How we count kids' activities, providers and children

Every number on a council, suburb or property page is calculated from a record we hold, never typed in. This page explains what each one includes, what it leaves out, and where the data comes from, so you can judge a figure before you rely on it.

Key takeaways

• An activity provider is a business, club or school program that runs activities for children. A park, library, pool or hall is a family resource. The two are counted separately and never added together.
• Children means residents aged 0 to 14, from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. We do not estimate ages the ABS does not publish.
• Providers per 10,000 children is the number of activity providers in a council area divided by its children aged 0 to 14, times 10,000. It describes how much is listed around how many children. It is not a ranking, and we do not call any council better or worse.
• Every figure carries its date. Provider counts change whenever the directory changes; population figures change once a year.

What counts as an activity provider

A listing counts as an activity provider when it is a place where someone runs activities for children: a soccer club, a swim school, a dance studio, a tutoring centre, a holiday program. Concretely, a listing counts when at least one of these is true:

• it is filed under an activity category such as Sports, Music, Creative Arts, Academic, Entertainment or Health;
• a provider has claimed it and manages it on AroundSchools;
• it lists class times or packages;
• it organises an upcoming event we hold.

Two kinds of listing are not providers even when their category looks like one. A public pool, aquatic centre or skate park filed under Swimming or Skate is a family resource unless a business runs classes there, because the venue is not the provider. A listing named as a car park is never a provider.

Only active listings count. A listing that has been paused or removed is not counted anywhere.

What counts as a family resource

Parks, playgrounds, reserves, libraries, community centres, halls, public pools and similar public places. They appear on suburb and council pages in their own section with their own count. A library counts only when its listing calls itself a library; an office filed under the library category by mistake does not.

Which council a provider belongs to

Each council area is the ABS 2024 local government area boundary. A provider or school belongs to the council whose boundary contains its map pin. A listing with no pin is not counted for any council.

Where the children figures come from

Population and children per council are the ABS Estimated Resident Population by local government area for 30 June 2024, in the ABS five-year age groups. Children here means the sum of the 0 to 4, 5 to 9 and 10 to 14 groups. We use 0 to 14 rather than 0 to 17 because the ABS publishes five-year groups; a 0 to 17 figure would need a guess about how many 15 to 19 year olds are under 18, and we do not publish guessed figures.

A council page shows the ABS population where we have imported it, and says so beside the number. A page whose population line says about, with no date, is using an approximate figure from our own seed list and will be replaced as the ABS import reaches it.

Attribution: based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data, Regional population by age and sex, 30 June 2024 (ERP by LGA 2024), licensed CC BY 4.0.

How "providers per 10,000 children" is worked out

providers per 10,000 children = activity providers in the council area ÷ children aged 0 to 14 × 10,000

The figure is shown only when both bases can carry it: at least 2,000 children aged 0 to 14 in the area and at least the number of providers a council page needs to exist at all. Below that, a rate would move by tens with every listing added or removed, and we leave it out rather than publish noise.

Two things the figure does not say. It does not say how good the providers are, how many children attend, or whether the listed providers are open this term. And it does not say a council with a higher figure is a better place for a family; a council with few listed providers may simply be one where providers have not been listed yet.

Why councils are not ranked

Our provider counts come from a directory that is far from complete, and completeness differs by area. A ranking would mostly rank how well we have listed each council, not what families there can do. So council pages state their own figures, and the figures are described, not ranked.

Dates and refresh

• Provider, resource, school and event counts are rebuilt from the directory on a schedule, and each council page shows when it was last updated.
• Population and children figures are imported once a year after the ABS releases the June estimates, usually the following March or April. The year shown beside the figure is the ABS reference year.
• Suburb medians and recorded offences, where a page shows them, carry their own period and source.

If a figure looks wrong

Tell us. Every page with AI-written text carries a correction link, and the contact details on our Contact page reach the same team. A provider who finds their listing in the wrong council or category can claim the listing and correct it.