Favier launched his defence of the Canberra campus on Tuesday after another wave of attacks from officials about the use of the multimillion-dollar facility that aims to assist the country's top medal hopes.

Favier said the Australian sports system needed a change after a disaster at the London Olympics four years ago and said failing to act would have seen athletes fall behind the rest of the world.

The AIS has shifted away from its traditional role as an athlete hub to instead focus on the Winning Edge program and giving more responsibility to individual sports, prompting detractors to label it a "ghost town".

But Favier says critics have jumped the gun on cutting down the new structure, imploring them to take a longer-term view of the new system.

He pointed to Australia's Olympic flop in Montreal in 1976, which prompted the introduction of the AIS, and said the country would fall down the medal table if nothing was done to resurrect the slide.

"Any decision to change is tough, but the choice for Australian high-performance sport was clear: show leadership and shake things up, like we did in 1981, or fall further behind the rest of the world," Faviar wrote in an open letter.

"...London was certainly not a Montreal moment but, given the downward trend of results over time, it was clear that intervention was needed before things got worse.

"Winning Edge was not a knee-jerk reaction to results in London. It had been carefully considered well before its implementation and was a deliberate strategy. But the London performance, the worst in 20 years, did provide the catalyst for change."

Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said earlier this year the AIS had become a "shell" of its former life as a thriving hub for athletes, and that a review into its operations was "superficial".

The attacks from high-ranking officials and their timing in the build-up to the Rio Olympic games have angered some at the AIS and Australian Sports Commission giving the Winning Edge program is yet to be tested at an Olympics.

Australia has celebrated 34 world champions in the past four years in Olympic events and the medal prospects for Rio already appear brighter than most expected.

But the introduction of the Winning Edge program changed the face of Australian sport in 2012 and sparked fears that the AIS would become an unused White Elephant.

Australia won just seven gold medals and finished 10th on the overall tally at the London Games.

"It's understandable some people are apprehensive. [The Winning Edge program] is the biggest strategic shift since the creation of the AIS," Favier said.

"All pre-Olympic analysis – ours at the AIS, the Australian Olympic Committee's, and independent international predictions – points to an improvement on the gold medal tally in Rio. It would be the first improvement since Athens 2004.

"Australia is well positioned for Rio, so why be nervous about a strategy that is yielding results in its early stages and has not yet been given a chance to reach its full potential?"

The AIS has cut its staff by 35 per cent in the past five years and its functions have changed to be geared more towards a training camp home rather than having individual athletes on scholarships.

In the same time the AIS has given $340 million in direct grants to Olympic sports.

"The AIS was founded on an ambition of achieving long-term sustainable success. This is the legacy we are aiming to continue at the AIS now and into the future," Faviar said.

"The rich history of the AIS has helped create an expectation of success in Australian Sport, highlighted by the Sydney 2000 Games.

"Consider that Australia won seven gold medals at Barcelona in 1992, placing us tenth on the gold medal tally. It was regarded as a hugely successful performance.

"Australia achieved the very same result at London 2012, but it was widely regarded as disappointing. Times and expectations have changed."

Favier said Winning Edge officials would continue to set "bold" targets despite the constant criticism and calls for the AIS's government funding to be redirected.

There are still 150 athletes based at the AIS while 11 sports still base their centres of excellence in the capital.