Guides›Joining & Participating
Paying with a Play On! Voucher
Put up to $200 of Queensland Government funding toward this season's membership. Most of it happens before you even open the app.
Here's the short version
Getting a voucher is a Queensland Government process, separate from Swim Club Connect. Using one, once you have it, takes just a couple of extra taps when you register.
- Gov’t site apply for your voucher — nothing to do with our app yet
- Add voucher when you register, enter the voucher number and your child's date of birth, then upload a photo or the PDF
- Pay just the balance, if any — most families pay less, some pay nothing
That's the whole flow. Everything below is detail — plus what happens on the club's side once you've registered.
First time? 6 things worth knowing
- The voucher is worth up to $200 per child.
- One voucher per child per financial year, for children aged 5–17 living in Queensland.
- It only covers membership and participation fees.
- Merch, uniforms, and other club store items are always charged in full — the voucher doesn't apply to those.
- You don't need $200 of fees to use it.
- If your membership fee is less than $200, the voucher just covers what's owed and nothing is charged to your card — but the unused part isn't refunded, banked, or usable anywhere else.
- You'll upload the voucher itself, not just the number.
- A photo or the PDF, right there during registration — that's what the club keeps as proof when they claim the money back from Government.
- It only applies to one swimmer at a time.
- A voucher covers one child. Registering siblings together? The one using a voucher needs its own registration.
- Your club can see it, and it's shared with linked parents.
- Your club's admins can see your registration and the voucher you upload, which they need to claim the money back. The registration and voucher details are also shared with any other parent or guardian linked to your child's profile, not just whoever applied it.
Pro-Tips
- Apply early. Vouchers are released in rounds and can run out before a round officially closes.
- Keep the voucher PDF somewhere easy to find. You'll upload it — or snap a photo of it — right there during registration.
- Check the total before you confirm payment. It updates automatically once your voucher's added — worth a glance before you pay.
Apply for your voucher
Before you register with a club, apply for a Play On! Sports Voucher through Queensland Government's Play On! website. You'll need your child's Medicare details.
Government does this, not us. Swim Club Connect has no part in applying for, approving, or issuing the voucher — that's entirely Queensland Government's process, on their own site.
Approval isn't instant.
Apply before you need to register, not on the night. Once approved, the voucher is emailed to you — there's no in-app way to check on an application.
Receive your voucher
Once approved, Government emails you a digital voucher — a PDF with a voucher number — worth up to $200. Download or save it somewhere you can find it again.
Register and add the voucher at checkout
Start registering your swimmer with the club in Swim Club Connect, same as any other season — just the one swimmer, since a voucher only ever applies to a single-swimmer registration. If your club accepts vouchers, you'll see a reminder about this when you choose your swimmers. When you reach payment, switch on I have a Play On! Sports Voucher, then enter the voucher number and your child's date of birth. Upload a photo or the PDF of the voucher, and the total updates automatically — there's no amount to type.
Date of birth doesn't match? You'll see a warning, not a block.
It's just a check that the voucher matches the child being registered — you can still continue, but it's worth double-checking you've got the right voucher first.
Pay what's left, if anything
Your card is only charged for the balance after the voucher is taken off. If the voucher covers the whole fee, nothing is charged at all, unless you've added store items, which are always charged.
Fee is more than $200
Membership fee $250, voucher covers $200 — you pay $50 by card.
Fee is $200 or under
Membership fee $150, voucher covers $150 — you pay $0. Nothing goes to your card, but the remaining $50 of voucher value is forfeited, not refunded or carried over to anything else.
What happens on the club's side
For committee members and treasurers — here's the back office view.
- The club registers with Government first
- Before accepting any vouchers, the club signs up once as a Play On! activity provider through Government's own Enquire portal, then switches on voucher acceptance in their Swim Club Connect club settings — the fields above won't appear at checkout until they do.
- Claiming the money is a separate, manual step
- The club logs into Government's portal and redeems each voucher — entering the voucher number and the full fee charged. Swim Club Connect doesn't do this automatically; there's no connection between the app and Government's system. The uploaded voucher document sits on the registration for whoever's redeeming to refer back to.
- Government pays the club directly
- Usually within 3–10 business days of redeeming, by bank transfer — not through the app.
- No app fee on the voucher portion
- Swim Club Connect's usual service fee is only taken on what's actually charged to a card, never on the amount a voucher covers.
Vouchers expire — don't let one lapse.
Each round has a cut-off date for families to present a voucher, and a later one for clubs to redeem it. Check qld.gov.au/recreation/sports/funding/playon for the current round's dates before a voucher goes to waste.
That's it
Apply, receive, add it at checkout, pay what's left — the club takes care of claiming the rest.
Questions about eligibility or applying? Queensland Government's Play On! FAQ covers who qualifies and how to apply. For anything about how it works inside Swim Club Connect, reach out to your club.