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The Asthma Friendly Schools Program

The Asthma Friendly Schools (AFS) program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing and is a national initiative aimed at all primary and secondary schools across Australia.

The AFS program was launched in 2000 and is managed through the Asthma Foundations in all states and territories of Australia.

What is an Asthma Friendly School?

An Asthma Friendly School adopts the AFS program strategies to support the whole school community in understanding and managing asthma.

For a school to gain Asthma Friendly status they need to fulfill the program’s 8 essential criteria.

The aim of the AFS program is to improve the quality of life, health outcomes and well being for school children with asthma.

The AFS program will
  • Contribute to the development of safer, healthier and more supportive school environments for students with asthma
  • Provide asthma awareness training for school staff to enhance their confidence and capacity to respond to an asthma incident
  • Enable school staff to provide asthma education to students and information to parents/carers
  • Improve self-management skills in students with asthma to enable them to participate fully in daily activities including regular exercise and sport
  • Provide for the establishment of quality sustainable practices for the management of asthma in Australian schools
Current Statistics

84% of Australian schools are Registered in the AFS program
36% of Australian schools are Recognised as Asthma Friendly

Updated every 4 months; last update: October 2008; next update: February 2009

Asthma Foundations
ACT | NSW | NT | QLD | SA | TAS | VIC | WA

Asthma Friendly is a registered trademark of the Asthma Foundations of Australia.