Data report · July 2026

Kids' Classes in Australia 2026: the first national census

We indexed every kids' activity provider we could find on Google Maps across all 17,324 Australian localities — then verified each one's website. The result is the first national picture of where Australian children learn to swim, dance, code, kick and sing: 8,447 active providers.

The headline findings

• Fewer than 1 in 10 providers (814 of 8,447) publicly display child-safety credentials such as Working With Children Check registration on their websites — despite WWCC being mandatory for staff in every state. Parents mostly can't verify it before walking in.
• Swimming is Australia's biggest kids' activity — 1,700 providers offer learn-to-swim programs, ahead of dance (1,411) and martial arts (932).
• Parents are generous but consistent raters: the national average sits between 4.6★ and 4.73★ in every state, on hundreds of thousands of Google reviews.
• Sydney out-provides Melbourne by 38% in listed providers (1,028 vs 743).

Providers by state

What Australian kids do after school

Providers can offer multiple activities. Largest metro counts: Sydney 1,028 · Melbourne 743.

Methodology

Between June and July 2026 we queried Google Maps for children's classes and activities across all 17,324 Australian localities, then screened every result: each provider's website was crawled and classified, and businesses that aren't genuinely children's activity providers (venues, pubs, adult-only gyms) were excluded. Safety-credential figures count providers whose websites publicly reference Working With Children Check / Blue Card credentials; more providers hold credentials than display them — which is itself the finding. Ratings are Google review averages for providers with 5+ reviews. State-level counts reflect listed, verified providers and may vary with local search coverage.