April 2026

Coaches and Officials: Help Shape How Sport is Experienced Across Australia

The Australian Sports Commission (ASC), together with the sport system, is inviting people across sport to share their experiences through a national survey.

Whether you’re involved in sport now, have been in the past, or want to get involved – we want to hear from you. Your input will help shape the future to strengthen support, development and sustainability across the system.

Complete the survey HERE

Keen to share more? Register your interest to take part in focus groups, 1:1 interviews or observations: HERE

Please share this with your networks to help ensure diverse voices are heard. Learn more about this initiative: Coaching Action Plan and Officiating Action HERE

National President’s Update - Russell Brown LMACHPER

Call for nominations to ACHPER National Board and for National Awards of Life Member, Fellow and National Service Award.

With our May Annual General Meeting fast approaching, we invite members and professionals in relevant fields to consider nominating for the upcoming elections of several Executive and Board Director positions. This is your opportunity to make a difference at a national level to health and physical education and the sport and recreation sectors.

ACHPER is a proud Play Well Affiliate of the Australian Sports Commission and is involved in numerous national, cross-sector projects. Your experience as an educator, project manager, legal advisor and/or other professional roles is highly valued.

Please email me at russell.brown@flinders.org.au to discuss the available roles, and email ceo@achper.org.au to request a nomination pack by1st May.

ACHPER Collaborating with the National Sports and Physical Activity Convention

The National Sports and Physical Activity Convention is back again in July and ACHPER is proud to be a collaborator. The value of the convention to you as professionals working in health and physical education, sports and recreation is enormous. You can meet face to face with the collaborators who make your work life and recreational life easier and more productive, in terms of highly relevant products, services, and programs. We met with people and companies as diverse as automated line marking, to sports uniform suppliers, to novel games and playing courts, to video analysis hardware and software..the list goes on. We think it's worth your time and we hope to see you there!

Check out the full program here: https://nationalsportsconvention.com.au/program/

Use ACHPER26 Industry Partner discount code to book tickets to the National Sports and

Physical Activity Convention (Melb) here

School Employees Sought for Focus Groups on Food and Nutrition Policy

Western Sydney University and University of

Newcastle are inviting school employees to contribute to the development of national food and nutrition guidelines for Australian Schools.

ACHPER Australia is delighted to be a part of the advisory group and encourages your participation in shaping national guidelines for safe food and nutrition messaging in schools.

What's involved? Being available to contribute to an online focus group, approximately 1.5 hours.

Latest Read from Curriculum Studies in HPE

Teaching Nutrition: the Role of Professional Identity

Globally, Health and Physical Education (HPE) teachers play a key role in shaping adolescents’ nutrition knowledge, yet little is known about how their professional identities influence nutrition education delivery in Australia.

This study addressed this gap by exploring secondary HPE teachers’ perceptions of their identities as subject matter, pedagogical, or didactic experts, and how these identities shape their teaching practices. An explanatory sequential mixed-methods approach was used, involving a survey (n = 38) and interviews (n = 5).

Findings revealed identity-based differences in approach, underscoring the need for targeted professional development, enhanced pre-service training, and a whole-school approach to strengthen nutrition education in secondary schools.

Read the entire open access article HERE

Call for Nominations for National Awards:

ACHPER Event Spotlight

Inclusion 101 - Teaching Students with Special Needs

Survey - What do Kids Think About Tennis?

On the Radar

Go to the ACHPER website to find a selection of activities to

get your family moving together

State Events Calendar and Membership for 2026

Click your state or territory to see upcoming events and/or become a member:

ACHPER Australia is proud to nationally partner with Tennis Australia, the Australian Sports Commission as a Play Well Affiliate and with Netball Schools.

As always, free to share the ACHPER Advocate with your networks. We welcome new members, readers and supporters at any time.

ACHPER Australia recognises the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which we live and work and pays respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, especially within our ACHPER membership, schools and HPE communities, partners and staff.

ACHPER Inc | www.achper.org.au