December 2025

We welcomed two new ACHPER Australia Life Members and three new Fellows in 2025:

• Brad McAllister LMACHPER
• Associate Professor Sue Whatman LMACHPER
• Dr Kelly Ann Parry FACHPER
• Sue Monsen FACHPER
• Clare Roden FACHPER

They have all made outstanding contributions to our organisation.

We were delighted to welcome ACHPER members and colleagues in our professional community to the Australian Catholic University in Melbourne, with highlights including:

Excellent Keynote speakers who gave the Conference a truly international flavour and who

interacted with all throughout the 3 days. We were especially delighted that Professor Dawn Penney gave the ACHPER Scholar Lecture!

A program with over 60 sessions featuring more than 50 national and international experts in

their fields.

Significant opportunities for national and state organisation session presenters to share their work including Tennis Australia, Volleyball Australia, Netball Australia, Hockey Australia, Squash Australia and Handball Australia, along with the Australian Sports Commission and ACARA.

Highly professional and engaged conference participants.

Online participation and audio-visual recordings of keynotes and sessions, which are available to conference delegates as an ongoing resource.

Strong sponsorship and partnership visibility, including our:

○ Platinum Sponsor: Australian Catholic University.

○ Gold Sponsor: Tennis Australia.

○ Silver Sponsors: GPTQA and Griffith University.

○ Exhibitors: Netball Australia and Volleyball Australia.

○ Affiliate Partners: Australian Sports Commission’s PlayWell and Taylor & Francis

who publish our Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education journal.

Special thanks to Conference Director Sue Whatman, Conferences and Events Lead Carolyn Russell and Dr Beth McLeod and her volunteer team from the ACU, for their outstanding contributions.

Our flagship journal has just been re-established with a Q1 journal rating. Journals placed in the first quartile are within the top 25% of journals within their subject category. Congratulations and our hanks to Editor-in-Chief, Prof Chris Hickey, and his 16-member editorial board.

2025 has been an incredibly busy year with a variety of national organisations including Tennis Australia, Snow Australia, Netball Schools, Australian Sports Commission (‘Play Well Affiliate’ status), Hockey Australia, Equestrian Australia and Athletics Australia.

To our amazing Branch Presidents and Executive Officers:

Carolyn Knutsen and Fiona Ness, Presidents in ACHPER NT,

Dan Michael President and Rafe Griffin, EO in ACHPER QLD,

Kristy O’Mahony President and Tracy Puckeridge, CEO in ACHPER NSW,

Kira Patterson President in ACHPER TAS,

Craig Fosdike and Carlee Mitchell, Co-Presidents and Matt Schmidt, EO in ACHPER SA,

Dino Manalis President and Amy Coombe, EO in ACHPER WA

The ACHPER Academic Advisory Committee and the ACHPER Health Promoting Schools

Committee have continued their invaluable work and contributions to our professional communities.

And finally, a huge thank you to our outstanding CEO, Mark Tonner-Joyce, and the ACHPER

Australia Board which includes immediate Past President Sue Whatman, who continued on

the Board as Vice President and directors Adrian Fisher, Sam Rossi, Kristen Skinner, Mel Syron and Melisa Chong.

Across Australia, teachers are working hard to support student wellbeing, engagement and belonging. One of the most powerful yet underused levers we have are the school’s spaces for play. My new TEDx talk explores why play is not simply a break from learning, but a vital part of the school day where movement, relationships and identity take shape.

The ideas in the talk draw on decades of research undertaken in school play, student voice and learning environments. These themes also underpin the ACHPER National Position Statement I co-authored, The Importance of Play at Recess (2024–2026). Across studies and partnerships with schools, the evidence is clear. When play is valued and intentionally supported, students demonstrate stronger social connections, improved emotional regulation and greater readiness to learn.

In the TEDx talk, I share examples from schools that have made small but meaningful changes to the spaces where play happens. These shifts did not require major infrastructure. They emerged from listening closely to young people and designing opportunities for movement, creativity and belonging. The impact on student engagement and school culture was immediate and noticeable.

This message is particularly relevant for HPE educators who see daily how movement, autonomy and social play contribute to the whole child. Spaces for play are among the most significant physical activity settings in the school day, and HPE professionals are uniquely positioned to help schools translate evidence into practice.

It was a privilege to step onto the TEDx stage and shine a light on the role play can have in shaping healthier and more connected schools. I hope the talk encourages further conversation across the HPE community about how we can reimagine schools as places where every child feels heard, valued and ready to play.

Watch the full TEDx talk here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcgnwa25xr0  

Associate Professor Brendon Hyndman

ACHPER Academic Advisory Committee

Associate Dean, Charles Sturt University

You may have recently seen the special issue in Curriculum Studies in Health and Physical Education on Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR).

Our amazing guest editors have curated a fantastic international collection. We are also very fortunate that four of the contributors, Michael Hemphill, Dylan Scanlon, Carla Luguetti and Niamh O'Loughlin presented their work at the ACHPER International Conference.

Some of the special issue articles are now available online and open access, meaning you can freely read them without a Taylor and Francis account. See Luguetti et al. (2025) HERE and Scanlon et al. (2025) HERE. 

Become a Member for 2026!

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

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.