The University of Newcastle, Australia

Staff are encouraged to sign up for the new Fitness Passport when the scheme gets underway from Monday 12 May.

Part of the University's Corporate Wellness Program, the Fitness Passport gives staff and their families access to 25 of the Hunter's top fitness facilities for one low weekly price.

The Fitness Passport prices are:

• $6.70 per week for single
• $10.90 per week for family
• $6.70 per week for any dependant children aged 18-24

A full list of participating facilities is available on the Corporate Wellness website.

The sign-up will go live online from next Monday.

The program will rely on numbers for its continued success, but with over 500 responses to the earlier Fitness Passport survey in just the first four hours interest appears strong.

It's important this interest is converted into action and the University has a target of 800 members to get the program underway. A running tally of memberships will be maintained on the website so everyone can keep track of the progress.

The University is committed to introducing the Fitness Passport on the Central Coast and negotiations are underway with fitness facilities. These negotiations may take some time to finalise but we are hoping to have the scheme up and running later this year. Updates will be provided as negotiations progress.

Thanks go to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Services) Dr Sue Gould and Director of Human Resource Services Ian Pike for their support and assistance during the negotiations with the fitness facilities.