We Rethink Outdoor Leadership For A Changing Generation

The outdoor industry doesn’t stand still, and neither can we. We’re coming to you live from the Outdoors NSW and ACT Connect and Share Forum with a fast-moving mix of field-tested leadership ideas, workforce updates, and practical dates you can put straight into your calendar.

We start with what’s happening on the ground, including the launch of a local government toolkit for trail bike riding and why it matters for councils, land managers, and the visitor economy. From there, we zoom out to the bigger leadership challenge we’re all seeing: shifting demographics, highly digital young people, and growing pressure on resilience and mental health. I break down the five Cs of outdoor leadership (connection, coaching, challenge, celebration, and change) and why the “coach” mindset is becoming essential across outdoor education, adventure tourism, and recreation.

Then we get into the operational essentials: the national minimum wage rises by 4.75% from July 1, and employers need to adjust payroll accordingly. We also share progress on the AAAS review and the Knowledge Skills Experience Framework, plus an update on the VET review timeline that points to endorsement in 2027. Finally, we run through key events and opportunities including Outdoor Office Day, member meetups, leadership training, our masterclass and industry awards, and the outdoor learning conference featuring Maggie Dent, before closing with a useful snapshot from Macrindle Research on psychological safety, structural support, training and development, and flexibility.

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Transcript

Welcome And What To Expect

SPEAKER_00 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.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Good morning everyone. Welcome to another Connect and Share with Outdoors New South Wales and ACT. This is episode 17 of season four. And uh joining here, it's getting a little bit on the chilly side as ski season opens up uh this weekend. Uh, and we head into a long weekend here in New South Wales and the ACT.

Acknowledgement Of Country

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Um, but before I get into all the news of today for the outdoor industry, I would love to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands in which we all come from today, and pay my respects to elders past, present, and those with us today who embrace the natural cultures and aspects that we can then take on to our country and uh and connect others

Local Government Toolkit For Trail Riding

SPEAKER_01 1:14

with. So let's jump in and uh big week last week, and thank you so much to Kai for No, our outdoor ambassador and program lead on the Pittical Leadership Programme for joining you all and taking my role in facilitating the weekly Connect and Share. Um, she was doing that because I was in Maitland, and um I was there because it was the local government conference for uh destination and visitor economy professionals. So at that event we had a lot of the economic development managers and event managers and tourism professionals all join us at that event in Maitland, and it was an opportune time to launch our local government toolkit for trail bike riding. So we certainly got that opportunity to connect these people with that guide and have more conversations about just understanding what natural assets are in the communities in which they come from that could be used for the visitor economy and for outdoor opportunities. So lots of conversations will continue, I'm sure. If you want to scan that QR code there, it'll take you straight to the toolkit for trial bike riding. But as I said to all of them, we are now available to help them in identifying some of the spaces that they may not know what to do with. We are certainly happy to assist, and already we've got some great inquiries coming through. So you can see there um as I presented on stage last week.

The Five Cs Of Outdoor Leadership

SPEAKER_01 2:49

And uh this week I was lucky enough to be asked to attend the Officer Sport Program Managers Conference, and it was this opportunity that I helped connect our program leaders with some of the challenges of what we see today in a changing demography, which all you guys only know too well from many of our connect and shared conversations, but also our digital savviness of our kids and how reluctant they are to come away from that, um, as well as all the other challenges that we're seeing in certainly uh emerging trends and continuing trends. And so I wanted to point out to them really, nothing has changed from what we do in outdoor education and outdoor leadership, but it's just how we need to think of it a little bit differently. So we spoke about how we need to connect with our people, and that might look very different today to how we did it maybe 10 or so years ago, as that cultural diversity might be shifting, the actual people's positions, and certainly uh what we're seeing as well is you know, mental health and less resilience and less willingness to be part of something that's different. So that connection component was incredibly important. The second aspect, we talked about going from instructor to coach, and that is a true leadership uh quality. In the fact, we're not telling, we're literally leading them into making their own decisions and coaching them through an understanding of why they are doing the things that they are doing. Of course, there has to be that challenge aspect where we take people through a risk-mitigated um opportunity where they get to challenge themselves with something that they wouldn't ordinarily do. And this is where there's that real opportunity of them discovering new skills, um, new thoughts, new abilities. Um, and then of course we get to celebrate that with them as leaders. But that real important C of all the five C's that we offer in outdoor leadership is that change aspect. And I think this goes not only in school groups and the education sector, but also in our adventure tourism area, our nature therapy area, and even our recreation area. That fifth C of leadership is that change aspect. We get to reflect on what we did, uh, why we did it, how we did it, but what change that has for our lives, because we know every day what we stand for here at Outdoors New South Wales and ACT is everything outdoors uh is there for our health, well-being, and our skill development. So, yes, it was a great day, and we uh managed to have around about 50, I think, in the room to have these wonderful conversations. So, thank you to the Office of Support for having me, and hopefully, everyone got something out of that day. And as Kai mentioned last week, we got to celebrate a bit of a milestone in the fact that our podcast has now been downloaded two and a half thousand times. So, thank you to everyone who is listening to our weekly Connect and Shares who uh is eager to hear all the news for the outdoor industry and our guest speakers as they come. And I should say thank you so much to Paul Salmon and to Matthew from um from the University of Sunshine Coast last week who gave us an update on the uploads project. Um, I'm yet to get the full episode through, but I will be listening to make sure I'm up to speed with that as well. Um, but yes, very exciting that we're looking at uh a better system to attract um our participation and our incidents in the outdoors.

Minimum Wage And Workforce Frameworks

SPEAKER_01 6:33

Now, this week was also an important week in the fact that uh the Department the Fair Trading um looked at the minimum wage and made their assessment in the national minimum wage review. So important for all you uh employers out there who might uh be relying on this as your uh go-to. This is when you're not looking at a particular award or if you haven't got an enterprise agreement. The national minimum wage has increased by 4.75%. So adjust all of your payrolls because this will need to appear for 1 July onwards. So if you've got staff on the minimum wage, you now need to increase that to a 4.75 increase. And uh we've covered this one before, but I wanted to make sure everyone is across this, and this is the outcome of the AAAS review. The Knowledge Skills Experience Framework has been a big conversation about what does that look like on the other side of this review in the new AAAS? And uh certainly a lot of the uh the expert groups are coming together in their particular activity groups and discussing how this looks in their particular good practice guides. But generically, this framework is going to be provided as part of this review, and it really helps employers and employees understand the knowledge, skills, and experience requirements of the particular roles. Now, I think I've mentioned this before, but as we got into the vet review and the triple AS review at the same time, we wanted to make sure the AAAS was reflective of what the industry needed for its skills, experience, and its knowledge. And that could then inform the vet review as well. Uh, we didn't want them pointing at each other and saying it's your problem, it's your problem. We wanted to come up with something that we knew was going to be really industry-led, industry-owned. So if you haven't caught up on all the news of the AAAS review, I encourage you to be part of the monthly uh meetings. There is another one on Tuesday, uh the 9th of June. So jump onto the AAAS website, which is part of the Outdoor Council of Australia, and uh register for those meetings. And speaking of the vet review, here is the timeline. Nothing's changed from last week here, but just to confirm that uh it is still progressing. We will see uh more activity coming out in June, uh September as they start incorporating the feedback that you have been so willingly providing and assisting to get this the best qualification that it can be. Um, we do look like that endorsement happening in 2027. So you probably won't see this roll out in its RTOs and institutions until probably July of that year in the new intakes uh in semester two. So uh again, yep, it's underway and continuing.

Pinnacle Leadership Program Cohort 3

SPEAKER_01 9:37

Now the Pinnacle Leadership Program Cohort 3 is open. Uh, I have to say, I'm not too sure how many spaces we've got left. Uh, I have been seeing them roll in, but uh, I thought I'd still give it a bit of a plug today. Uh, for those women that want to really understand more about themselves to take on better and more progressive leadership roles in the industry. This is a great opportunity. And I thought I'd throw up Alina's quote here uh because I think it really does speak a lot about the program. But she said, the biggest thing I walked away with was the real understanding and acceptance of who I am. That kind of self-awareness is something you carry with you everywhere. And I'm so grateful the program gave me that. So that gives you a bit of a flavor of what uh you could experience if you were part of the program. So jump onto the website and hopefully we'll see you as part of Cohort 3. And don't forget we need mentors as well. So any women out there that have already been in leadership roles, we'd love you to volunteer to be a mentor.

Outdoor Office Day And Key Dates

SPEAKER_01 10:42

What's coming up? I nearly put this on two slides, and this is only for June, July, and even just the beginning of August. But there is a lot going on. Um, first and foremost, I have to encourage everyone to get behind Outdoor Office Day, which is next week, next Wednesday. Uh, look, any day next week, I want to make sure everyone's uh taking that opportunity to get outdoors. Um, I try to get out and at least do three of my five Zooms a day outdoors, um, but also visit some of you wonderful people uh in the outdoors. So please let's encourage everyone to explore what that could look like and uh be part of Outdoor Office Day. Um the same day I will be technically outdoors, I will be with the Blue Mountains local active partnership um team in the launch of that uh in Katoomba uh next Wednesday. So for some of you you might be involved in that. If you want to come along, you are more than welcome. This is about getting more people active, more outdoors, more often for their health and well-being. And Blue Mountains um uh council has really put their energy behind uh getting this one up, so we're privileged to be part of it. Um, and then on Friday, I'll be scooting down to Ginderbine because um, for some of you may know, Action Learning Initiatives, who's been around for quite some time in Ginderbine, has rebadged and reformed and created some wonderful new products, and they're now known as Venture Outdoors Co. So the launch of that will be next Friday down in next Saturday in down in Gindervine, and uh we look forward to being there and I'm sure I'll capture some content from that to bring back to you the following week. And on the 30th of June, for all you Canberra people, anyone in the Canberra and surrounds area, we will have an ACT member meetup on the 30th of June. Let's celebrate the end of the financial year uh from five o'clock. So if you're around, send me an email and I'll give you all the details so we can see you there. Uh, I'll go into a bit more detail about the masterclass, the awards, and the conference. But that is our July. It is uh jam-packed full of content just for you. Um, and then at the end of July, I'll be presenting at the National Drowning and Prevention Summit, which is run by the Rural Life-Saving Um Society. So that will be a great opportunity to highlight obviously the AAAS review, but also just getting a lot of the recreation uh thought process into these types of uh forums. And then on the 29th of July, uh Baths Careers Event, HAFE, New South Wales Um Blue Mountains, and myself will be heading to uh Bathurst to talk to many of the kids to uh look at the outdoors as a career. Uh, we do have another one coming up, I think, in the end of August as well, and I'll be doing that with five-star training. So, um, yeah, lots of career stuff coming up. And then PLP, which is Pinnacle Leadership Program 3, commences on the 10th of August. So that's what's open at the moment, so you can get in and start on the 10th. Um, for all you data nerds out there like me, 11th of August is census night. So put that into your diary, make sure you know whether you need to complete it before if you're away or if you complete it on the night. Um, this is important information. And can I highlight that we now have the new ENSCO codes, well, sorry, Oscar codes. They used to be ENSCO, they're now Oscar codes for our industry, uh, which is outdoor leader and guide, um, which I encourage all of you to ensure that your staff complete it correctly. This certainly helps us in understanding um, well, letting us tell the government our size and um who we are connected with. So the more that actually use that correct Oscar code, uh the more volume we'll actually be able to show and report on and get some great data from our industry. Um, please, if you could pass that on to your team, I'd be very, very grateful. And then on the 12th and 13th of August, I myself will be facilitating the Lead with Intent course. So this is for the leaders that are probably not leaders yet. Um, they are the ones that may hold a leadership role in your organization, whether it be a guide or a leader of staff, who uh need to understand a little bit about really what true leadership is. And um I'll be helping them over two days guide them into some different thinking about what makes a good leader, and particularly in our industry. So hopefully we'll see you there. That is available on our website for bookings right now. As are these events.

Masterclass, Awards, Conference, Sponsors

SPEAKER_01 15:27

So just a quick cap. I'm sure you're sick of hearing about this, but um, I figure if I keep talking about it, it resonates with someone. So, masterclass, 15th and 16th of July. That is your two days where we get deep into your organization, your business, whether it be not-for-profit or for profit, and what you need to do in the next two years to set you up for success. So, all the topics that are going to be disruptors, um, challenges for organizations are going to be talked about and addressed at this two-day event. On the last day, we will be celebrating our industry awards that night. We'll be heading to Huskison Hotel, and uh we'll have the graduates from all of the Pinnacle Leadership Program number two, and we will be awarding some amazing awards across various categories at our industry awards. So hopefully, we will see you there. The following two days is our outdoor learning conference, the 17th and 18th, and we have the amazing Maggie Dent coming along for our event. She's going to be opening the event on the Friday morning. So if you can make it, um, no doubt, you'll get the opportunity to see Maggie and uh be part of some amazing discussions and sharing of knowledge. You might have seen some of the videos on our social media. Um, so hopefully, see you there. And a huge thanks to obviously the sponsors because without them, as they say, these things can't happen, and that's certainly true in this case. So, a huge thanks to Affinity Insurance Brokers for their support, and Gadungle Maring, who is our amazing First Nations experience team, uh, who are coming along to both events. Um, Shoalhaven South Coast, thank you, Shoalhaven, for all your support. Patty Palin, who's a longtime supporter of our work, um, the Office of Sport in New South Wales, Destination Sydney Surround South, and of course, the venue for the two main events, which is Trinity Grammar School, and that is the Field Studies Centre in Wallemeyer. So, thank you to the team from Trinity.

New Research On Schools And Support

SPEAKER_01 17:33

Now, today I'm going to give you a bit of a snapshot into some research that's just come out from Macrindel Research. And for those that know me, know that I'm a big fan of Macrindle Research and what they provide in demography and other studies that they do. Um, they also focus in on education from time to time. Now, while this study is very much around schools and its um and teachers, I thought it actually had some really good things that I would highlight now. Very relevant, of course, for those people that are dealing with schools and teachers. Um, but yeah, hopefully everyone will take away something from this research. I'll give you a bit of a snapshot, but we will be doing this in a closed session so that we enable a lot more conversation around particularly some of the areas. So the only two slides I wanted to show you as part of the recording is you know, we've got some compounding effects in our education industry today. And this slide here really does dictate the growth of what is happening in our uh not only our population, which we hit the 28 million in Australia this week, um, but now we have 4.2 million students in our system, and of course, that change is dramatic when you look at a 40% increase. But what has also changed is our student-teacher ratios. So we've gone from 15 to 1 and we've we've increased that ratio, and we've got one to every 11 students. So interesting shifts as we get into this data. And the other thing I wanted to just highlight is we've got need for some support, not just for teachers, but probably for all of us as employers of the outdoor industry at the moment. And I thought these four were very pertinent to, as I say, not just to teachers, but also to us. And uh certainly in the WHS legislation that we we all need to follow, there is a high proponent now of understanding what that psychological safety is. Um, we also need some structural support around our positions and and what that looks like and where our leaders can step in, where our managers can step in, where what does that support system look like? We also need to look at our training and development. We know that um past research has shown that people stay in in different employment uh because of what's being offered on a training and development level, as much as it's remuneration. And then the fourth one there is flexibility. So interesting. As we go through the data and the research, you might get a bit more of an understanding of where this plays. But um, yeah, so what I'll do now is we'll finish off today's session uh in the recording, and um we'll go through this research in a close session with our friends today.

SPEAKER_00 20:34

And we wish you all a fabulous. 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.

Closing And Next Week

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Together with our members, we're shaping the future of the outdoors. See you next week for more insights and collaboration.