Report Finds Decline in Children's Unstructured Play, Calls for National Strategy

A National Play Deficit: New Report Calls for Urgent Action to Get Australian Children Playing

A new report from Play Australia, funded through a Churchill Fellowship, has sounded the alarm on a significant decline in children’s play, particularly outdoors. The report is calling on all levels of government to prioritize play by implementing a comprehensive national play strategy.

The State of Play in 2025

According to Robyn Monro Miller, chief executive of Play Australia, a combination of modern pressures is squeezing play out of children’s lives. Key contributing factors identified in the report include:

• Urban planning that fails to prioritize children
• Increased traffic and safety concerns
• Excessive screen time
• A rise in structured, adult-led activities
• Time-poor families

“Play is not reflected in any national government health policy, despite the wealth of research on its benefits,” said Monro Miller. She stressed that by age eight, the time allocated for play drops sharply, and noted that teenagers also have a critical need for play.

Key Recommendations: Play Across All Policy

The report argues that a child’s need to play should be embedded across multiple areas of government policy, including health, urban planning, transport, and education. A central recommendation is for schools to be mandated to provide a minimum amount of free playtime for students.

Evidence from the Ground: Success Stories

The report highlights two promising Australian initiatives that demonstrate the power of unstructured play.

A two-year trial underway in 12 Adelaide schools is taking students to a bushland area for completely unstructured play—without any equipment.

“Unstructured play helps build resilience, problem solving, and collaboration,” said Wynn Vale Primary School principal Amanda Browne. She reported that after these play sessions, children return to the classroom more engaged and ready to learn, with noticeable improvements in collaboration, vocabulary, and language.

As part of the Logan Together program, The Australian Institute of Play created two "loose parts" playgrounds in Brisbane. The impact was immediate.

Principal Andrew Bares reported a remarkable shift in school culture: fights and aggression virtually disappeared, and serious incidents decreased significantly after the playground was introduced.

Barriers to Play

The report, Play Australia's 2025 State of Play, identified specific groups of children who face the most significant barriers to play. These include:

• Children in low socioeconomic environments
• Those living in high-density housing
• Families with a member who has a disability
• Children in rural and remote locations
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
• Girls

Despite strong advocacy and evaluation evidence, funding these vital play initiatives remains a challenge.

“Funding play initiatives is hard,” said Michelle Lucas, executive director of Logan Together, underscoring a persistent hurdle for community organizers.

Renae Powell, who created the "Playtopia" program at her child's school, clarified the vital role of an adult in this process: a play worker’s job is to protect play, not to direct or play with the children.