AIS pays more than $3m in restoration to abused athletes

The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) has paid more than $3 million to over 225 athletes abused while holding scholarships.

The restorative program covered scholarship holders between 1981 and 2013, and athletes have been paid between $5,000 and $50,000 each.

Australian Sports Commission (ASC) chief Kieran Perkins says the money is considered only one part of the restoration program.

More than 225 athletes who were abused at the Australian Institute of Sport have been paid more than $3 million.

Officials are preparing to close the sorry chapter in Australian sport, ending the four-year restoration program for AIS scholarship holders.

About 225 AIS athletes have been paid between $5,000 and $50,000 each, and more than $3 million collectively, ahead of the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) stopping the four-year program at the end of the year.

"I don't think that any amount of money restores people from the trauma that they have experienced," ASC chief executive Kieren Perkins told AAP.

The ASC formally apologised in 2022 to AIS scholarship holders subjected to abuse at the nation's sporting hub in Canberra.

Perkins said the money was considered only one component of the restoration program, which most importantly gave ex-athletes a voice.

"Hearing that the organisation absolutely is sorry for what occurred and acknowledges it was unacceptable — and it wasn't their [the athletes'] fault, because they were children at the time — it's extremely powerful and worthwhile," Perkins said.

"Everyone who has been involved with the restorative engagement program, their first priority, by a mile, is wanting to know that their experience isn't happening to athletes today.

"They often feel guilty that they didn't do enough to bring forward their stories … that maybe because they didn't act back in the day, this is perpetuated on to other people.

Perkins said the restorative program, which covered scholarship holders between 1981 and 2013 and also included counselling, would continue to influence current practices.

"When someone comes to you with a complaint and a need to share their story, the worst thing you can do is turn it into a defensive, legal, combative attempt to hide or protect image, in inverted commas," he said.