National Finalists

Better Cities Group

Roper Gulf Regional Council

The importance of sport and recreation cannot be underestimated in remote communities in the Roper Gulf. As many communities can be blocked off for up to six months due to monsoon, poor roads and flooding. This is why the Roper Gulf Active and Connected Sport and Recreation Masterplan is such a powerful document. Based on comprehensive stakeholder engagement, global benchmarking and a commitment to logical investment it presents a 10 year roadmap for Council and the community and best practice in indigenous community strategic planning.

Department for Environment and Water

City of Marion

Glenthorne National Park-Ityamaiitpinna Yarta Adventure Playground is one of the biggest nature play spaces in South Australia. Designed as an all-inclusive, innovative place for children (and adults) of all ages, cultures, degrees of mobility, gender, and neurodivergence to enjoy imaginative and creative play in a natural setting. The Adventure Playground and trails feature on-ground interpretive signage as well as app and augmented reality elements exploring the Aboriginal and European history of the park as well as its environmental restoration and activities for all.

City of Joondalup

Craigie Leisure Centre is a modern, spacious and aesthetically pleasing venue. Due to significant investment by the City and State Government it is considered one of the premier community leisure and aquatic facilities in Western Australia. Keeping pace with industry trends, the community can now access a state of the art inclusive facility supporting physical and mental health and well-being. Accessible features, high-tech gym equipment and increased exercise space supports over 150 classes each week. Success is confirmed by a 56% increase in memberships, that was not forecast until 2028.

MidCoast Council

The development of the MidCoast Parks and Recreation Planning Portfolio sets an industry benchmark for the management of public open space in Australia. We sought to identify the key planning components for our 826 parks and reserves, and having done that set about developing strategies for those key components. Managing open space, sport, recreation, play, skate, and the lighting of our sports facilities was acknowledged as being key to delivering outcomes for our community. The MidCoast Parks and Recreation Planning Portfolio presents to the parks industry a different way of doing planning.

City of Wodonga

Belvoir Park Stage 2 takes inspiration from the surrounding environment and encourages people to imagine, slide, ride, climb, stay and explore. It is a place for everyone regardless of age, gender or ability to spend quality time physically and be socially engaged. It is a combination of modern, traditional and natural play elements flowing into each other and embodies the visions for Wodonga’s Playgrounds, Open Spaces and Physical Activity, providing a connected active and passive recreation opportunity.

Rural City of Wangaratta

The Ned Kelly Discovery Hub fuses innovative technology with Australia's rich history. This world-class visitor attraction is future focused, but also acknowledges, respects, and pays tribute to the complexities of our past. By integrating the dramatic story of Ned Kelly with the area's cultural heritage and natural beauty, it offers a comprehensive, accessible educational experience that enriches understanding of the bushranger era. This project not only preserves the legacy of a national legend but also revitalizes Glenrowan, promoting sustainable tourism and deeper historical engagement.

Campbelltown City Council

JPE Design Studio

Paradise Recreation Plaza in Paradise South Australia provides an exciting and dynamic space for people of all ages, abilities and skill levels to enjoy. It offers a new safe, accessible and highly functioning recreation destination providing high quality play, skate/scooter, bike/BMX, parkour, ninja adventure, hardcourt space, kick-about grassed area and picnic/BBQ facilities. The redevelopment was completed in December 2023 at a project cost of $3.89 million, with $1.52 million awarded from the South Australian State Government’s Planning and Development Fund Open Space Grant.

Mornington Peninsula Shire

Council has filled the gap in recreation infrastructure provision through delivery of a new, safe, local and accessible outdoor zone for children. Olivia Way Playground allows kids to enjoy both nature-based and traditional play components and is rounded off with a line-marked scooter track looping the entire facility.

City of Stirling

The WA Tree Festival, is a groundbreaking State-wide celebration of trees and the natural environment, that soared to new heights under the driving force and continued leadership of the City of Stirling in 2023. It has now been firmly established as the annual Local Government sector's flagship community awareness and education initiative for trees.

Kylie Van Uden is one of the most impressive emerging leaders in the Parks Industry today. Kylie has risen from a horticultural apprentice to Technical Officer over the past decade and has a demonstrated track record of personal and professional drive, ambition and success. She actively takes on new challenges, has a hunger for learning and is passionate about her ability to contribute to the Parks sector. Whether its leading teams, mentoring apprentices or sitting on PLA Councils or judging panels Kylie demonstrates what it takes to be an emerging leader in the Parks industry.

Fiona Robbé Landscape Architects

From the escarpment of the Merrigong mountains (the Illawarra Escarpment) to the sea, Yirran muru (many pathways) Playspace is a collaboration of Dharawal knowledge celebrating 65,000 years of Dharawal connection to Country, Dreaming stories, travel routes, and language. The playspace builds on extensive consultation and provides a complex and layered map of the area, comprising inclusive physical, social, and sensory play challenges along with discovery based learning opportunities. The immersive journey of discovery at Yirran muru Aboriginal Interpretive Playspace is the first of its kind.

City of Kwinana

The Calista Bike Skills Track is designed to teach young children traffic rules through play. Its purpose it to increase children’s safety and confidence to navigate traffic as cyclists and pedestrians and to empower them to choose active transport. It is located at Calista Oval, which is already home to the Kwinana Adventure Park and the Edge Skatepark and is nestled amongst mature trees, which provide natural shade. The project was funded by the State Government through DLGSC, the City of Kwinana and the RAC and has been received very positively by local families and schools.

Sport and Recreation - Department and Tourism and Sport

The Deadly Active and Torres Strait Community Sport and Recreation Programs represent a transformational shift in the delivery of physical activity programs to discrete First Nations communities in Queensland. These programs empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders to have a genuine say in how physical activity programs are delivered to them in line with the Queensland Government’s commitment to self-determination for Australia's first peoples.

Sunshine Coast Council and Hassell

The Sunshine Coast Ecological Park Master Plan provides the guidance to establish a new kind of park that considers people, wildlife, resources and vegetation equally - a genuine balance of recreation and ecological restoration and healing of Country. Built on a platform of extensive pre-planning, strategic thinking, collaboration and a community driven design process, the Master Plan provides a recipe for a park that will provide residents and visitors to the Sunshine Coast with a diverse recreational, educational and re-wilding experiences with a backdrop of a continually changing landscape.

Landscape Elements

“The Oval”, the first of three neighbourhoods delivered through the Subi East project, is revitalising a WA icon – Subiaco Oval. Demolition of the old stadium provided a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to reimagine inner-city living, with design of the public realm placing people and environment first. The 4.1ha park area (the oval playing surface and surrounding parkland) raises the bar on provision of all-inclusive community assets and offers unprecedented heritage learning experiences with a dual focus on Whadjuk Noongar heritage and WA football history.

City of Marion

Common Ground Trails

The Majors Road Pump Track provides a destination for riders in metropolitan Adelaide. Nestled into Glenthorne National Park, between the Sam Willoughby International BMX facility and the O'Halloran Hill Mountain Bike Trails, the pump track brings the community to the trails. Providing an exceptionally designed and constructed pump that rides like a dream according to the users. The track is a fast technical track for experienced riders yet also a perfect training ground for toddlers, children and adults. This track truly embraces intergenerational play.

Softfall Testing Pty Ltd

Independent Comprehensive Audit of City of Melbourne playground assets, using Playground 123 to collect all the auditing, asset and location data for the first time on a large scale.

Tweed Shire Council

The Uki Mountain Bike Park is a must do experience in the Northern NSW region, created by Tweed Shire Council and the Tweed Valley Mountain Bike Riders. The Bike Park is FREE to use and accessible by all ages and abilities. The Park includes 8 mountain bike trails with beginner, medium and difficult levels as well as a pump track specifically designed for kids. With the breathtaking backdrop of Mount Warning (Wollumbin) National Park and rural setting, it is a significant contributor to regional recreation and leisure facilities in the area.

ASPECT Studios

The Waterfront Park in Devonport is the centrepiece of the second stage of Devonport’s LIVING CITY Masterplan, the largest urban renewal project undertaken in regional Tasmania. The new Park improves the connection between central Devonport and the Mersey River and provides activity and event spaces for the community in the forms of a nature-based playspace, a sculpture park, an amphitheatre, an events lawn, and a waterfront promenade.

City of Casey

Orana Community Place is the result of a successful partnership that enabled us to provide a valuable community facility much earlier than is usually possible in newly built areas. Opening in 2023, this state-of-the-art hub is home to playgroups, school holiday programs, social groups, wellness activities and a café that has become the heart of the community. The project aimed to deliver an interim community hub and early years facility in the growth corridor, facilitating a greater sense of community connection, ability to access health and wellbeing programs, and early years services sooner.

Moir Landscape Architecture

Moir LA conducted research using thermal imaging to address the impact of heat in school environments. Data-driven design interventions, including shade enhancements and material selection, transformed the playgrounds into cooler, engaging spaces, benefiting student well-being and learning. The approach utilised accessible technology that offers a scalable solution for mitigating heat impacts industry wide.

Sunshine Coast Regional Council

Buderim Village Park is a celebrated, vibrant and activated new park that is an example of best practice design and management. Buderim Village Park has evolved to be one of the Sunshine Coasts most popular and loved parks for recreation and events. Boasting spectacular views the park provides visitors with open space and facilities for recreation, picnicking, social gathering, play, and community activities. Parkland, car parks, pathways, activity areas and facilities support community use and access. The village green, trees and gardens blend with natural areas to connect people to nature.

Football NSW

The Daughters and Dads Football Program engages fathers and their primary school-aged daughters in football to enhance social-emotional well-being. Supported by the NSW Football Legacy Program, it challenges gender norms, strengthens familial bonds, and promotes physical activity. Structured over 9 weeks to align with school terms, it fosters values like persistence and resilience. With over 630 participating families since July 2022, it attracts newcomers to football, promoting community engagement. NOTE Information in this submission is not to be distributed outside the purposes of the award

Kingston City Council

Elder Street South Reserve forms a section in the long-planned joint State Government/Council project to turn historic landfill areas into a series of linked parks known as the ‘Chain of Parks’. It is a 4-hectare former landfill site in Clarinda, which has been rehabilitated and developed into a park showcasing high quality community facilities and environmental management. Elder Street South Reserve provides an opportunity for the rehabilitation of a highly modified and degraded side into a flourishing community asset.

Arcadia Landscape Architecture

Lane Cove Council

The only park built over a railway line in Australia, Wadanggari Park is the result of innovative thinking and a collaborative, multi-disciplinary approach. This highly complex project delivers much-needed public open space to the St Leonards CBD, supporting the new residential and commercial communities moving into the suburb. Wadanggari Park provides significant open space amenity with spaces for play, passive recreation, events, alfresco dining, vibrant retail and pedestrian connections to existing and future public transport infrastucture.