The Athlete Representative Guidelines are available in English, Spanish and French on the IPC website, as well as a Guide to Creating and Establishing an effective Athletes' Council.

There is a series of documents, tools and templates produced to support athletes in developing a stronger voice within their respective organisation, whether it's National Paralympic Committee (NPC), Regional Organisation (RO) or International Federation (IF).

IPC Athletes' Council Chairperson Chelsey Gotell said: "These Guidelines are part of the Athletes' Council’s four-year strategy, focused on putting athletes at the heart of everything that we, at the Paralympic Movement, do. 

"These resources align with the strategy's first pillar of 'Building athlete leaders' and the third pillar, 'Guiding the progression of the Paralympic Movement', which works with the IPC membership.

"We know that building strong athlete leaders is only half of the equation."

The resources are also intended to support IPC membership in creating an athletes representation model for those who do not have one and those planning to revise their current structures.

"We also need the leadership of the IPC members to buy into the benefits of having athletes involved in the decision-making process and for their governance structures to be set-up to support effective athlete representation," Gotell added.

"These resources are a great first step to accomplishing the IPC goal of being a more athlete-centered organisation and Movement."