Danielle Fisher from Campbelltown City Council reminds us how our busy lives are interfering with playing! In this video, Danielle and Gavin Fairbrother from Play Australia, show us how the Hectorville neighbourhood came out to play as part of the 1000 Play Streets South Australia launch. Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing, Cory Wingard was on hand to play cricket with the kids and everyone enjoyed a great day on the local streets. 

Danielle says, "Opportunities like this are really important for our community to connect and for the kids to be able to engage in a really active lifestyle." 

Picture L-R Gavin Fairbrother (Play Australia), Vinod Kalirawna (Hectorville resident), Danielle Fisher (Campbelltown City Council)

Play Australia continues to be a proud member organisation and we are excited to build our advocacy efforts alongside our members to promote the value of play and support all Australians to play every day.

We have been working on an array of exciting developments to bring a fresh approach to better meet the common needs of our Members, highlighted by our survey results. As such, from 1 January 2021 we are excited to announce the launch of our new Play Australia Membership Packages – providing simple options that focus on bringing greater benefits to our diverse Members:

The World Health Organization (WHO) Physical Activity Guildelines released in November, states that a staggering 5 million deaths a year could have been saved if people had been more active.  In this year of the pandemic, when many have been in lockdown, this is a massive reminder of the health imperative to keep active.

'Regular physical activity is key to preventing and helping to manage heart disease, type-2 diabetes, and cancer, as well as reducing symptoms of depression and anxiety, reducing cognitive decline, improving memory and boosting brain health'  WHO

STREETS AHEAD is a bold research report that opens up the discussion around how the pandemic is reframing how we think about our cities.  In particular, it talks about strategies to remove cars and ‘pedestrianise’ streets, creating more space for parks, playgrounds and market gardens. 

The NSW Premier has already highlighted wanting to prioritise the number of homes in urban areas to be within a 10 minute walk of open, green, public spaces by 2023. By closing off quiet community streets would allow for communities to develop ‘vibrant places for local communities’ and increase ‘life satisfaction'. 

Justin Kaese (pictured) is the Manager & Playground Inspector for Play Force who recently purchased one of the new Play Australia member signs.  We asked Justin, why do you believe it is important to promote the value of play?

Justin explains, "For me it’s simple, if kids don't play, they aren't exposed to the environments and interactions that help them develop both physically and emotionally and enable them to grow into successful young adults. It’s important to promote the value of play so that people understand that there is much more going on under the hood when we are simply swinging on a swing or climbing to the top of a play tower and to encourage everyone to get out there and play."

If you recognise the importance of embedding play into everyone’s daily lives to achieve better life outcomes, then become a Play Australia member. You can help to protect the rights of every child in Australia to PLAY TODAY so they can experience a better tomorrow.

Play Australia is the peak national advocacy organisation for PLAY.