About Us
Western's World Leisure Centre of Excellence brings together scholars from diverse fields to deliver high-quality research and teaching that positively contributes to leisure service delivery and public policy, with the aim of ensuring everyone has access to meaningful and fulfilling leisure opportunities that enhance their well-being and quality of life.
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Western Sydney University’s World Leisure Centre of Excellence (WLCE) was established in early 2025 to bring together the work of WSU scholars from different disciplinary fields whose research and practice focus on leisure studies, broadly conceived, as it relates to the health and wellbeing of our communities. The World Leisure Centres of Excellence comprise an international graduate/post-graduate network that offers opportunities for colleges and universities across the world to affiliate with the World Leisure Organization (WLO) to promote graduate educational programs and research centres focused on play, recreation, the arts, culture, sport, festivals and celebrations, health and fitness, travel, and tourism. Western is only the second university in Australasia to achieve WLCE status, and the only one in Australia. Western’s WLCE is established within the University’s School of Health Sciences; however, the membership of Western’s WLCE has no departmental boundaries. The Centre is multi-disciplinary, with the involvement of staff from all Schools and Institutes across the university. The group of scholars that gather under the banner of Western’s WLCE represents the broad and varied nature of leisure-related research across Western. Members work in areas as diverse as health, business, social sciences, education, psychology, medicine, youth studies, and cultural studies; but all are interested in the various ways in which leisure is understood and engaged, whether through sport, arts, tourism, festivals and events, recreation, or physical activity and the way these impact on individual and community health and wellbeing. The Centre also draws attention and resources to both our well-established and emerging undergraduate and postgraduate programs in the broad field of leisure studies, including recreational therapy, sports science, health and physical education, sport development, outdoor education, tourism, events, arts therapy, music therapy, among others. Western’s World Leisure Centre of Excellence aims to showcase the breadth and impact of the high-quality, community-engaged scholarship being conducted in leisure at Western as well as strengthen existing relationships and extend capacity in a coordinated and strategic way. |
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Vision
Our vision for Western Sydney University’s World Leisure Centre of Excellence (WLCE) is for it to provide a hub for interdisciplinary knowledge and innovation in leisure research and practice, while celebrating and empowering the vibrant, diverse community of Western Sydney and beyond. Through cutting-edge and collaborative teaching and, research and community engagement, and with a commitment to sustainability principles, the Centre of Excellence at Western Sydney University will contribute to creating a thriving, inclusive, and resilient community in which all members enjoy their human right to leisure.
What We Do
The interface between leisure and health is central to Western’s WLCE work. Within this broader theme, four Thematic Areas guide the work of Western’s WLCE:
Work in each theme is collaborative and uses expertise from across our membership to foster interdisciplinary cooperation aligned to the Vision and Mission of our Centre. These targeted, but also comprehensive, Thematic Areas enables the Centre to tackle the complex problems that affect individuals, communities, and their environments in different ways and that require interdisciplinary visions and solutions.
While the Thematic Areas provides the foundation for the research projects associated with Western’s WLCE, selected Work Streams allow for the implementation of a program of activities for the Centre. The Events Work Stream, led by Associate Professor Neil Hall, organises small, medium, and large size events while the Student Experience Work Stream, led by Dr Nicole Peel, ensures that the student voice is prioritised in all our actions.
Some activities we engage with are listed below, although they are by no means exhaustive:
