Michelle Lensink, Minister for Human Services in the South Australian Government, introduces these new Inclusive Play guidelines as 'a set of guiding principles to assist in the design and development of playspaces that enable all children and their families to engage in play and play together'.  

Well worth a read for those who support best practice design and development of playspaces for children of all abilities to play together.

Cathy Kiss, Life Member of Play Australia,  has been awarded an Order of Australia in the Australia Day 2021 Honours List, 
For significant service to the parks and recreation industry, and to children's wellbeing.  An award so well deserved!

Cathy was a Board member of Play Australia, formerly the Playgrounds & Recreation Association of Victoria, for 22 years, serving in a variety of leadership roles, including as President for 10 years. Cathy's contribution to Play Australia is significant and children's play opportunities are all the richer for her passion and commitment.  

This terrific article discusses the benefits for children's play experiences when the toys are taken out of the equation. Research undertaken in Germany twenty years ago demonstrated,  'fewer toys help children use and develop their imagination, lengthen attention span, promotes taking care of and valuing the toys they do have more while creating greater opportunities to explore nature.'

The aim of the project was to nourish self-confidence, imagination, creativity, problem-solving abilities and socialisation. 

Play Australia welcomes the newly published Playground Standards to be applicable throughout Australia. Details will be sent shortly to all members.

These Standards will be presented to, and discussed with Members via our ‘soon to be launched’ Online Learning Series,  as well as the 2 Day Play Space Development Training program to be run throughout 2021.

The March session is nearly full, so be quick. With such demand we are now looking at running an extra program in April. We'll keep you posted! 

Now's a great time to become a Play Australia Member and access the expertise and knowledge developed specifically for the play sector. Click here and join today!

I am an engineer and employed by UTS as the Professor of Risk Management and Injury Prevention. For 25 years I have been involved in Standards development.

In an increasingly urbanised environment, Standards are a tool that enable society to bring exciting play to Australian children. Play provides people of all ages with the opportunity to learn, explore, challenge and test their limits while having fun.

What is important to me is providing play within the bounds that ensure Australians are not permanently injured or killed. This does not mean they won’t be injured. It does mean the design parameters enable serious accidents to be eliminated and fewer resources are needed to maintain our health care system and our quality of life is enhanced.

Play Australia wishes to thank and acknowledge the significant contribution David has made over many years to the development of Playground Standards both in Australia and internationally.

International Play Association (IPA) has released a special webinar series that is free for IPA members.

Featuring international speakers to reward you with their expertise. We think you will be inspired by what you hear!

UPCOMING SESSIONS include:

• 10 February - Play in the Community
• 17 February - Rethinking Play Environments
• 24 February - Empowering Play in the Digital Age
• 3 March Government and NGO Responses to Supporting Play during COVID