Adventurous Activities

The Basics

Available Courses

In Queensland, the following Adventurous Activities courses are available to all Rovers to attend. Rover Advisors need to have completed their Basic Training prior to attending any Adventurous Activities Courses. 

Rock/Rope Related: Abseiling (Artificial and Natural), Canyoning, Climbing (Artificial and Natural)

Land Based: Bushwalking, Four Wheel Drive, Cycling, Mountain Biking

Water Based Activities: Canoeing, Kayaking, Sailing, Sea Kayaking

Miscellaneous: Archery, Pioneering

To apply for any course, find the date, course number and location in the Branch Training Calendar, complete any eLearning online, and complete an A15 Leader Training Form and send it in to training@scoutsqld.com.au. 

If you are unsure when you will have the chance to attend a course, but want to start learning some new skills, you can always get started into your eLearning early. There are modules available online for Level 1 Common Core, Level 1 Bushwalking, Level 1 Abseiling, Level 1 Canoeing and/or Kayaking, as well as the Core Modules for the Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation. For more information about the Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation, chat to any Guide or Instructor on your Level 1 Course, contact the QBRC Training Officer, or the Scouts QLD Training Officer.

Adventurous Activities vs. Outdoor Adventure Skills

When we are talking in the Training space, we refer to the Outdoor Recreation skills as Adventurous Activities, as we treat all attendees to the courses as Adult Members, undertaking Adult roles. This includes Venturers (Youth Members) and Rovers (Young Adult Members). We know and understand that many of the youth/young adult members attend a Level 1 course in Adventurous Activities, as part of their badgework, to learn a new skill. Significant numbers of participants complete a Level 1, who never progress to completing the Level 2. Once you pass Level 1 in Adventurous Activities, you are no longer just a participant or a novice at activities, and can hold some responsibility at Activities to act in a safe manner. More about the levels of Adventurous Activities training is detailed below.

This is different to the Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS), which is a Program and Award Scheme element being introduced as part of the NYP. The Outdoor Adventure skills, whilst still being a competency based award scheme, does not directly translate into the Adventurous Activities space. Previously we had the ability for a Scout to complete their Adventurer (Green) Water Activities Badge, and lead a multi-night canoe journey, yet when they came up to Venturers, this was then worth nothing and the individual had to re-attend a Level 1 and 2 Canoe Course, before they could run the same activity. The benefit of OAS is that if a Scout achieves their Stage 5 badge in Canoeing, they do not need to restart when they enter the next section. So how does this differ to the AA space? Elements of the OAS Stages do map directly to the AA qualifications, and vice versa, however simply completing a Stage 6 in Abseiling, does not entitle you to any Abseiling qualifications offered through SAIT, you will still need to go through an RPL process to get the formal qualification. 

Any Rover (or Venturer) who already holds a Level 1 or 2 qualification, will be able to map that to the new OAS, and be presented the equivalent Stage badge, once the system has commenced. 

Basic Outdoor Skills Course

What is it and why do I need to do it? 

The Basic Outdoor Skills Course is a collection of modules to assist with the facilitation of Outdoor Adventure Skills in the youth program. These modules cover the following areas: Navigation, Lightweight Camping, Communications Systems, Bushwalking, Planning and Guiding Activities, Minimal Environmental Impact, Weather, Group Facilitation, Responding to Emergencies, WHS, and Risk Management.

After completing these modules, the Basic Outdoor Skills Assessment of Proficiency and the face-to-face practical basic outdoor skills course, you will have developed some of the skills you need to be effective in providing leadership for the youth program.

The Scouts Australia e-Learning modules you complete will provide evidence of your knowledge and understanding of many aspects of planning, participating in and leading Outdoor Adventure Skills. The completion of these modules, together with completed ATD Assessment of Proficiency documents and your adventurous activities log book, will support your application for VET unit recognition.

Okay, alright, but that sounds like a lot of jargon to me.

And you would be right. It’s copy and pasted straight from the eLearning system and it’s explanation of Basic Outdoor Skills. What it means however is that the course covers all the essential details that all Leaders trained in the Scout, Venturer, and Rover sections, plus any Rovers operating in a Leadership capacity for the Rover Section (Rovers who complete their Basic Training), need to know to safely run a variety of overnight activities for youth members. This includes Crew Camps, and Hikes as part of the Physical Badge. 

The majority of Rovers in QLD have come up from Scouts and Venturers, so a large portion of this you will already know. There was also once upon a time the Common Core Level 1 units required as part of all Adventurous Activities Training prior to the BOS Course. For this reason there is a super easy RPL process available to any and all Rovers looking to get their Basic Outdoor Skills ticked off as completed, without going on another Training Course. For more information regarding the RPL process, contact the Scouts QLD Branch Training Officer at training@scoutsqld.com.au.

The next Basic Outdoor Skills Course is on:

Adventurous Activities Training Framework

For Adventurous Activities there are Levels 1, 2, and 3, as well as Guide and Instructor Training. Typically, you need to complete Level 2 in a pursuit before you can start working on the Guide Qualification for that area; some pursuits such as Bushwalking and Archery, allow you to obtain Guide after only Level 1…..

This page is in development. For more information talk to the QBRC Training Officer.