Confusion is mounting over funding for the Paralympic Centre of Excellence set to be built at the University of Queensland (UQ) in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.
The project, which was announced with a $44 million contribution from the Queensland government in March, matching funds already in place from UQ.
Associate Professor Sean Tweedy heads up the current ParaSTART program at the university and said the new centre will increase its capacity six-fold.
"As soon as that that money is secured … that project is really pretty much shovel ready," Associate Professor Tweedy said.
"The sooner we get the centre built, the sooner we can start meeting that need and growing the programs and the expertise."
Federal government yet to see proposal
But the project is waiting on an additional funding commitment, ideally from the federal government.
In a statement provided to the ABC, a federal government spokesperson said: "We have not received any formal proposal for a new Paralympic Centre of Excellence.
"We will consider any proposals through the usual processes."
That's despite both UQ and the state government publicly stating they hope the federal government will match their contributions.
In announcing the project in March, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she thought the university had reached out to the federal government.
Neither party could provide the ABC with any further information from their March announcement.
According to the Queensland's Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport, it's a university-led project.
Meanwhile, a UQ spokesperson said: "The university looks forward to progressing early planning for the centre in collaboration with our stakeholders and the federal government."
"UQ is continuing to work with government, academic, not-for-profit and Paralympics organisations to further develop designs and plans for the centre. We look forward to presenting a formal proposal to the federal minister once this work is complete."
When the Queensland government originally announced the project, it expected construction to begin anytime between 2025-26 and be completed in 2027-28.
More medals at future Paralympics
Professor Tweedy said the earlier funding is confirmed, "the more successful we can expect to be" at future Paralympic Games.
"It also takes time to get athletes to the level where they're going to be competitive at the Paralympic Games so that preparation time and lead time is crucial," he said.
The current ParaSTART program at the university is already fostering young talent like Chloe Tookey.
Born with cerebral palsy, the 17-year-old was introduced to several sports through the training centre at UQ; an opportunity only provided to around 20 athletes due to current capacity.
The new Paralympic Centre for Excellence won't just target elite athletes, but will also allow more people with a disability to try 20 of the 23 Paralympic sports.
Ms Tookey is currently training and competing at a national level in three sports – discus, shot put and frame running.
"Now that I know that it [Para-sport] is out there, it gives me opportunities to be active, to socialise and to go far," she said.
"It's hard to find the right team and the right resources to get into it."
Her coach ParaSTART exercise physiologist Bridget Dodds got into the role after being inspired by her sister Rachael, who also has cerebral palsy and competed at the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
Of the 4.3 million Australians with a disability, it's estimated only one in four participates in sport, while 75 per cent want to get involved.
Ms Dodds said Chloe's story isn't dissimilar from a lot of other athletes, who want to try multiple sports but aren't provided with the resources or opportunities.
"Those opportunities don't exist," she said.
"We don't have that sort of 'come and try' on all these different sports … a lot of able-bodied kids can try something, and they might hate it, so they'll try five more things."
Ms Dodds told the ABC the new Paralympic Centre of Excellence will attempt to fill that void.
"We're going to have better access, better coaching - then, better research and outcomes disseminated for our future athletes," she said.
