We are excited to announce that the Special Olympics Australia bid to host the World Games in Perth in 2027 was submitted to Special Olympics International on Friday 15 July 2022. The submission it took a lot of hard work by the World Games Bid Team, and we have our fingers crossed that by the end of the year we will be announced as the winning bid.
From the very beginning, the Bid Team made a commitment to ensuring the bid is athlete-centric, quality focussed, and distinctly Australian. The submission included the important and valuable feedback received from more than 140 athletes, family members, and volunteers to our survey circulated in May 2022.
The impactful cover page of our bid included inspirational words provided during the survey by Ruby Lawler, a Special Olympics athlete from Queensland. Ruby put it simply: “See what we can achieve together…”. Ruby’s comment reflects that our journey to success is by working together. Thank you for your inspiring quote, Ruby.
Amazing photographs are featured throughout the bid using joyous and warm images of games, competition, and training from clubs and states around Australia, our near neighbours in Special Olympics Asia Pacific, along with beautiful scenes of Western Australia provided by Tourism Western Australia and Tourism Australia.
The Indigenous artwork that features throughout the bid is by Jeremy Donovan, a proud Kuku-Yalanji and Gumbaynngirr man of Far North Queensland and the Mid North Coast of New South Wales. Jeremy’s artwork reflects a strong connection to culture, Country and community. In a similar theme to Ruby’s but in his own words, Jeremy says “the culture and the wisdom of this Country does not just belong to us as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people, it belongs to us as Australians.” We thank Jeremy for providing his permission to incorporate his artwork into the bid.
The next steps in the bid process are:
| Bid Process | Timeline |
| Bid lodgment date | 15 July 2022 |
| Top two bids identified for evaluation site visits | 31 August 2022 |
| Evaluation site visits (on-site) | W/c 10 October 2022 |
| Bid presentation to Special Olympics International | W/c 10 October 2022 |
| Evaluation report completed | 30 October 2022 |
| Special Olympics International presents Host City Selection Recommendation and Host City selected |
November 2022 |
| Games Agreement signed and awarded | December 2022 – January 2023 (TBC) |
| Host City announcement | December 2022 – January 2023 (TBC) |
We will keep you informed as the bid assessment progresses.
If you have any queries about the Perth 2027 World Games bid, please feel free to email Fiona Lander, World Games Bid Director on fional@specialolympics.com.au.
Special Olympics Australia strives to ensure that everyone living with an intellectual disability can participate in sport. We provide: