paralympic.org.au

Paralympics Australia (paralympic.org.au) is the official national body for Paralympic sport in Australia and the home of the Australian Paralympic Team. The site is built for anyone who wants to follow Australian Para athletes, understand Paralympic sport, or find a way to get involved — from curious first-time visitors to athletes, schools, and supporters. It combines news, athlete stories, sport and classification information, Games history, and practical participation and support pathways in one place.

What the site covers

The homepage and navigation are organised around a few clear areas:

• News — current stories about Australian results and athletes, such as coverage of Australia's medals in Pontevedra, a world title win, and Sydney hosting the 2027 World Cup with LA2028 in view.
• Paralympians and Para athletes — profiles and first-person stories, plus programs like the Paralympian Speakers Program and the Australian Paralympic History Project.
• Para sport — an overview of the sports featured at the Paralympic Games, a Para sport events calendar for finding local events, and classification, described as the foundation of Para sport competition.
• Paralympic Games — upcoming and past Games, including LA 2028, French Alps 2030, Brisbane 2032, Milano Cortina 2026, Paris 2024, Beijing 2022, and Tokyo 2020, alongside Sydney 2000 anniversary content.
• Programs — community and athlete programs covering areas such as employer confidence, Indigenous people with disability and sport, universal design, equipment support, and mentoring and employment.
• Schools — free curriculum-linked teacher resources, school fundraising, and Paralympian school visits.
• Support us — ways to back the team, including joining AUS Squad, fundraising, ParaLottery, and donating.

Who it is for

The site serves several distinct audiences, and the right entry point depends on which one you are:

Getting started with Para sport

If your goal is participation rather than following the team, the site points to "The Start Line," described as where your Para sport journey begins, alongside the events calendar and classification information. Classification is worth reading early, since it determines how athletes compete and is the foundation of Para sport competition. The Para Sport FAQs section answers common questions if you are unsure where you fit.

Practical notes

The site is in English and is the official source for Paralympics Australia, so it is the appropriate place to check for verified news, event listings, and program details rather than relying on secondary coverage. Some actions — such as joining AUS Squad, donating, or entering ParaLottery — are transactional and may involve sign-up or payment steps; the site does not present these as free, so treat them as support pathways rather than open resources. School resources, by contrast, are described as free and flexible.

For most visitors, the fastest way to judge whether the site is useful is to open the News section for current relevance and the Para Sport section for evergreen information. If you are looking to take part, go straight to The Start Line and the events calendar.

If you're new to Ahrefs and want to run your first SEO audit, the fastest path is: open Site Explorer, enter your target URL, review the Overview for a health snapshot, then dig into Organic Keywords, Top Pages, and Site Audit to find specific problems. From there, build a short prioritized to-do list instead of trying to fix everything at once.

This tutorial walks through that workflow using a realistic starting scenario, explains what the numbers mean, and shows how to turn findings into actions.

Before You Start: Pick a Narrow Scope

A common beginner mistake is auditing an entire large website on day one. The reports become overwhelming, and you can't tell which issues matter.

Instead, choose one of these starting points:

• A single important page (your homepage or a key product/service page)
• A small site (under ~50 pages, e.g., a personal blog or small business site)
• One section of a bigger site (e.g., /blog/)

For this tutorial, assume you're auditing a small business site with about 30 pages. The same steps scale up later.

You'll need an Ahrefs account to follow along. Ahrefs offers paid plans, and pricing and feature limits change over time, so check the current Pricing page for what's included in each tier before committing.

Step 1: Enter Your Target in Site Explorer

Site Explorer is Ahrefs' core tool for analyzing any website or URL.

1. Open Site Explorer from the top navigation.
2. In the search box, paste your domain (e.g., example.com).
3. Choose the Exact URL or Domain mode depending on scope. For a full-site view, use Domain or Prefix; for a single page, use Exact URL.
4. Press Enter.

You'll land on the Overview report. Don't try to absorb everything — focus on four numbers first.

Reading the Overview Snapshot

Important caveat: Ahrefs' traffic and keyword numbers are estimates based on its own data. They won't match Google Search Console or your analytics exactly. Treat them as directional, not absolute.

Step 2: See What You Already Rank For

Go to Organic Keywords in the left sidebar. This shows queries where your site appears in search results.

Sort by Traffic (descending) to see which pages bring the most estimated visitors. Then look for:

• Keywords ranking in positions 4–15 — these are often the easiest wins. A small content or on-page improvement can push them onto page one.
• Keywords with high volume but low position — potential opportunities if the topic is relevant.
• Irrelevant keywords — if you rank for something off-topic, it may signal thin or mismatched content.

Write down 5–10 of the position 4–15 keywords. These become your first optimization targets.

Step 3: Find Your Best and Weakest Pages

Open Top Pages. This ranks your URLs by estimated organic traffic.

Look for two things:

1. Your top performers — understand what topics and formats work. Can you create more content like this?
2. Pages with traffic but poor rankings — these may need on-page fixes (title, headings, internal links).

If a page gets zero traffic and targets a topic you care about, it's a candidate for a rewrite or consolidation.

Step 4: Run a Technical Site Audit

Now move to Site Audit. This crawls your site and flags technical and on-page issues.

1. Click Site Audit → New project.
2. Enter your domain and set crawl settings (default is usually fine for a small site).
3. Start the crawl and wait for it to finish.

Once complete, you'll see a Health Score and a list of issues grouped by category.

Which Issues to Fix First

Not all issues are equal. Prioritize in this order:

Ignore low-impact warnings (like minor meta description length) until the big items are handled.

Step 5: Turn Findings Into a To-Do List

You now have raw data. Convert it into a short, actionable list. Example:

1. Fix 3 broken links found in Site Audit.
2. Rewrite title tags on 5 pages with duplicate titles.
3. Improve 4 pages ranking in positions 6–12 by adding missing subtopics and internal links.
4. Remove or update 2 thin pages with no traffic.

Keep the list to 5–10 items max for your first audit. Finishing a short list beats starting a long one.

Common Beginner Mistakes

• Chasing every red flag. Site Audit flags many minor issues. Fix what affects rankings and users first.
• Trusting estimates as exact numbers. Ahrefs data is modeled, not measured from your analytics.
• Auditing a huge site too early. Start small to learn the interface.
• Ignoring search intent. A page can be technically perfect but still fail if it doesn't match what searchers want.
• Forgetting to re-crawl. After fixes, run Site Audit again to confirm improvements.

Where to Go Next

Once your first audit is done:

• Compare with competitors using Site Explorer's Competing Domains and Content Gap reports.
• Track keyword rankings over time with Rank Tracker.
• Explore backlink opportunities in the Backlinks and Link Intersect reports.
• Set up recurring Site Audit crawls so new issues surface automatically.

Your first audit isn't about perfection — it's about building a repeatable habit: enter a target, read the key reports, pick the highest-impact fixes, and act. Do that once a month and your site's health compounds.

Classification is the system that groups Para athletes by how much their impairment affects their sport, so that competition happens between athletes with comparable functional ability. Paralympics Australia describes it as "the foundation of Para sport competition." If you are an athlete, coach, or parent trying to understand why two athletes with the same disability can compete in different classes — or why an athlete's class can change over time — classification is the mechanism behind it.

Why classification exists

Para sport covers a wide range of impairments. Without grouping, an athlete with a mild limb difference could be racing an athlete with a high spinal cord injury, and the result would say more about the impairment than about training or skill. Classification exists to remove that imbalance: athletes are placed into a class of athletes whose impairments affect the sport in a similar way, and medals are decided within those classes.

What classification is based on

Classification is not a medical diagnosis, and it is not based on the name of a condition. It looks at how an impairment affects the specific movements and demands of a sport. That is why the same athlete can be in one class for swimming and a different class for athletics — the impairment interacts differently with each sport.

The general logic:

• Impairment type — for example limb deficiency, impaired muscle power, impaired passive range of movement, ataxia, or vision impairment.
• Degree of impact — how much that impairment limits the core actions of the sport (propulsion in a wheelchair race, balance in a sprint start, and so on).
• Sport-specific assessment — the same impairment is judged against each sport's own classification rules.

Who decides an athlete's class

Classification is carried out by trained classifiers — typically medical and technical experts — not chosen by the athlete or the coach. Athletes are assessed through a combination of physical or technical testing and observation in competition, and are assigned a class and a sport class status. This matters for two practical reasons:

1. It protects the integrity of results. An athlete cannot self-select into an easier class.
2. It can change. Classes are reviewed, and an athlete's status may be confirmed, reviewed again, or changed if their impairment changes or if a protest is lodged.

Where to find the rules for a specific sport

Classification rules differ by sport and are set by the relevant international federation, with national bodies like Paralympics Australia providing guidance and pathways. Paralympics Australia's site includes a dedicated Classification section under Para Sport, alongside a Para Sport FAQs page and a Para Sport Events Calendar for finding local events. If you are starting out, the site's The Start Line section is framed as the entry point for a Para sport journey.

How to use this if you are getting involved

• Don't assume your class before you're assessed. Contact the national body for your sport and ask what classification opportunities exist near you.
• Expect the process to involve more than one step. Initial assessment plus in-competition observation is common.
• Check the sport-specific rules, not just general explanations. Two sports can classify the same impairment differently.
• Treat your class status as something to track. If your impairment changes, ask about a review rather than assuming your original class still applies.

For current classification pathways, eligibility details, and event listings in Australia, the authoritative starting point is Paralympics Australia's own Classification and Para Sport sections rather than third-party summaries.

You can support Paralympics Australia through four main routes listed on its site: joining AUS Squad (the official cheer squad of the Australian Paralympic Team), making a donation, running your own fundraiser, or entering ParaLottery. Each suits a different level of commitment — AUS Squad and donations are the simplest, fundraising works best if you have a network to mobilise, and ParaLottery combines a prize draw with giving. The site also points to school fundraising and community programs as additional ways in.

The Support Options at a Glance

Join AUS Squad

AUS Squad is described on the site as the official cheer squad of the Australian Paralympic Team. It is the entry point for supporters who want to follow and back the team rather than make a one-time gift. If your goal is simply to be counted as a supporter and stay connected to the team, start here.

Donate or Fundraise

Donations go directly to Paralympics Australia, and the site frames giving as support for the next generation of Paralympians. If you would rather raise money than give your own, Paralympics Australia provides a fundraising pathway — the site states there are ways you can get involved and fundraise for Paralympics Australia.

The "Give More, Get More" option is also listed: support the next generation of Paralympians and be rewarded. Treat this as a giving route with a benefit attached, not a pure donation.

ParaLottery

ParaLottery is the prize-linked option: support Paralympics Australia and go into the draw to win $25k. If you are deciding between a straight donation and ParaLottery, the difference is that ParaLottery adds a draw entry. The site does not publish ticket pricing or eligibility details in the material available here, so check the ParaLottery page directly before entering.

Other Ways In: Schools and Community

Beyond individual giving, the site lists:

• School fundraising — ways for your class or school to support the Australian Paralympic Team.
• Community programs — including the Paralympic Speakers Program, which connects Australian Paralympians with the community, and Building Employer Confidence.
• Para Tough Cup — framed as "Tough Enough For The Cup?" and tied to supporting the next generation of Paralympians.

If you represent a school, employer, or community group, these routes let you contribute through participation rather than a direct payment.

Choosing Your Route

• Want the least effort and an ongoing tie to the team? Join AUS Squad.
• Want to give right now? Donate.
• Want to give and get something back? Look at "Give More, Get More" or ParaLottery.
• Have a network to activate? Fundraise, or run a school fundraiser.
• Want to involve your organisation? Explore the community and employer programs.

One caveat: the site does not state that any of these options are free, and it does not publish prices for ParaLottery entries or donation tiers in the material available. Confirm costs and any conditions on the relevant page before committing.

Paralympics Australia's website is built around a clear entry point for newcomers: The Start Line, described as "Your Para sport journey begins here." If you are a person with a disability, a parent, a coach, or a teacher looking for a way into Para sport, that page is the intended first stop. From there, the site branches into three practical needs — finding a sport and local events, understanding classification, and connecting with programs or schools.

Start with The Start Line

The Start Line is positioned as the beginning of the Para sport journey rather than a general information page. Use it when you don't yet know which sport suits you or how the pathway works. It sits alongside the site's other entry points, so you can move from it into sport listings, events, or classification depending on what you need next.

Find a sport and a local event

Two sections do most of the work here:

• Para Sports — an overview of the Para sports featured at the Paralympic Games, useful for narrowing down what you want to try.
• Para Sport Events Calendar — described as a way to "find local Para sport events in your area." This is the practical step after you've picked a sport: check the calendar for something near you rather than waiting for a national pathway to open.

If you are unsure what a term means or how the system works before committing, the Para Sport FAQs section answers "a range of Para sport questions" and is a reasonable place to resolve basic doubts first.

Understand classification before you compete

Classification is described on the site as "the foundation of Para sport competition." It is the mechanism that groups athletes by the impact of their impairment so competition is meaningful. You do not need to understand it to start playing or trying a sport, but you will need it before entering classified competition. Read the classification section when you are ready to move from participation toward competitive pathways.

Other ways in: schools, community, and athlete programs

Not everyone enters through the events calendar. The site organises participation into several routes:

Teachers should start with Teacher Resources and School Visits. Athletes already training may get more from the equipment and mentoring programs. Community groups and employers are served by the speakers and employer-confidence programs.

Follow the movement and support it

If your interest is as a fan or supporter rather than a participant, the site covers that too: Latest News, Paralympian Stories ("Hear from Australia's Paralympians in their own words"), and Join AUS Squad, the official cheer squad of the Australian Paralympic Team. Fundraising options include ParaLottery, Para Tough Cup, and general donation.

Upcoming Games listed on the site include Milano Cortina 2026 (6–15 March, 2026), LA 2028, French Alps 2030, and Brisbane 2032, with past Games including Paris 2024, Beijing 2022, and Tokyo 2020.

A practical order of steps

1. Read The Start Line to orient yourself.
2. Browse Para Sports to shortlist what interests you.
3. Check the Para Sport Events Calendar for something local.
4. Read Classification when you want to compete, not before.
5. Use Para Sport FAQs for anything still unclear.
6. If you are in a school, go through Teacher Resources and School Visits instead.

The site does not state costs, membership requirements, or login restrictions for these sections, so treat any fees or eligibility rules as things to confirm directly with Paralympics Australia or the local event organiser.