We want to understand how we can support you to be a healthy and active Melburnian whether you live, work, or study in the municipality. We want to know how our services and facilities can be improved to make it easier for you to engage in active recreation (formal and informal).

The current Active Melbourne Strategy is due for renewal. The new strategy will be for 2017 to 2022.

The strategy will be the City of Melbourne’s blue print for improving the physical and mental health and wellbeing of people of all ages, genders, cultural backgrounds and levels of ability. It will provide a framework for increasing community participation in physical activity (formal and informal) by reviewing how we deliver our sport and recreation facilities, programs and services to ensure we deliver these in the most appropriate manner. It will assist ongoing decision making around resources allocation and priorities.

People who are not active or don’t currently use City of Melbourne services, so that we can support them to become regular users of our programs and facilities. We also want to hear from existing recreation participants to learn if there are ways we can further assist you in being active.

There are two ways to influence the strategy. The first is by completing the attached survey. Your feedback will be considered when developing the draft Active Melbourne strategy.

The second is by completing the attached Future Melbourne survey. Future Melbourne is a project that considers a full spectrum of issues for the City of Melbourne. To ensure the views of people who are committed to active recreation are also captured in this separate study it is important to complete this survey as well.

There are clear physical and mental health benefits of regular moderate-intensity physical activity. Research supports the notion that 30 minutes of moderate activity on most days of the week is sufficient for health gain. The activity can be deliberate or incidental, and can be undertaken in blocks of 10 to 15 minutes duration. In addition to the individual benefits, being active on a regular basis gives a greater sense of community and connection, as well as important economic and environmental benefits.