In January 2018, the NSW Government allocated $207 million over four years to establish the Active Kids program which was aimed at helping NSW families meet the costs of getting their children into sport and fitness activities. With the costs of living appearing to increase every day, families often have to drop activities to make ends meet and this is frequently sport which can be seen as expensive and not essential. However, sport and physical activity can be vital for children’s health and social development.
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The government has been providing vouchers valued at $100 to parents and guardians of children who are aged 4.5 to 18 years and enrolled at school. The vouchers can be used for registration and participation costs for sport and fitness activities and are aimed at reducing barriers to participation and improving physical activity behaviours in NSW children.
Since its launch just over 12 months ago, the Active Kids program has seen 537,432 vouchers redeemed with NSW families benefiting from $53.1 million in sporting cost savings, and those savings will continue until at least 2021.
NSW Treasurer, Dominic Perrottet, said the rebate would help to ease financial pressure on families. “As a parent, I know how important it is to keep your kids physically active, but I also know how household costs can add up.”
“We want to ease the pressure on families where we can, and our hope is that parents take advantage of this rebate and enrol their children in their preferred sport,” Mr Perrottet said.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics found in 2015-16 that 27.4 per cent of of children aged 5 to 17 were overweight or obese, with 74 per cent of children not getting enough physical exercise. Given the ongoing health risks and costs associated with these trends, the NSW government implemented a variety of programs to try and address the situation.
Initiatives including the Healthy School Canteens, the Make Healthy Normal campaign and Go4Fun programs, have all helped stabilise obesity rates with the government’s aim to reduce youth overweight and obesity rates by five per cent within ten years.
Minister for Sport, Stuart Ayres, said the Active Kids program was designed to benefit entire families. "Every dollar counts in the household budget and this is $100 back into the pockets of mums and dads so more kids can play sport.”
“We’re helping to ensure families don’t have to stretch their budgets and to ensure their kids are active and healthy,” Mr Ayres said.
To find out more about the Active Kids program visit sport.nsw.gov.au/sectordevelopment/activekids
