Children's active travel

08 May 2025

As part of their ‘healthy lifestyle programs for primary schools’, NSW Health encourage children to participate in active travel.

What is active travel?

Active travel means walking, cycling, scootering, skateboarding or any similar transport where human energy is spent to travel. The health benefits of active travel are well recognised, particularly as an alternative to motorised or sedentary forms of transport.

Using public transport almost always includes walking to and from destinations, and therefore also can be considered as active travel.

Children’s active travel

Children’s local active travel to places they regularly visit provides significant health benefits from physical activity, can improve concentration, increase independence and positive self-esteem, and contribute to safe mobility.

Ways to encourage active travel for children

Parents/carers have responsibility for how their child(ren) travel to school and other activities. The factsheets below highlight some benefits of safe active travel and how to encourage active travel.

Get Kids Active

Visit the Government's Get Kids Active website to learn what's being done to making it easier, safer and more fun for kids to walk and ride to school.

Learn more