Dear ,
2026 Called.
… they want to know if you will be coming out to play?
2025 has been a wonderful year for raising the profile of play in Australia and harnessing the collective energy of play advocates across Australia.
We want to build on that momentum in 2026, and in the words of our CEO Robyn “we have some great, big, hairy, audacious plans” we want to fulfil!!!
We will be commencing 2026 launching our 5 year strategic plan and our advocacy for play is set to go to next level as we drive the development of a new national Plan4Play.
So here is just a smaller taster of what is to come in 2026 ( and this is just the beginning!) …. get out your diaries and save the dates, or get super organised, and next you can BOOK ONLINE and set your new years’ resolution to be a part of the play action in Australia!
DRUM ROLL PLEASE …….Up first....
The Super Audacious Play Australia Event of 2026
Our Australian Play Policy Summits will be held in February, August and October, across Australia, commencing Friday 6th February in Canberra.
The February round of summits will feature Dr Naomi Lott, one of the world’s leading experts on the UNCRC. Naomi has a particular research focus on the way play interacts with other articles in the UNCRC and the use of the UNCRC to support delivery of services to children. Naomi will be speaking on a framework for implementing the right of the child to play identified by 4 key areas - space, time, acceptance, rights-informed.
These 4 key areas are forming then foundation of our National Plan4Play… and we will be inviting you all to get involved in helping to shape and inform the national agenda.
Alongside Naomi, at the summit, Play Aus CEO Robyn will also be presenting the results and recommendations for Australia informed from her Churchill fellowship research project undertaken this year on international policies around play. Sessions will be held in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. (Perth and Adelaide tbc).
Follow up Summits in August ( Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide) and in October ( Perth, Brisbane, Sydney) will pick up the work, and emerging themes, and assist drive the development of the National Plan4Play, plus introduce you to international and Australian experts and advocates to help guide us in the journey.
We will be sharing more information on this in coming weeks and you invite to attend!
Coming Up Internationally …
We are arranging an Australian delegation to the International Play Association’s Triennial conference in Christchurch New Zealand , November 2-5, 2026.
Play Australia is arranging options for travel packages and travel insurance, and we will host some webinars in the lead up to the conference so members of the delegation can meet online and feel super ready to fly the Aussie play flag and wear the green badge in NZ.
We will also be tapping all our members into the monthly IPA World Wednesday Webinar series. These kick off in February and they are held at 12pm London time, so it may be a late night for us but always worthwhile. That schedule will be released early in 2026.
A Taster of what else is on the Play Aus PD Calendar in 2026…
Our first event of the year to launch our Professional Learning calendar will be a seminar presented by the legendary, international expert on Playspace design Helle Nebelong.
Helle will be joining us online from Denmark on Thursday 22 January at 7pm. She is an insightful and inspired speaker, who I had the pleasure to hear speak in Ireland during my Fellowship. Helle will provide us with plenty of space for thought and reflection as we head into 2026. (The event bookings are now open and there is a small fee to assist us cover the costs on this one!)
On the topic of play spaces - the newly launched Adventures in Playspace Design Series will again be delivered in 2026. The webinar series showcases our Australian play space designers. Join us in conversation on Play space design, in the last week of each month at 1pm, with one of our talented members who have made a career out of award winning play space designs. Each designer will share with us perspectives and inspirations on one, or two, of their award winning play space designs, with opportunities for questions following the presentation. These webinars are free for Play Australia members and bookings now open for our February event featuring Jeff Nelson from Melbourne City Council, and our April event featuring Ric McConaghy. ( we skipped March as it is was to close to Easter!)
Our 2025 sessions featuring Fiona Robbe, Mary Jeavons and Leong Khoo were incredibly well received, and people are still viewing the recordings. These are still free to view until 30 January. If you know of someone that should present let us know – we are keen to have our members showcase their ideas and work.
Encore! Encore! We heard you cheering and hot off the success of last year’s Asia Pacific Conference hosted by Play Australia, we will also feature encore performances all year from some of our favourite speakers and members, who are happy to reprise their presentations for those who missed out! Lucky us, Lucinda Jones and Dr Kate Renshaw will be kicking this off on February 9 and 23 respectively!
Our Australian Researchers are doing some amazing work when it comes to play research. In 2026 we will be showcasing this research and each month we will feature a research presentation from one or two of our Playful academics!!
Marion and Jorges are kicking us off sharing their research at a webinar on February 4, and through the year more will join the party. If you are one of them, please reach out!
Our new Play “Essentials” members webinar series is designed for early childhood, parents and those working in children’s services. Each month we will be hosting a webinar featuring an Australian expert who will provide us with new perspectives on aspects of play in early childhood and we will release to coincide with each presentation a fact sheet on the topic that can be used for families, carers and educators to support your advocacy on the topic.
We are kicking off this free member series with a super interesting presentation from expert Aussie microbiologist Dr Jake Robinson on “Dirty Play”. We will be delving deep into why play in dirt is helpful for our microbiome. Bookings are now open along with bookings for seminar 2 with the wonderful Play Aus member, Occupational Therapist and play advocate, Cath Wizarding, who is picking up on that theme “Mud, Movement, and Magic: Sensory integration in outdoor play” on Tuesday March 10 at 4pm. Cath is a popular speaker in our annual calendar.
More speakers will be joining us each month for the Play Essential Series, and those names and dates will be released at the end of January
In Person Training Events…
Our successful Playspace Development and Maintenance course will be running four times in 2026, and dates are now set and open for bookings. We have revamped this course and have a suite of design, risk, maintenance and development experts in their field presenting over the 2 days, including Mary Jeavons, Kait Cummins, Paul Grover, Rob Hamilton, Bruce Stephens and Robyn Monro Miller.
This is an in-person course in Melbourne at Westerfolds Park, if coming from interstate let us know in advance as we can provide a $250 travel rebate off the course cost and provide you advice re travel. We also can run it as a customised program in your state/territory so reach out if you are interested!
Certificate in Playwork Practice is up to cohort 3…!! Once again, Martin is joining us from Wales for a new cohort of training delivery and bookings now open. Check the link for dates and locations, these events fill fast. We start with an online orientation on Thursday 29 January. We also plan a smaller cohort 4 for the 2nd half of the year.
Physical Activity and Sport Conference -- June 30, July 1 and 2 2026
Play Australia will again convene a stream at this conference and this time we are focussing on adolescents and their right to play, as well as gender issues impacting the access of girls to play spaces. Kicking off the event will be a play tour, and we will be looking at models of provision for adolescents. We are also looking forward to hosting a dinner at a local Southbank, Melbourne Restaurant on WEDNESDAY 1 JULY for a members get together, all members welcome, you do not need to be at the conference for that one.
Festival of Playful Provocations – Saturday 24 October, Sydney
This one day event, will feature 4 international speakers, offering us opportunities to take deeper dives into understanding play and playwork practice. Bookings open February 1.
Finally….Networking is an important part of Play Aus Membership!
We are continuing our Risk Assessors Network in 2026.This quarterly meeting of risk assessors is chaired by Andrew Reedy and provides vital discussion and reflection on best practice in risk assessment in Australian Playgrounds.
Plus, we are adding MORE member networks.
A new national Playwork Forum to facilitate quarterly meetings of members with an interest in playwork will commence in 2026. These meetings will be chaired by David Kutcher, Play Aus Board Member from The Venny, and Kylie Keen, from Keen About as co-chair.
Playworkers who are currently working directly with children, can also participate in free online reflective practice meetings facilitated by Gabe Smith from The Venny. These meetings will be held regularly on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month, from 1:00-2:00pm Australian east coast time.
Play Australia will also be hosting a Play Research Forum, and we will be inviting researchers with an interest in play to join the network and stay connected with new opportunities to engage, partner and share learnings. Our first meeting of 2026 will be held in early March.
State and Territory networking events will also be held throughout 2026 and we are currently working on a list of those to coincide with visiting speakers and seminars and repeating our Sydney Harbour Cruse for Vivid. We think that is worthy of a separate e-news… so keep an eye on your inbox and social media!
We hope by now, you are not just excited at the playful possibilities that 2026 is about to bring for us all, you are indeed quivering in anticipation!!! Ok, maybe that is taking it a bit far!!… but we think it is going to be a pretty great year, and we are looking forward to spending it with YOU!
| 
