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Blueprint for an Active Australia
Action area 1: Children and young people
Authors: Lisa M Barnett, Jordan Smith, Lauren Arundell, Joseph Carrello, Kar Hau Chong, Dylan Cliff, Kylie Hesketh, Alethea Jerebine, Emiliano Mazzoli, Nicola D Ridgers, Anna Timperio.
Key messages
Physical activity is important to the health, development, and wellbeing of children and young people.1-4 Australia has clear age-specific evidence-based movement guidelines,1 yet only 18% of children and young people meet the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day.5
Australia has a variety of policies and initiatives to support the physical activity of children and young people. These include a physical literacy framework, and a national physical activity report card which tracks young people’s physical activity and related indicators.6,7 There is also a growing recognition of the importance of active outdoor play.8,9
Whilst a variety of programs and initiatives meet the needs of children and young people across the country, more work needs to be done to improve physical activity among children and young people.
Strategic priorities
Key strategic priorities that can make impactful change for the future:
- Invest in safe, inclusive and child-friendly environments. Ensure children and young people of all abilities have access to green spaces, play facilities and safe neighbourhoods that support adventurous and socially engaging play.10,11
- Support families and communities as enablers of active play. Expand effective programs, education and opportunities that empower parents, caregivers and communities to encourage outdoor play, reduce unhealthy screen use and build active habits across childhood.12-15
Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals16 that support children and youth to be active:
For more information see Appendix 1
Why is physical activity important for children and young people?
Physical activity is integral to the health, development, and wellbeing of children and young people.1-4 Those who meet the physical activity guidelines are more likely to experience wide-ranging health benefits. These include improved motor skills, physical fitness, body composition, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and mental health, and psychological wellbeing, as well as improved cognitive function and academic outcomes.4,17-23
The Australian 24‑hour movement guidelines for children and young people highlight the importance of appropriate levels of physical activity, sedentary behaviour and sleep for optimal health.1 However, the vast majority of children living in Australia do not meet the recommended guidelines, highlighting the urgent need for change.
Status of physical activity of children and young people in Australia:
- The most recent national data indicate only 18% of 5–17-year-olds accumulate the recommended 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity every day.5 For young people aged 15–17 years, up to 17% complete 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity, with only 20% engaging in the recommended three days per week of muscle- and bone-strengthening activity, and two thirds (66%) do none at all.24
- International data show an average decline in daily physical activity of between 3% and 5% per year starting as early as age 6.25 In Australia, data collected in 2011–2015 show that overall physical activity (organised, non‑organised, transport and chores) declined on average by 10.9% per year between the ages of 11 and 15.26 Limiting the decline in physical activity from a young age is critical.
- Children and young people in Australia are less physically fit than their international peers, ranking in the 41st percentile for aerobic fitness (20 m shuttle run) and the 28th percentile for muscular fitness (standing long jump).27 Many children and young people do not have basic foundational movement skills (e.g. catch, run, jump, kick, throw).28-30
- At the national level, only 45% of children play outdoors on most days.31 Playing outdoors is associated with higher physical activity levels in children and young people,32 and children with parents who are positive about risk in play outdoors are more likely to meet physical activity guidelines.33
- Excessive recreational screen time (e.g. TV viewing, video gaming, phone and computer use) is linked with adverse outcomes in young people.34 These include higher adiposity, less healthy diets, more depressive symptoms and poorer quality of life.34 As children get older, recreational screen time increases by at least 21 minutes/day (in studies following children for one year), and by up to 43 minutes/day (over four years).35
- Rates of walking and riding a bike to school have declined and are lower than in many other countries.36,37 In 2018, despite many living within 2 km of school, only 23% of primary school children in Australia and 16% of 13–18-year-olds walked or rode a bike to school.38
What is working well to enable physical activity for children and young people?
Policies and initiatives have been implemented across Australia to support children and young people to be physically active. Australia has clear evidence-based movement guidelines for children and young people, a physical literacy framework, and tracking of young people’s physical activity and related indicators with a national report card. There is also growing recognition of the importance of outdoor play. The following documents what is working well. Also, refer to the Action area 8, Education and childcare for additional policies and programs for children and young people within those settings.
- The release of the 24-hour movement guidelines for children and young people in 2019 (following the 2017 release for 0–5-year-olds) has helped reframe the way the spectrum of movement behaviours (i.e. physical activity, sedentary behaviour, and sleep) is viewed across a 24-hour period.1 However, increased awareness among families and health professionals is needed.
- The Australian Physical Literacy Framework developed by the Australian Sports Commission (ASC) was first released in 2019, with version 3 released in 2025.6 In 2024, the ASC established a Physical Literacy Coalition which has developed a two-year national plan for physical literacy with the united vision that, “everyone develops the foundations to be active for life”.39
- An ongoing initiative with national and global impact is the Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance physical activity report card project,7 which collates national data on children and young people’s physical activity and related indicators, and allows for benchmarking against previous reports and other countries. Physical literacy will be included as an indicator for the first time in 2026.
- The statewide roll‑out of the INFANT program,40 supported by the Victorian Department of Health, is educating families in healthy eating, active play and reduced screen time from the start of their baby’s life (from birth to 12 months). See case study for full details.
- There is growing public awareness and concern around the erosion of children’s outdoor play and the need to prioritise the time, space and freedom children have for self-directed active play and recreation.8,9,41 The 2025 Position Statement on Active Outdoor Play, developed through international collaboration and consensus among researchers, practitioners and leaders from 35 countries, illustrates the momentum on this issue. It calls for systemic changes that prioritise equitable access to active outdoor play opportunities to create healthier communities.42 The position statement was informed by several evidence reviews spanning health and wellbeing, movement behaviours, social capital, nature and environment, human rights and policy.43,44 It highlights the benefits of active outdoor play, not only for individuals and communities, but also for the environment.45
Case studies
The following case studies show how evidence-based, family-focused and community-led approaches are being applied in practice to support children and young people to be more active.
Daughters and Dads Active and Empowered
An evidence‑based program engaging girls and their father figures in physical activity to build wellbeing and address gender inequities, with proven long‑term impact.
INFANT program: reducing screen time in early childhood
INFANT supports parents from pregnancy through infancy to promote active play, healthy eating and less screen time in early childhood.
What must be done to promote physical activity for children and young people?
Though Australia has programs and initiatives to support child and youth physical activity, there is a clear need to improve the physical activity levels of children and young people. The following evidence-based strategies and approaches are recommended to increase opportunities for children and young people to be physically active every day.
Policy, practice and leadership
- Maximise the use of existing facilities by adopting policies that allow greater community access to school grounds, sports facilities and playgrounds outside regular hours, supported by collaboration to address safety and other barriers.46
- Expand skill‑building opportunities beyond school settings by offering low-cost programs through community groups to teach foundational movement skills such as swimming, cycling and muscle strengthening exercises, enabling a lifetime of active participation.47
- Involve children, young people and families in decision-making to ensure new infrastructure and programs are appealing, age-appropriate, accessible, inclusive and family-friendly.48
- Strengthen local capacity and involvement by encouraging grassroots action through community-led initiatives that transform public spaces and create new opportunities for play and active recreation.49,50
- Invest in playgroups and early childhood services to create opportunities for all children – including those from disadvantaged backgrounds – to engage in active, nature-based and risky play that fosters the development of motor skills, creativity and physical literacy.51
Urban design and planning
- Create child-friendly community infrastructure by enabling local governments to maintain, enhance, or construct open green spaces, public sport and recreation facilities, playgrounds and informal play areas that encourage adventurous, inclusive and socially engaging play for children and young people of all abilities.10,11
- Invest in safe neighbourhood design that allows children and young people to move freely and independently. Examples include slower traffic speeds, more crossings, safe cycling routes and walkable access to schools and community destinations.52-55
- Community awareness and engagement
- Scale up effective, family-focused programs (both in-person and digital) to strengthen parents’ and caregivers’ knowledge of, and skills in, encouraging active play, physical activity and healthy screen behaviours. These programs should also support families to shape home, social and physical environments that encourage outdoor activity and play.12-14
- Enable co-participation opportunities by providing free or low-cost local activities that encourage children, young people and families to be active together.15
Workforce
- Embed physical activity promotion into professional training so that health professionals, teachers and childcare workers have the knowledge and confidence to encourage active play, physical literacy and healthy screen habits among children and families.56-58
Research, data and innovation
- A review of the evidence for this action area identified the following priorities for investment in research, data and innovation.
- Develop monitoring systems for children’s physical activity, physical literacy (including aerobic/muscular fitness and movement skills) and screen time.
- Collect and analyse data on children’s outdoor time and play environments to better understand how freedom to play can be supported and expanded.
- Improve understanding of digital impacts on children’s activity, including both risks (sedentary time, displacement of play) and opportunities (digital tools to measure and encourage movement).
- Evaluate family and community-based programs at scale, identifying the best strategies for sustainable, broad implementation.
References
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2. Kracht CL, Burkart S, Groves CI, et al. 24-hour movement behavior adherence and associations with health outcomes: an umbrella review. J Act Sedentary Sleep Behav. 2024;3(1):25. doi:10.1186/s44167-024-00064-6
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Heart Foundation related information for children and young people
Introduction
Older adults