A New Request For Proposal Could Change How Outdoor Programs Book Government Sites

A government facility can be booked like any other venue, or it can become the backbone of a whole new program model. That’s the tension we explore here, starting with rapid-fire sector updates and landing on a timely opportunity from the NSW Office of Sport: a formal request for proposal to use facilities across its sport and recreation centres for seven days or more.

We walk through what’s happening across the outdoor industry in NSW and the ACT, including big visibility moments in adventure tourism, what those wins mean for operators, and a practical safety reminder with a Petzl product recall that’s worth checking against your kit and inventory. We also flag the AAAS review survey and why your input matters before changes harden into process, plus the occupational shortage survey that helps government understand the roles we simply cannot fill and the training subsidies our sector fights to keep.

Then Lachlan Clark, Director Centre South and West at the NSW Office of Sport, lays out the facility use RFP in plain language: which centres have the most availability, what kinds of proposals are welcome (from self-directed hire to supported program delivery with accommodation and meals), where to find the tender documents on Buy NSW, and the non-negotiable closing date. We also dig into the “why” behind it: better asset utilization in service of getting more people active through sport and recreation.

If you run camps, outdoor education, training, guiding, or community programs, this one is packed with concrete links and decision points. Subscribe for more industry updates, share this with someone who books venues, and leave a review with the program idea you’d pitch if you had a week of guaranteed access.

Transcript

Speaker 0:03

Welcome to the Outdoors New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory, weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum, where ideas thrive, collaborations spark, and our industry comes together to grow. Let's connect, share, and make an impact. This episode is recorded live with our professional outdoor friends and provided post-event as a resource for the outdoor industry.

Industry Highlights And Shout Outs

Safety Recall And Standards Survey

Training Events And Workforce Shortages

Masterclass Plus Awards And Judges

Office Of Sport Facility Opportunity

Speaker 1 0:27

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to episode six of season four of our Connect and Share Forums with Outdoors New South Wales and ACT. Today, 13th of March, we've got a lot to share. I'm going to be really quick this morning because we have an amazing presentation from Lachlan from the Office of Sport. But before we jump in, I'd like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands in which we all meet on today. I sit here on Darug Country and I'm absolutely indebted to our traditional owners who've cared for this land for as long as they have to ensure that we can continue to connect with country and bring that into our experiences in the outdoor industry. So let's jump into some of the things that we'll need to know. As I say, Loughlin's joined us today from the Office of Sport. He'll be talking about an expression of interest on the use of the facilities that outdoor that Office of Sport have. So more on that in a little bit. But this week was a little bit jam-packed, and as you can probably hear, I'm not that well. So I have spent a few days in bed. But this is probably why, because I was in Perth celebrating with the beautiful Blue Mountains Climbing School, because they were one of the top seven experiences in the country in the accessible category for tourism. So this was the Australian Tourism Awards held at the beautiful uh Fremantle Jail that you can see there. And um we had no wins, unfortunately, for the Blue Mountains Climbing School, but still they came away, being one of those top seven, which is just incredible. Um but we did have a win in the ACT with Floriad. So um well done, Jason and team, uh ACT Sean Bright at the Australian Tourism Awards. We also had the uh next episode of the Pinnacle Leadership Programme with Kai, and she spoke about empowerment and inspiring. So uh a great session there from Kai. We also caught up with our worldwide friends in the outdoors. So it's an absolute privilege now, as I sit as chair of the Outdoor Council of Australia, to meet with some of our international friends. Uh, it's really interesting to see that uh, you know, some have got to get up at five, some have got to be up at 10 to be at these meetings, but it's really a worthwhile conversation. And uh that is, of course, Europe and Canada who we're connecting with on screen there. And a big call out to Joe Dawes from Glenworth Valley Adventures. Uh, he was featured yesterday on the Today show uh with his amazing experiences, just bringing light to more activities that people can do out in the outdoors. So well done, Joe and team, for such a great promotion of what we do. Here's a quick safety recall for you for those that have petzel products. Um, just have a look on their website. There is the harnesses that have a D clip uh issue and the ice picks, which have a handle issue. So please can you have a look at your stock and uh just review if any of these are part of your kit? The AAAS review is really underway, and there's a quick survey there which we really urge everyone to respond to. If you scan that QR code, it'll take you to some questions which really highlight some of the main changes that we are trying to make in response to your feedback with the AAAS, but we want to make sure that everyone is on board with these before we go too far. So this survey will certainly help in that aspect. So uh please scan and uh complete that and help us uh help you. The Skills AQ Forum is on the 23rd of March. This is uh an opportunity to connect with the vet sector in particular, um, and you'll hear from the uh Minister of Skills at this event uh and various other keynote speakers. It will be a good day if you're in that training uh area, and it's going to be held at the Business New South Wales Head Office in Chiffley Square in Sydney. So it is free to come along, just scan that QR code and you can join me there. Uh Council Council has partnered with the Outdoor Council of Australia and all of the members, which includes us, uh, with a competition. So if you have some great photos of you outdoors being sun safe, now is your opportunity to add them to the competition. You might win a share of $950. So if you have some great images, like you can see here, Trav from Valley Outdoors doing his sun safety thing, um, that'll be great for you to submit them. And you might find your images on posters right across the country promoting sun safety for outdoor workers. So, yeah, get your photos in by the 30th of April. The occupational shortage list is incredibly important for our sector. We are currently on that list in the 25 version, which has mean meant that we get access to some trainee subsidies, but also access to more opportunities. This year's survey is now open, and it was through you guys completing this last year and all the peak bodies that got us on the occupational shortage list last year. So please, if you have time, if you have positions you cannot fill, this is really important for you to complete. It will show the government how we are struggling at getting uh our skills in the positions that we need. And as you can see there, we do have right now two and a half thousand for every employer and two and a half thousand for every person training in the outdoor leadership qualification right now. Um, and that's due to being on that's that list. So let's keep it on that list and show that we cannot fill our jobs because that's what I'm hearing from you. So uh yeah, fill out that survey. Your professional development sessions are still up on the website. So if you're having a look at what you can do this year to increase your staff or yourselves, your uh development, you have a look because we've got a whole range of things from ab sailing to canyoning to kayaking, also first aid, um, as well as our leadership uh courses as well. So have a look, jump in there. If you've got any questions, please reach out. Tintin is our training coordinator. He'll be more than happy to assist you with what you need. The top tour guide awards would be great to have an adventure guide up there. So if you're thinking of someone who's a great adventure guide, this is a great opportunity to put your yourself or someone else on a stage and be recognized for what they do. This closes on the 10th of April and submissions um are a little bit onerous. So make sure you jump in there a little bit earlier. It goes into a little bit of depth, but that shows you the quality of these awards. It actually uh looks at the person, what their contribution is to the industry, and also their practice. You know, what is best practice in our area? So if you are crowned New South Wales tour guide, you might go through the national and be crowned Australian tour guide of the year. So jump in, have a go. You never know. Our masterclass is coming up on the 15th and 16th of July. This is a great opportunity for those that are senior managers or owners of businesses to work on their business for two days straight. The topics here will be very much around the key topics that will drive change or opportunity in the next two years. So this is your opportunity if you are a senior manager or a business owner manager to come along and be part of that experience. Uh, gold members for the first time are getting that free. So uh great uh reward for them being nominated as gold members. And then we have our awards. So our awards are open now, a little bit more on that in a bit, but it'll be the ceremony of the night of the last day of that masterclass. And this is brought to you by Affinity Insurance Brokers. They will close on the 10th of May. Uh again, have a look in advance and see which categories um you'd like to enter. Uh, the following two days is the outdoor learning mini conference. So, this is primarily for your educators and the facilitators of getting more kids outdoors more often. So, uh, if you are an educator, this is a great opportunity to connect with like minds uh and also share experience. This could be your opportunity to share some of the things that you have seen, work well, and um, yeah, combine that with networking amongst your peers. Pro Deal at OnePlanet has got this available for all the members of Outdoors New South Wales and ACT. So make sure you apply for that. Gives you some great discounts and enables you to get some of that new equipment that you've wanted. So thanks to OnePlanet for that. Here's the outdoor industry awards categories. You can have a quick scan through there. There's a few of the education nature. Now, these will go through the outdoor education Australia website for nomination, but will come back to us for judging. The reason why that happens is because you go through the national and you might be crowned at the National Outdoor Education Conference a national winner if you go into those categories. All the other categories stay at the state level, but they still are very prestigious in their winning uh or the opportunity of becoming a finalist. So have a look at the ones that you fit into and nominate your product. Um they close on the 10th of May. We're also calling for judges. So if you don't see yourself entering, we'd like to hear from you if you're wanting to really support the industry growth and help evaluate some of the businesses and provide that feedback. Because the benefit of entering these awards is you will get feedback on what is happening in the industry in general and what you could think about adding to your product. So, yeah, scan that QR code and we'd love to see you as part of the judging team. Here's the key dates. So we're open for applications, they close on the 10th of May. We have a judging period from the 13th to the 31st of May. So if you're wanting to be a judge, that's a really good thing to put in your diary because that's the time you have. Uh, we do have people's choice voting for the Industry Choice Award from the 15th of May to the 15th of June. And the Mandatory Judges Day is on the 9th of June. So if you are a judge, you need to attend that 9th of June day because that helps us deliberate on who the winners are. And all in preparation for the awards evening on the 16th of July. So now, as I say, we have Loughlin with us to take us through an opportunity for the industry. So um, if you want to scan that QR code, it might give you a bit of preemptory uh access to what uh Loughlin's gonna talk about. But I'm gonna hand over to Lachlan and stop talking before I really lose my voice. Over to you, Lachlan.

Proposal Options And Minimum Terms

How To Apply And Hard Deadline

Speaker 3 11:18

Thanks, Laurie. Uh I'm gonna try and uh navigate. I'm not a Zoom expert, so uh I'm I'll just uh hope is everyone see the my my screen sharing there? Is that coming through? Yeah, fantastic. Uh so as Laurie said, my name's Lachlan Clark. I'm the director of Centre South and West for the New South Wales Office of Sport, and I'm based uh out of the Gender Bayan Sport and Recreation Centre. Um so I'm going to talk about the opportunity for use of facilities at sport and recreation centres. This is actually run via um uh the our it's run as a request for proposal through um uh by New South Wales. So, as such, there are a few rules to make sure that we uh you know abiding by uh procurement guidelines. Um I'm gonna run through the presentation. Um if there are any questions I haven't answered, I'll give you an avenue to ask them or I'll take them on notice. The big thing is we want to make sure that everyone has the same information about this. So any questions that we do have will end up being published by the Buyer New South Wales website so that everyone has access to that. So um without further ado, I'll I'll crack into the uh information. First of all, I would also like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands and which we're all coming from today, and show my respect to Aboriginal past Aboriginal elders past and present. I'm coming to you from Narrago Country in the Snowy Mountains, as I mentioned. So, what's this all about? So you're probably aware, if not, the Office of Sports Purposes, everybody's play everybody plays here, and we're uh all about supporting all people and communities and organisations across New South Wales to enjoy and realise the benefits of participating in sport and active recreation. We have 10 sport and recreation centres dispersed throughout the um regional New South Wales and uh clustered around the the uh rivers and uh in uh the Hawkesbury. Uh and we're really looking to ways that we can optimize the use of these um create creative ways, innovative ways that we can support our our mission and purpose. Um we are we have an anchor product like a lot of uh the the industry in terms of school camp, and as a result, that has a cadence to it. Um so we have we we have strong bookings you know through the school term and particularly term one and term four. Um but there are opportunities for medium and longer term bookings or a current use of space, and uh like a lot of the sector, we have a lot of seasonal variation, uh June, July, and parts of August, with the exception of here in Ginderby, and then December and January, and also weekends availability as well. So we're offering this uh this uh request for proposal through um by New South Wales is to look for focused opportunities for organizations interested in uh using facilities at one or more of the centres and partnering with the office in that opportunity. So um the focus is the uh the four centers at the top there: Barambla, Broken Bay, Lake Barn, uh Lake Barundong and Lake Keepert. Uh Barambla is near Wagga, uh, Broken Bay is uh up on the Hawkesbury, uh, Lake Barandong between Orange and Wentworth and Lake Keeper up near Tamworth. Now the reason they're the focus is because they have the most availability of our sites, but we're also very keen to see any proposals for our other centres at Bury, Lake Ainsworth, uh Milson Island, Point Wollstonecroft, Ginderby, and the Sydney Academy of Sport. Um, all the facilities in part of the RFP there's an appendix, appendix three. It has all the all the facilities and accommodation and and uh at each site, and also our website has has a full listing of um all our facilities on it as well via that link. So types of proposals that we're looking for and facility uses, um straight everything from uh just hiring of the using the facilities themselves, user-led self-service, self-directed, full service, including um, you know, uh uh our program officers delivering activities, or partial use or mixed use. It can be for a period period, it could be a typical uh time of day, exclusive or shared use, use of a space for a period. We can do a we can um provide accommodation with and without meals, longer-term opportunities, um, you know, recurring camps that happen at and at different periods, functions, or events. We're keen on looking at all those. The key things to responding to this um RFP is the criteria is it has to be equal to or more than seven days use. Otherwise, it's a standard booking through our through our uh system. So um it's really opportunity for for the for the sector and and partners to get creative and say, hey, this is you know how could we use this given our operation and and um what we do and the facilities that are available in these sites. Um we're obviously looking for um uh a commercial offer for this. Um obviously we're we want to make sure we're covering the cost volume of the facilities, and we also need to make sure that we're reflecting market value. Um so uh we've got a set of facility uses and charges as part of the appendix for the information that's that's uh we've published. Um and there's there's two standard agreements to look at program delivery if you've got a if you've got a proposal that includes the delivery activities and facility use agreements. So you can see a standard agreement as part of the document pack. So where all is this information? Well, there's a suite of documents on Bio New South Wales, tender 101, use of facilities at sport and recreation centres. Uh, and I'm certainly could provide Laurie with the with the link so you can link to it straight after this. Um so there's uh conditions of participation, a statement of requirements, and there's a whole heap of appendices there to give information about it. The only thing you really require to complete is the response document, which is part C, and it's just done as a word table. It's easy process, download it, fill it in, backload it. The only thing you have to do is um uh register on the Buy New South Wales website to to to um that's just to record your information. Um, so the key dates around this um is it's closing on the 13th of April, 3 p.m. This process is not run by us, it's run by procurement, missiles procurement. So as a result, we don't have any control over this. So that is a hard drop date, u drop dead date. If you're not in by then, the system will not accept um uh uh your your documentation. Um and I suppose the key things are you know, if you're close to a center, don't give them a call and ask about this. Please direct all inquiries back through uh tenders at sport.newsathwells.gov.au and and we'll respond to those queries and publish them so everyone has access to that information. Um so uh that that's the that's the key key information. So probably urge any anyone that's keen to respond to this that they upload their response at least a couple hours. Make sure you don't cut yourself short. Uh, and if you have any issues, the the New South Wales Procurement can support you with that as well as if the contact details are there. Um so that's that's that's the key the key opportunity. Um so uh there's the there's the link, and I'll pop it also in the I'll I'll give it to Laurie to distribute. Um but just to reiterate that closing date, 13th of April, looking for the for the um sector innovative ideas about how they might utilize the the the um the facilities and services through our 10 sport and recreation centers with a focus on the four that I mentioned. Um, and we're we're keen to um see what proposals are out there from the sector and from um from the community.

Speaker 1 20:04

Amazing? No worries, and just for those four priority ones again, so it was Warga, Barambra, um Barambela, Broken Bay, yep, Lake Keep It and Lake Burundong.

Speaker 3 20:17

But we are certainly open, and they're only focus areas because they have the most availability. But the the uh other sites were more than open to proposals for any of the other um sites that uh that make up our suite of 10 sites.

Why The RFP Exists Plus Wrap

Speaker 1 20:32

Great. Um, any questions that may or may not be answered at this point, but uh I think it's important to rec realize that this is in the middle of a tender process. So um, yeah, has anyone got any questions? No, I don't think everyone's got what they need. I might have one to not do so. Go for a joke, yeah. Jump in.

Speaker 2 20:54

Sorry, I'm setting around beside a very noisy air conditioner, hopefully. It doesn't make me harder to understand the normal. Um I'm interested in the genesis of this. Was this um a brandware or an initiative that had been cooking for a while, or is this like a knee-jerk reaction to asset uh utilization? Um and the key reason for asking the question is do you think there'll be more of this type of thing?

Speaker 3 21:20

Um this is this is all about the the strategy as I mentioned to support our make sure we're meeting our purpose. And the way to meet the purpose is to make sure that there's the the the the assets are fully or utilized to their maxim maximum capability. So it's uh that that's that's the key to it, Joe.

Speaker 1 21:40

I think this has been talked about for quite some time in that strategy, and that I think the strategy was completed last year, wasn't it, Lachlan?

Speaker 3 21:47

Yeah, so it's part of the appendices is uh it's uh there's a um yeah, the our strat plan and it's consistent with our strategic plan, which is one of the appendices, Joe.

Speaker 1 21:58

Lachlan may not be able to say this, but I think you know there could be more of this because we just have to get people more active. How do we do that? We've got to use the facilities and the opportunities that we've got to do that, is sort of where I sit in this. Um, but yeah, great question. Thank you, Joe. Anyone else would like to jump in? Well, Lachlan, thank you so much for joining us. I think it's a really important opportunity for the industry to really look at. Um, we know that right around the country there's very different models to how government facilities operate. Uh, we've got a great relationship with the Office of Sport and continue to do so. So let's hope that this opportunity provides more for um, yeah, getting more people outdoors more often.

Speaker 3 22:46

Thanks, Lori. Thanks for the opportunity to speak to you as well.

Speaker 1 22:49

Absolute pleasure. Any time. Amazing. Well, on that note, guys, we might just close off the recording and leave the rest of our time to have a general chat about all things going on in the outdoors. So on that note, I will say thank you for joining us, and we'll see you all next week.

Speaker 23:09

Thank you for joining the weekly Outdoor Industry Connect and Share Forum. Brought to you by Outdoors, New South Wales, and Australian Capital Territory, your peak body for the outdoor industry. Together with our members, we're shaping the future of the outdoors. See you next week for more insights and collaboration.