Australian Play Summit - Perth

Join us for the 3rd  in a Series of Australian Play Summits addressing one of childhood's most fundamental yet overlooked rights: the right to play.

"Play and Wellbeing and the role of Spatial Justice in planning for play".

Guest Speaker - Professor Wendy Russell, Senior Research Fellow, University of Gloucestershire UK

The event will feature presentations by Professor Wendy Russell as well as a practical component for all event delegates to contribute and participate to this important national campaign to protect, promote and provide play for all children living in Australia.

This is the third round in the series of three Play Summits that Play Australia will be hosting in 2026 to drive a national Plan4Play. Each summit will build on the learnings and work of the next.

Together, in 2026, we will chart a path forward for developing a comprehensive national agenda for play in Australia—one that recognizes children's right to play not as a luxury, but as essential to their health, wellbeing, and development.

About the Presenter

Dr Wendy Russell is a Senior Research Fellow and an independent researcher. Her research into children’s play focuses on the politics of space, and playwork. She is a co-founder of the biennial international Philosophy at Play conference and is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Play.

Critical cartography, as developed by Wendy, treats mapping not as a way of recording places but as a way of revealing the relationships, power dynamics and material conditions that shape opportunities for play. Through creative, deliberately ‘inefficient’ mapping, storying and diagramming, Critical Cartography helps practitioners to reflect on and reimagine play spaces, supporting more equitable, playful and responsive environments. Read more…

Wendy’s research into therapeutic playwork explores how children, playworkers, materials, animals and spaces come together to create conditions of safety, joy and self-directed play within therapeutic settings. By combining creative mapping with non-linear evaluation methods, it demonstrates the value of play as a relational, process-based form of care while providing meaningful evidence of its impact beyond conventional outcome measures. Read more…

Wendy has played a leading role in developing the Play Sufficiency Duty in Wales, creating practical, relational tools that help local authorities assess and improve the conditions that enable children to play. Wendy has guided play policy and practice in Wales and promotes play sufficiency internationally. Read more…

THIS PROJECT IS AN INITIATIVE OF PLAY AUSTRALIA.

WE APPRECIATE THE SUPPORT OF DELEGATE REGISTRATION FEES IN FUNDING THIS INITIATIVE.