Outdoors SA 2018 Annual Highlights

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Outdoors SA 2018 Annual Highlights

Outdoors SA worked solidly over the past 12 months undertaking advocacy for outdoor adventure and recreational activities in South Australia. Highlights have included engaging with the Prime Minister’s office to ensure legislation changes to protect the livelihoods and educational opportunities for those providing programs in kayaks and canoes. The recent South Australia’s Nature-based Outdoor Economy Report provides the economic data to support our sector. It identified that our outdoor sector contributes $469 million directly to the state’s economy and supports around 8,100 direct and indirect full-time equivalent jobs.

Download the full PDF report on Outdoors SA activities at Outdoors SA 2018 Report

Sector Representation & Advocacy

Stopped financial levy on paddlers

The Federal Department of Infrastructure in 2018 proposed a new levy for commercial operators of canoes and kayaks. This amendment to the current legislation would have imposed a levy charged to all operators of canoes, kayaks and other small craft used for hire, drive or education, for each vessel they own with the price increasing annually. The proposed fees were significant and would have impacted tourism operators and education providers alike. Fortunately due to positive advocacy actions the decision was reversed.

There was an obvious concern that with fewer providers being able to offer safety and instruction courses in kayaking and canoeing due to the levy’s financial impact, there would be an increase in the number of inexperienced paddlers, making it more likely that rescue services will be required.

Outdoors SA was able to directly engage with a diverse array of interstate partners in bringing the concerns of outdoor providers, schools and all paddlers to the attention of the Department of Infrastructure. This was then passed along to the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office. It is not every day that you get told by the Acting Prime Minister’s advisors that they are going to make changes to alleviate the concerns of our sector. It is a clear example of the value of Outdoors SA in being able to collaborate within and between states and provide effective advocacy at such a significant level.

SkillsIQ – advocacy for an improved outdoor leader training package.

The Outdoor Recreation Qualifications, Skills Sets, Units of Competency and associated Assessment Requirements are under review and Outdoors SA supported the opportunity for the engagement of South Australian employers and trainers to share their expertise and experience in the current training needs. SkillsIQ hosted a workshop in Adelaide on the 3rd of September at TAFE SA Regency Campus. Outdoors SA sent representatives along to the workshop to ensure that the opinions of SA outdoor experience and outdoor education providers were well presented.

This has been an ongoing work aligned nationally since the development of the training package by Service Skills Australia. The review and potential adjustments have been long overdue and it has been positive to see that the request for direct face to face engagement in SA were realised.

See SkillsIQ at https://www.skillsiq.com.au/TrainingPackages/SISSportFitnessandRecreation

Involvement in Industry Research:

The UPLOADS (Understanding and Preventing Led Outdoor Accidents Data System) project has continued with the development of the new UPLOADS App. The UPLOADS App is a web-based application used to record incident reports, led outdoor activity participation data, and action plans to address identified problems. 

Other benefits of using the app are:

  • Offline reporting from your tablet or phone.
  • User friendly incident analysis and generation of reports.
  • Industry benchmarking to compare your incident data to other similar organisations.

By understanding what incidents are occurring and what contributory factors are involved, we will ultimately understand how to prevent incidents from occurring again.

The official launch was online and you can now register your organisation to use the new UPLOADS App, by visiting: app.uploadsproject.org 

Thanks to the support of Outdoors SA and partners across Australia the App is free to use until 2021!

Showing the Economic Value of the Outdoors in SA with SkillsIQ

Outdoors SA has long advocated for information on the economic value of our outdoors sector to the South Australian economy. This request has finally been realised with the release of the South Australia’s Nature-based Outdoor Economy Report from esteemed economists of Marsden Jacobs and SkillsIQ.

This report shows that the South Australian nature-based outdoor activity sector is a larger part of the South Australian economy than most of us realise. Around $865 million is spent each year on nature-based outdoor activities in South Australia. This expenditure makes a $469 million contribution to the state’s economy and supports around 8,100 direct and indirect full-time equivalent jobs.

Many nature-based outdoor activities support regional economies by shifting expenditure from urban to regional towns and cities and rural areas.

Nature-based outdoor activities provide avoided healthcare system cost benefits to the South Australian economy worth at least $76 million a year, and $148 million in other recreation benefits for people living in South Australia

The Outdoor Council of Australia announces publishing partnership with Springer and Outdoor Education Australia.

Outdoors SA supported the business planning to ensure the ongoing publishing of the Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education (JOEE). From April Australian Outdoor Providers will have digital access to an ever increasing library of Outdoor Education resources as a result of a new partnership with Springer, one of the world’s largest academic publishing houses. The Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, Australia’s premier outdoor education publication read by Outdoor Educators, was, until recently, published twice a year by the Outdoor Council of Australia. The new agreement sees the publishing of the JOEE passed to Outdoor Education Australia (OEA) in conjunction with Springer. The Outdoor Council of Australia and Outdoors SA has committed to provide ongoing support to the Journal’s development.

The new partnership between OEA and Springer delivers a lot more than your standard journal! It encompasses:

  • 3 new digital issues published each year
  • Advanced online publication of articles prior to appearing in an issue
  • A growing catalogue of short video abstracts for articles made available on the OEA website
  • Over 100 articles from JOEE and AJOE back issues (JOEE was previously the Australian Journal of Outdoor Education – AJOE). These issues will be added throughout 2018

See JOEE at https://www.springer.com/journal/42322

Improving industry standards

Australian Adventure Activity Standards Project update

Technical working Groups progressed the development of the draft Good Practice Guides in the following areas. 

  • Canyoning
  • Challenge courses
  • Inland water paddle-craft

The Australian AAS will provide a good practice framework for safe and responsible planning and delivery of outdoor adventure activities with dependent participants. The activity AAS will hold all the provisions that are applicable to the particular activity.

Additional funding has been secured to ensure that that project can continue into 2019 and allow for ongoing sector consultation.

See https://australianaas.org.au/

Sector promotion and recognition

Outdoors SA regularly promotes the actions that are happening in the various areas of the outdoors sector in SA. This is part of our vision to see more people active outdoors.

Walktober #walktoberSA was the perfect promotional vehicle to launch in October. With the weather getting milder and daylight sticking around for longer it was time to get South Australia’s out and about in SA. WalkingSA ran WalktoberSA with a series of events and guides to help get people active.

Promoted the OEASA- Stage 1 & 2 Outdoor Education Development session

The Outdoor Educators’ Association of SA (OEASA) facilitated a session for teachers involved in the delivery and development of stage 1 and 2 Outdoor Education courses.

This evening had a specific focus on the stage 2 investigation. The training provided the opportunity for those teaching the subject to fine tune their course helping students achieve better educational outcomes.

Regular updates on events like the restrictions to climbing in the Grampians.

Many may be aware of the restricted climbing access in the Grampians National Park. Parks Victoria have released a statement saying that “rock climbing permissions in the Grampians National Park remain unchanged. Climbing is permitted at appropriate sites outlined in the Grampians National Park Management Plan”. We will keep you posted on any updates.

Congratulations to Outdoors SA member – for Walk SA recognition.

Andrew Govan, Bushwalking Leadership SA

2018 Long Standing Contribution/Distinctive Service Award – Individual

Andrew has been involved in bushwalking since the early 1990s and has been a tireless contributor. He has been instrumental in continuing to ensure Bushwalking Leadership SA remains relevant and fit for purpose to the South Australian community. He still is an active member of the Bushwalking Leadership SA Board and is current chair of their Training, Advisory and Assessment panel. He is current chair of Outdoors SA and sits on national boards representing South Australian interests. Andrew has previously been a board member of Walking SA.

See https://www.walkingsa.org.au/awards/winner/andrew-govan/

Further highlights and the ongoing work of Outdoors SA can be found on the website at https://outdoorssa.org.au