Peters, who is now chief executive of the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, also called on battling sporting powerbrokers to put athletes first as they engage in a boardroom war.

Peters was in Canberra on Thursday with Gold Coast Commonwealth Games chairman Peter Beattie to announce a $2 million funding injection to the commission's direct athlete support program.

It adds to the $12 million invested in by the commission to give athletes the best chance of winning a medal at the Games, which start on April 4 next year.

But behind the scenes there is friction between Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates and commission chairman John Wylie.

Former Hockeyroo Danni Roche is also set to challenge Coates for his position, which he has held unopposed since 1990, at a meeting on May 6.

"We have to keep reviewing what is the best way to run our sports system," Peters said.

"I know that's [happening] and it's great to see [commission chief executive] Kate Palmer's appointment now.

"I've got the confidence the right people are making the right arguments. We need to sort out some of the public debate between the AOC and the commission.

"We all have to work as a partnership ... sport is about the athletes. We're all here because we want to see Australian athletes doing grand things on the world stage."

The $14 million of direct athlete funding will is a major boost for Australia's hopes of usurping England at the top of the Commonwealth Games medal tally next year.

It is already helping 208 athletes from 19 sports, including topping up 122 Olympic funded athletes and 86 emerging competitors.

Some of the athletes, including World Cup gold-medal winning gymnast Chris Remkes, have shifted their training base to Canberra to work at the AIS.

The institute copped heavy criticism last year in the build up the Rio Olympics for being a "ghost town" devoid of athletes.

Peters spent eight years working at the AIS before resigning in 2008 and helped redevelop the institute site.

He said athlete investment had a direct correlation on medal success at Commonwealth and Olympic Games.

"[The AIS] has to play a major role. The success of Australian sport improved and everyone copied. That has to be at the forefront of everyone's minds," Peters said.

"That has to be the strength of our sporting system. The time I spent here was one of the most fantastic times. For us, it's all about focusing on the athletes.

"We could do more with more money. That's the basic reality when you look at sports programs. It's a home [Commonwealth Games] ... what the issue is beyond that, it's a public debate at the moment.

"But the bottom line is that if you put more money in we're more successful."

Australian cyclist Rachel Neylan, who won a silver medal at the 2012 world championships, is basing herself in the capital before a stint in Europe at the end of April.

"The Commonwealth Games is a big goal for me over the next 12 months," Neylan said.

"There is a real high-performance drop-in hub here in Canberra ... there are some of the best sports science and sports medicine brains in the world.

"The funding we get doesn't go towards anything fancy, it's basically so we can live and chase those medals."