversity," Aungles said.

"A common misconception is that asking for support is a sign of weakness.

"I think having the self-awareness to seek a little bit of extra help when you need it shows incredible strength of character."