Children and Youth Services

Strathfield Council develops, coordinates and evaluates the provision of accessible high quality services to meet the diverse needs of children, young people and their families within the Strathfield Local Government Area.

Some of the programs and activities for children and young people in Strathfield include:

Youth Week

National Youth Week is held in April every year for people aged 12 – 24. It is an annual celebration for young people and provides an opportunity to share ideas, raise issues, attend events and celebrate their contribution to the community.

A detailed description of how Youth Week will be celebrated locally will be released here before each annual event.

Sign up to the eNews for updates on youth events.

Go4Fun

The Go4Fun program is a healthy lifestyle program for children aged 7-13 years who are above their healthy weight. The program is organised by the Sydney Local Health District, runs after-school during the school term and is free for eligible families. More information can be found here.

 

Think, Eat and Move

Think, Eat and Move is a free healthy lifestyle program for 13-17 year olds. They provide guidance, resources and solutions to help you lead a healthier lifestyle. This program is completed through convenient online sessions and phone-based health coaching. Work towards your goals, your way, on your time. More information can be found here.

 

Supporting Inner West Youth

Youth off the Streets is a free service working alongside young people and their families to create safety and give them the skills and opportunities to reach their full potential.

 

Playgrounds

Strathfield Council has over 25 playgrounds located in parks and reserves throughout the Strathfield area. These playgrounds are designed for many different age groups, and each playground provides a different range of activities for its users. Improvements and maintenance aim to ensure that playgrounds meet a diverse range of current and future community needs including specific age groups and people with disabilities. For a complete list of playgrounds, click here.

Life Skills

The Advocate for Children and Young People (ACYP) has produced a new video resource, Life Skills.

The Life Skills resource is a series of videos, created with a goal to provide young people with support as they transition to adulthood.

ACYP has regularly heard from children and young people that they want more opportunities to learn information about practical life skills. Young people often tell us that, in addition to the education and supports they already receive, they want more access to practical, real-life advice – including support on how to manage one’s health, finances, employment and households.

The overall purpose of these Life Skills videos is to help young people make informed decisions, solve problems, think critically communicate effectively and cope with and manage their lives in a healthy and productive manner.

Click here to access Life Skills.

NSW Government Children's Vouchers

Active Kids Voucher

The Active Kids program provides a $50 voucher for parents, guardians and carers of school-enrolled children to use towards sport and active recreation costs each year.

The vouchers may be used with a registered activity provider for registration, participation and membership costs for sport, fitness and active recreation activities.

Voucher 1 – 2024: Available from term 1

  • Applications open: 1 February 2024
  • Apply for and use the voucher by: 31 December 2024

Voucher 2 – 2024: Available from term 3

  • Applications open: 15 July 2024
  • Apply for and use the voucher by: 14 July 2025

If you are looking for a registered provider in this program, please visit the following website to find what is available near you: Service NSW – Creative Kids Providers

Start Strong: Preschool Fee Relief

If your child is eligible and enrolled at an eligible community or mobile preschool, fee relief funding will reduce your fees up to a maximum of $4,220 per year.

From early 2023, this fee relief is available to all eligible families through the Start Strong for Community Preschools program.

The fee relief will be passed on to you by your community or mobile preschool service as a reduction to your fees. Services will let you know a fee relief reduction has been made to your fees, such as via a regular invoice, statement from the service, or other means.

You will still need to pay any remaining fees and/or levies after the fee relief has been applied.

For more information, please visit Start Strong for families (nsw.gov.au).

Community and mobile preschool fee relief – families flyer:

– Arabic(PDF, 211KB)

– Chinese Simplified(PDF, 239KB)

– English(PDF, 753KB)

– Hindi(PDF, 211KB)

Long day care preschool fee relief – families flyer:

– Arabic(PDF, 301KB)

– Chinese Simplified(PDF, 285KB)

– English(PDF, 405KB)

– Hindi(PDF, 282KB)

Beyond: Free Digital Careers Platform

Beyond is a free, highly personalised digital careers platform that helps Australian high school students discover their future pathway.

Click here to access Beyond

Beyond Flyer for Students(PDF, 2MB)

Youth2Home: Hub and Outreach

Are you aged 16–24 and homeless, or concerned about your housing situation? 

Call or visit the Parramatta drop-in centre and we can work with you to explore options in Western Sydney for:

  • Crisis, transitional or long-term accommodation

  • Building your skills for living independently

  • Supporting your mental health and wellbeing

  • Connecting you with other support services (such as drug and alcohol services).

We support young individuals, couples, families and expectant mothers.

Youth-SHS-brochure-0318s(PDF, 3MB)