OCA Sector Update – National Summit outcomes
The Outdoor Council of Australia (OCA) called a National Summit in May 2021 where states and territories invited 13 participants each that covered all the sectors represented in the Outdoor community. These included camp providers, activity leaders, academics, registered training organisations, government land owners, government policy makers, health practitioners and more. The event involved a preparation survey that enabled attendees to voice their priorities in relation to change for the industry. This was then ratified at the summit and 5 groups were formed to continue discussion. These included;
- Pay Conditions and Retention of Staff
- Training and Career Pathways
- Industry Frameworks
- Access & Inclusion
- Promotion of the Industry
The headline ideas from these groups is now being formulated into the starting brief for Working Groups. There will be 3 Working Groups where Access, Inclusion and promotion of the industry will become part of the considerations of each of the 3 topics.
Working Groups will start in July along 3 main areas;
- Attraction and retention of outdoor workers
- Outdoor qualifications and training pathways
- Industry accreditation and framework.
Successful members will be notified in the coming weeks and gaps in skills and experience will be identified and subsequent members invited to participate.
The industry is welcome to make submissions to all or any of these working groups by emailing secretariat@outdoorcouncil.asn.au
From the President’s Desk.
“During 2020, the Outdoor Council of Australia (OCA) came together in a powerful collaboration to assist Australia’s outdoor sectors navigate through a time of extreme volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity. Together, we faced 2020 head-on.
I was impressed by the collaboration and the willingness to improve what we have, although we all know we have a pretty awesome industry to start with! The OCA board wants to continue this momentum, so we held a Summit in May 2021. During the Summit, the ‘warts and all’ were discussed, and we asked others to join us in moves towards improvement for all.
What comes next is perhaps the most important stage of this process. I speak for the OCA Board, when I stress that we cannot lose this momentum. If you have participated in the Summit process this far, we urge you to continue the journey with us, and if you haven’t had the chance to be involved, please join us as opportunities arise.”
Dom Courtney
President – Outdoor Council of Australia