Australia competed at the 2004 Summer Paralympics in Athens, Greece. It was Australia's 12th year of participation at the Paralympics. The team included 151 athletes (91 men and 60 women). Australian competitors won 101 medals (26 gold, 39 silver and 36 bronze) to finish fifth in the gold medal table and second on the total medal table. Australia competed in 12 sports and won medals in 8 sports. The Chef de Mission was Paul Bird. The Australian team was smaller than the Sydney Games due to a strict selection policy related to the athletes' potential to win a medal and the International Paralympic Committee's decision to remove events for athletes with an intellectual disability from the Games due to issues of cheating at the Sydney Games. This was due to a cheating scandal with the Spanish intellectually disabled basketball team in the 2000 Summer Paralympics where it was later discovered that only two players actually had intellectual disabilities. The IPC decision resulted in leading Australian athletes such as Siobhan Paton and Lisa Llorens not being able to defend their Paralympic titles. The 2000 summer paralympic games hosted in Sydney Australia proved to be a milestone for the Australian team as they finished first on the medal tally for the first time in history. In comparing Australia's 2000 Paralympic performance and their 2004 performance, it is suggested that having a home advantage might affect performance.
Outstanding performers
Swimmer Matthew Cowdrey at age 15, was the youngest member of the Australian Paralympic Team, and at his first Paralympic Games he won three gold, two silver and two bronze medals, and finished the meet with two World & Paralympic Record times. His amazing achievements were recognised and he received the Medal of the Order of Australia, were named Young Paralympian of the Year at the Australian Paralympian of the Year Awards and Swimmer of the Year with a Disability by Swimming Australia. Swimmer Chantel Wolfenden, also in her first ever Paralympic Games, won gold, silver and four bronze during the games while also setting a new personal record in the 400m Freestyle. For her great accomplishments she received the Medal of the Order of Australia Prue Watt, another first time Paralympian swimmer, established herself as one of the most successful Australian athletes during the 2004 Games, winning five silver medals and one bronze medal. To honor her accomplishments she was awarded the 2004 Female Junior Paralympian of the Year for her achievements Tim Sullivan won four gold medals in athletics sprints events, three of which were individual and two of which involved new world records. To celebrate his amazing achievements, he was named Australian Paralympian of the Year by the Australian Paralympic Committee [APC], and won the Victorian Institute of Sport's [VIS] Athlete with a Disability Award Ben Austin won four individual medals as a swimmer, one gold, two silver and one bronze. He was also part of the 4 × 100 m Freestyle Relay team and 4 × 100 m Medley Relay where they won silver and gold In the 100m freestyle he became one of the first ever swimmers in the S8 category to break the one minute barrier. For his accomplishments at the 2004 Games he received the Medal of the Order of Australia Cyclist Lindy Hou qualified for her first Paralympic Games in 2004 with pilots Janelle Lindsay and Toireasa Gallagher. The Games became a huge success and she won a total of four medals, one gold, two silver and one bronze. She and Janelle Lindsey also became the first Australian female athletes to win gold during the 2004 Paralympic games. They also set the world record in the Women's 200m Fly with the time 11.675 seconds. Her accomplishments were celebrated with the Medal of the Order of Australia Heath Francis won two individual silver medals and one bronze medal. He was also part of the Men's 4 × 400 m T42-T46 relay team and Men's 4 × 100 m T42-T46 where they won silver and bronze. Some of the other outstanding Australian athletes included: Six athletes won three medals - Don Elgin, Neil Fuller, Kurt Fearnley and Darren Thrupp in athletics and Kieran Modra and Christopher Scott in cycling.