Our Active School Travel (AST) program is a free tailored 3-year program for Gold Coast primary schools.
Participating schools receive a suite of resources including free toolkits, incentives and support to enable
students, parents, carers and teachers to:
- re-mode by swapping the car for walking, wheeling and public transport
- reduce car trips by carpooling or combining trips
- re-route to take a slightly different route to avoid congested roads
- re-time school-related trips, by dropping children earlier or picking them up later.
Active travel is the best way to get to and from school on the Gold Coast. When school communities actively
travel, children feel empowered, there is less traffic on our roads and less pollution in our environment.
What's new
We are currently recruiting new primary and high schools to join the Active School Travel Program in 2026!
If your school is interested, please complete the following form. Places are limited and a merit-based
selection process may apply.
Apply now
ART-AST
Congratulations to our ART-AST competition winners and finalists for 2025!
This year, the City of Gold Coast ART-AST competition received more than 700 entries from students across 40
schools on the Gold Coast. The creativity and talent on display was exceptional, with impressive artworks
submitted across all year levels.
The Active School Travel team would like to sincerely thank every student who entered, along with the schools
and teachers who supported the competition.
Our student winners will each receive a $200 Smiggle Gift Card, and their schools will be presented with a
replica of the winning artwork to proudly display.
Winners
Junior Category
Aria S, Prep – Mudgeeraba State School
Intermediate Category
Riton H, Year 2 – Benowa State School
Senior Category
Melody Z, Year 4 – A.B. Patterson College
Finalists
Junior Category
Ollie W, Year 1 – King’s Christian College
Hunar N, Year 1 – Livingstone Christian College
Intermediate Category
Chloe Y, Year 3 - St Joseph’s College
Stella L, Year 3 – William Duncan State School
Senior Category
Doran S, Year 5 – Musgrave Hill State School
Grace J, Year 5/6 – Nerang State School
Benefits of active travel
Since our program's inception, thousands of families have been walking and wheeling their way to school,
having fun, making friends and helping the environment.
Our active travel communities enjoy:
- healthier children
- safer school zones
- increased concentration in students
- making friends (students and parents)
- learning life-long skills
- a connected community
- resources and skills to empower the community
- reduced traffic around school
- helping the environment.
See our program snapshot:
Active School Travel program snapshot(PDF, 646KB)
Hear from our junior active travellers about what they enjoy doing when getting to
and from school.
Get involved
Principals, teachers & school staff
The Active School Travel program is an educational program that empowers children and school
communities to get moving safely. The program fast tracks skills so that students can safely
walk, wheel and BUS IT to school while also learning about the environment, health and
wellbeing.
Structured educational programs that expose children to practical traffic situations include:
Riding Rulz bike skills
The Riding Rulz bike skills program for Year 5 and 6 students aims to encourage students to ride
to school and to have the skills, confidence and experience to ride safely. The training
provides children with invaluable riding skills and lays the foundation for independent travel
choices.
Police Citizen Youth Club bike skills
Bike skills training for Year 4 students is held at Ashmore PCYC. Year 4 students benefit from an
excursion to learn basic bike skills and important road safety information.
BUS IT Bus skills workshops
The workshops aim to build students' road and bus safety skills, confidence, and proper bus
etiquette and include a Surfside bus ride.
Research suggests that children who start their day by walking or riding to school find it easier
to concentrate for up to four hours after their journey.
If your school is interested in learning more about the Active School Travel program, please
contact the team at activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au
Parents & carers
Actively travelling with your children helps create lifelong memories and time for important
conversations. Parents and carers play a critical role in influencing children's positive road
behaviour when engaging in active school travel. Even making a change once a week can make a
significant difference to school-related congestion.
If your child is enrolled in an Active School Travel school, you may also consider joining the
school's Active School Travel Committee (ASTC) to help lead and promote the program within the
school community. Contact your school to see how you can help.
Nationally, there are a number of events you may wish to participate in too, Day for Daniel, National Ride2School Day and
National Walk Safely to School Day.
Resources
Registered AST Schools
Registered Active School Travel schools follow a structured program facilitated by the City of
Gold Coast. If your school is interested in learning more about the Active School Travel
program, please contact the team at activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au.
Access to registered AST school content is via the AST Online resources Hub, contact your AST
Engagement Officer for assistance.
AST Fundamentals Program
For schools who are not yet registered with the Active School travel Program but would like to
start learning more about active school travel, please find some educational resources below:
AST fact sheets
Road safety fact sheets
Our new road safety fact sheet brochures offer advice for families to support their children in
learning and practicing road safety, and basic principles children can follow when actively
travelling around roads.
AST case studies
Active travel stories
Learn about Active School Travel from the schools that have benefited.
Watch our 2025 video competition winners and entrants:
2025 Winners
All 2025 Video Competition Entrants
Road safety for Active School Travel
Road safety around schools is everyone’s responsibility. Understanding and following road safety rules
in and around school zones helps to keep our school communities safe.
Traffic and parking rules in school zones help to optimise traffic movement and make school zones safer
places for children.
The City of Gold Coast is responsible for enforcing parking rules, and offers community education programs to support safe active travel, including road safety skill programs for primary school age students.
Download our brochure:
School zone road rules brochure(PDF, 477KB)
Road safety awareness builds important life skills essential to everyone. To protect them for life, children
should begin road safety education from an early age and continue to be reinforced through to young
adulthood and beyond.
STOP, LOOK, LISTEN & THINK
A helpful strategy that supports children to cross the road safely.
- STOP one step back from the footpath or shoulder of the road if there is no footpath
- LOOK in all directions for approaching traffic
- LISTEN in all directions for approaching traffic
- THINK about whether it is safe to cross the road – when the road is clear, or all
traffic has stopped. When crossing, walk straight across the road. Keep LOOKING and LISTENING for
traffic while crossing.
Our active travel schools
We have so many schools that we have worked with to make Active School Travel a success, we want to give a
shout out to these schools!
View schools
- Started in 2024
- Coombabah State School
- Currumbin State School
- Kings Christian College Pimpama
- Springbrook State School
- St Brigid's Primary School
- Started in 2023
- Ashmore State School
- Coomera Springs State School
- Gainsborough State School
- Gilston State School
- Highland Reserve State School
- Picnic Creek State School
- Pimpama State School
- Tallebudgera State School
- Started in 2022
- Nerang State School
- Norfolk Village State School
- St Joseph’s College
- William Duncan State School
- Worongary State School
- Started in 2021
- Arundel State School
- Coomera State School
- Foxwell State Secondary College
- Jubilee Primary School
- Mudgeeraba State School
- Southport State High School
- Started in 2019
- Caningeraba State School
- Clover Hill State School
- Mudgeeraba Creek State School
- St Andrews Lutheran College
- Upper Coomera State College
- Completed in 2018
- Emmanuel College
- Surfers Paradise State School
- Coomera Rivers State School
- Currumbin State School
- Completed in 2017
- Coombabah State School
- Elanora State School
- Helensvale State School
- Merrimac State School
- Oxenford State School
- Pimpama State School
- Completed in 2016
- Robina State School
- Highland Reserve State School
- St Brigid's Catholic Primary
- St Francis Xavier Catholic Primary
- Varsity College Primary Campus
- Miami State School
- Completed in 2015
- Guardian Angels Primary School
- Southport State School
- Labrador State School
- Park Lake State School
- Tallebudgera State School
- Completed in 2014
- Mudgeeraba State School
- Norfolk Village State School
Contact us
If you are interested in learning more about the Active School Travel program, please email our team at activeschooltravel@goldcoast.qld.gov.au