Adrienne Mary Elise Smith OAM (19 January 1934 – 20 February 2012) was a leading Australian sport administrator. She played a significant role in the establishment of the Australian Paralympic Federation in 1990.

Personal

She was born Adrienne Mary Elise Funda in

Murwillumbah Murwillumbah ( ) is a town in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Tweed Shire, on the Tweed River. Sitting on the south eastern foothills of the McPherson Range in the Tweed Volcano valley, Murwillumbah is 848&nbs ...

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. She was the only child of Paul and Margery Funda. Smith’s early life was in

Balmoral, New South Wales Balmoral is an urban locality in the suburb of Mosman in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is in the local government area of the Municipality of Mosman and is part of the Lower North Shore. The locality is mostly known for its beach, o ...

and she attended

North Sydney Girls High School North Sydney Girls' High School (abbreviated as NSGHS, more commonly known as NSG) is a government-funded single-sex academically selective secondary day school for girls, located in Crows Nest, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Esta ...

. In 1960, she married Roger Smith who was in the British Army and they had two daughters Nicola and Cecilia. Her marriage broke up after 12 years. After leaving the Australian Paralympic Federation in 1992, she brought a mango farm at

Grassy Head Grassy (meaning 'covered with grass' or 'resembling grass') may refer to: Populated places *Grassy, Lauderdale County, Alabama, an unincorporated community *Grassy, Marshall County, Alabama, an unincorporated community *Grassy, Missouri, unincor ...

, on the

Mid North Coast The Mid North Coast is a country region in the north-east of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The region, situated 416km north of Sydney, covers the mid northern coast of the state, beginning from Port Stephens at Hawks Nest to as far ...

. She worked as a volunteer at the local Stuarts Point and District Community and Yarrahapinni Festival. She died after a battle with

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

Career

She worked in the

Charlotte Pass Charlotte Pass (often erroneously referred to as Charlotte's Pass) is a snow resort and village in the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. The pass is in the Kosciuszko National Park where the Kosciuszko Road crosses Kangaroo Ridge. ...

ski fields for the NSW Ski Association after leaving school. This was the start of her long career of assisting athletes with a disability. Whilst at Charlotte Pass, she became involved with Disabled Winter Sport Australia and met

Ron Finneran Ronald James Finneran Order of Australia, OAM (born 1944) is an Australian Paralympic athlete and sports administrator, from Merimbula, New South Wales. Skiing career Finneran was born in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra, New South Wales, Marou ...

. In 1977, she became executive director of New South Wales Ski Association and two years later took on a similar role at the Australian Ski Federation. She acknowledges that Ron Finneran, Australia’s first winter Paralympian, played a significant role in educating her in the area of disability sport. In 1984, she took up the position of the national co-ordinator for sport and recreation for the

Australian Bicentennial Authority Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

. In this position, she is credited as obtaining $500,000 for disability sport programs. Whilst in this position, Smith realised that there was the need for a national organisation for disability sport to provide better co-ordination. Due to her work for the Authority’s Sport88 program, she was named Australian Sports Administrator of the Year. She became the Australian Paralympic Federation's inaugural Secretary-General in 1990. The Federation brought together a range of disparate disability groups such as riding for the disabled, amputee, cerebral palsy and others with the aim of improving access to international competition, coaching and training facilities. The Federation received no government funding in the first two years and a great deal of her time was spent trying to convince business to provide financial support. Some of her work was done pro bono due to the Federation having limited funds. Due to the Federation's lack of funds, she personally underwrote the Australian team that attended the 1992 Albertville Winter Paralympics. At these Games, Michael Milton went on to win Australia’s first winter Paralympics gold medal. With Federation President Ron Finneran, she lobbied to ensure the Paralympics were part of Sydney’s bid for the 2000 Olympics and underwritten by the Federal and State Governments. Smith commented that, "We couldn’t go public because if we did it would have ruined the Olympic bid. We had no acknowledgement of financial support from the government until the day of the bid in September 1993." Australia went on to win the bid and host a very successful Paralympic Games. After she left the Federation, she started research on the history of the Paralympic movement in Australia. In 2000, she ran a leg of the Sydney Olympics torch relay in

Urunga, New South Wales Urunga ( ) is a small town located within the Mid North Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, in Bellingen Shire. It is famous for its surf spots (reefs, beaches and mouth of two rivers). At the , Urunga had a population of 3,185. The tow ...

. After her death in 2012,

Greg Hartung Gregory Neil Hartung (born 3 June 1948) is a leading Australian and international sport administrator. He has an extensive and distinguished career in sport particularly in terms of administration and journalism. He was President of the Austr ...

, the President of the Australian Paralympic Committee said, "Through her enthusiasm for Paralympic sport, Adrienne brought many people into our movement. Australian Paralympic athletes, coaches and administrators today benefit from Adrienne’s pioneering work. Adrienne successfully established the Australian Paralympic Federation and saw it through the tumultuous early years. Her legacy continues in the form of a strong and professional organisation and a movement which goes from strength to strength"

Recognition

She was recognized for her work for disability sport and sports administration. *2000 – Australian Sports Medal. *2004 – Australian Paralympic Medal, the highest award for a non-athlete. *2008 – Order of Australia in 2008 for her services to sports administration. *2016 – Inducted into the Australian Paralympic Hall of Fame.

Personal

Career

Recognition

References

Further reading