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The Invictus Games Foundation has launched Invictus Australia – previously known as Veteran Sport Australia – to support sport, health and wellbeing programs for veterans.
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The Invictus Games Foundation has officially launched Invictus Australia to delivery sport recovery programs and services, while supporting the health and wellbeing of veterans via sport.
Invictus Australia, which was formerly known as Veteran Sport Australia – signed an agreement with the global Invictus Games Foundation to enable the brand to continue operating in Australia, and thus continuing to support veterans outside of the formalised games. Invictus Australia is the first such program in the world to localise the spirit of the games.
The group hopes to collaborate with sport, community and veteran organisations to deliver further additional to veterans and their families, with an estimated 640,000 veterans in the country.
According to a release, the priorities of the group are to expand their services across all state and territories in the country, while supporting Team Australia with the Australian Defence Force ahead of the upcoming 2022 Invictus Games at The Hague.
“This is an important day for our Defence community in Australia. We witnessed incredible courage, determination and [camaraderie] when the Invictus Games landed on our shores in 2018. It brought attention to the challenges faced by our veteran community and a platform for those of us who support our Defence community to unite. The benefit of those Games continues today,” James Brown, chairman of Invictus Australia, said.
“At a time when the veteran community has faced challenges to their identity and seen mental and physical health issues grow in prominence, to the detriment of many, the Invictus movement provides a beacon of positivity and encouragement.”
Michael Hartung, chief executive of Invictus Australia, said, “We are incredibly proud and honoured to be re-establishing the Invictus brand here in Australia, for the benefit of our Defence community. It is due to the success of Invictus Games Sydney 2018 and the hard work since to implement an effective and ongoing legacy that the Invictus Games Foundation has chosen Australia to pioneer the next frontier of the Invictus movement.
“Invictus means ‘unconquered’ and our motto is Unconquered Together. This is representative of the collaborative spirit sparked by Invictus and what can be achieved by working together. It is an exciting time and we are encouraging everyone to get involved.”
Dominic Reid OBE, chief executive of the Invictus Games Foundation (UK), expressed his hope that the creation of Invictus Australia will inspire the creation of other partnerships.
“In recent years, the Invictus Games Foundation has reflected on how best to continue to support its international community of wounded, injured and sick service men and women, in particular beyond the success of our global Invictus Games,” Reid said.
“We were delighted to be approached by Veteran Sport Australia, set up following the Invictus Games Sydney 2018, with a proposition to expand the Invictus model to boost the international impact Down Under. With its unique position as a long standing participating nation, a former host nation, and with a newly formed legacy organisation, Invictus Australia was born and the Invictus Games Foundation is excited to see how, through the power of sport and adventurous challenge, the Invictus community will continue to be Unconquered Together.”
[Related: PODCAST: Making the Australian team at the upcoming Invictus Games, Andrew Wilkinson, athlete]
