Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is Australia’s internationally acclaimed national centre of sports excellence for the training and development of elite athletes and teams. Opened in 1981 in response to disappointing results from the Australian team at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the AIS originally offered scholarships in eight sports, all based in Canberra.

Today, the AIS offers scholarships to 700 athletes each year in 38 sport programs in 29 sports. We employ over 100 coaches and 100 sports science and sports medicine staff to help these athletes achieve their goals.

In addition to high performance coaching, the AIS gives athletes access to world-leading sports science and sports medicine services, state-of-the-art sports facilities, opportunities for national and international competition, and the chance to travel, work and study. It also offers a national network of advisers who help athletes with educational guidance, career planning, job searching and personal development to make sure they plan for life after sport.

Getting around Canberra is made easy with Canberra's bus service, Action. From the Australian Institute of Sport to the City, buses with 300 series (300, 312, 313 and 315) and bus number 34 have routes from Haydon Drive, Bruce to the City and back. While the University House, The Clifton and The Hyatt Hotel are along bus routes, Waldorf Apartments and Crowne Plaza are a block or two away. Delegates staying at The Bentley Suites will have to change buses at the City Bus Interchange and catch bus number 35. Each trip is approximately 17 minutes and the service frequency is every 5-10 minutes on weekdays and 10-20 minutes on weekends. Fare is $6.60 daily for adults and $3.30 for those with concession. Find out more about timetables and routes.

Canberra

Canberra - it's the capital of Australia. It is sometimes called 'the bush capital' because pockets of bushland reserve extend almost to the city centre and over half our land is classified as national park or nature reserve.

Canberra's Airport is just 10 minutes from the city centre and Qantas and Virgin Blue both have regular flights.