News
Please note that workshop and conference topics and or dates may be altered without notice. If you are interested in attending an ACA event please contact the ACA office on 1300 734 187 to confirm event details.
Sleepmaker Member Offer February 2010
Preferred Suppliers Group Australasia Member Offer
Insurance - Business Cost or Business Protection?
Corporate Express Member Offer
Productivity Commission Releases Draft Research Report
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute – Outdoor Youth Programs Research
Hale and Hearty - The Age article November 2008
Australian Outdoor Adventure Activity Benefits Catalogue
Camps Deposit Survey Results 2006
Vision for Tourism Speech by Martin Ferguson
Outdoors WA Conferencence Presentation 'Emerging Themes'
Camping programs for young adults experiencing mental illness
Questions to ask when choosing a camp
WorkSafe Adventure Activity Injury Prevention Project
Sleepmaker Member Offer February 2010
Sleepmaker has a special offer for members on foam matresses. To find out more, click here (PDF 34KB).
Preferred Suppliers Group Australasia Member Offer
Jamie Somers has provided a summer special for ACA members – Jason Value Pack, Just $12.75 per unit from Sleepmaster.
For more information and access to the order form, please click here (PDF 56KB).
Anaphylaxis Information
ASCIA Guidelines for prevention of food anaphylactic reactions in schools, preschools and childcare centres
Anaphylaxis Guidelines for Schools (Second Edition 2006) has been developed to assist school staff to support students at risk of an anaphylactic reaction. The guidelines are designed for use in all government and non-government schools.
This document replaces the set of guidelines on anaphylaxis distributed to schools in 2003. The revision of the guidelines has been informed by the work of the Anaphylaxis Working Party.
The guidelines draw together from many areas expert advice on actions that schools can take to support the health of students at risk of severe and sudden allergic reactions, including reducing the risk of a student being exposed to substances likely to trigger a reaction.
The guidelines focus on an individual health care plan, developed jointly by the principal and the student’s parent, which incorporates information and planned emergency treatment that are relevant to the particular student.
The NSW Department of Education and Training, Catholic Education Commission NSW, Association of Independent Schools NSW and the NSW Department of Health are working collaboratively to assist schools to understand more about the recognition, management and emergency treatment of anaphylaxis. The implementation of these guidelines builds on the excellent support for students at risk of severe allergic reactions currently provided by schools.
To view the Guidelines, please click ASCIA Guidelines (PDF 1.26MB)ASCIA First Aid for Anaphylaxis
Anaphylaxis is the most severe form of allergic reaction and is potentially life-threatening. It should be treated as a medical emergency, requiring immediate treatment. Most cases of anaphylaxis occur after exposure to an allergen (such as foods, insects or medications) in a person who is already extremely sensitive.
Please see the below fact sheet for first aid treatment of anaphylaxis.
First Aid for Anaphylaxis, Oct 09 (PDF 36KB)Insurance - Business Cost or Business Protection?
By Dr Allan Manning – LMI Group
Many business owners think of insurance as just another expense and yet when they suffer a loss or disruption they soon realise that their insurance policy is the most important contract they have entered into in their business life. Insurance premiums should be thought of as an investment in protecting the assets and ongoing viability of the business and not an expense to cut.
To view the full article, please click
Insurance - Business Cost or Business Protection? (PDF 45KB)
Corporate Express Member Offer
Australian Camps Association has a strategic preferred supplier partnership with Corporate Express for the following categories:
- Janitorial products – Toilet Paper, Mops/Buckets, Cleaning Chemicals
- Coffee, catering and kitchen supplies – Disposable gloves, Garbage Bags, detergents, wipers
- Office & Computer supplies – office machines, pens, paper etc
- Safety products – First Aid kits, fire blankets etc
ACA has put together a list of the commonly purchased items including special pricing from Kimberly Clark on toilet paper, hand towels, dispensers and soap. A Corporate Express representative shall be calling your site soon but please feel free to contact our Account Manager Nicole Evans nicole.evans@ce.com.au or 03 9934 8203 if you have any queries about this exciting partnership.
For the month of November Corporate Express is offering super special pricing on toilet paper and Milo. Please fill in the credit application form (see below) and start ordering.
To view the Corporate Express profile, please click Corporate Express Profile (PDF 1.72MB).To view the pricelist for ACA Members, please click Corporate Express Pricelist
To access the Application for Commercial Credit Account form, please click here (PDF 115KB).
PFD Member Offer
Special offer for November is exclusive to PFD and ACA members – buy 10 get 1 free (Patties party pies and sausage rolls, Four’N Twenty snack pies), all you need to do is order in multiples of 10.
To view the Patties Party pies and Sausage rolls flyer, please click here (PDF 110KB).To view the Four'N Twenty Snack pies flyer, please click here (PDF 99KB).
To view the Snap Fresh Frozen Meals flyer, please click here (PDF 467KB).
Productivity Commission Releases Draft Research Report
Our Community Matters - Edition 7, 2009
One of the many reports the Rudd Government has commissioned on the not-for-profit sector in Australia is now out.
The Productivity Commission’s Draft Research Report on the Contribution of the Not-for-Profit Sector came out at noon on October 14, and there is a lot of meat in it; the summary runs to 65 pages, and the full report is another 300+.
To view the article in Our Community Matters, please click
Our Community Matters - Edition 7, 2009 (PDF 1.32MB). Please note: The article begins on page 16.
Post Bushfire Forum Brief
An informative day was had by all attendees at the Pre-Bushfire Season Forum, held at the ORC on 21st September 2009.
The sessions covered:
- managing fire risk for outdoor activities, presented by the CFA
- Parks Victoria’s role in fire management and response, and an overview of the bushfire
- emergency management preparedness work program from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development
- the insurers’ point of view of risk management, in relation to bushfires in particular
- an overview of the process and progress to date of the Guidelines for Consideration of Severe Weather Conditions
The presentations of these sessions will be posted on the Outdoor Recreation Centre’s website as they are made available. Find them at http://outdoorsvic.org.au/news.php.
Some useful ideas came out on the day, through the discussions, questions and answers. The three hot tips of immediate use to everyone are:
1. Communication, communication, communication
Let everyone involved (staff, volunteers, members, clients, etc.) or associated (parents, schools, peak bodies, insurers) with your activities know how you intend to deal with the threat of bushfire.
This is always best by face-to-face contact. In most cases this is not practical or even possible, so a phone call or an email or direct mail is the next best thing, as suits the client. If you are not sure which is best, a phone call and mailing in either form will cover it.
Then supplement it with information on your webpage, blog, networking page or in a newsletter. Note that if you aren’t going to update these very often (say weekly), the wording will have to reflect that. You may also find SMS or Twitter useful, although given the size of their messages perhaps more for a last-minute update.
2. Be pro-active with any bookings
Both those you have now, and all those that are still to come in.
Contact all your clients or members to tell them that you have the risk management in place for the coming bushfire season. This may be a simple statement of comfort for them, or a more detailed brief of when you will/won’t go, who to contact if there is a threat and you are out there, and so on.
Of course this sort of information would be provided to them nearer their activity(s) anyway, so maybe select a couple of items to show them you are on top of the situation.
3. Fire plans
Quite simply, you have to have one. If you are unsure of where to start, begin with your peak body and the local CFA station.
The Coming Bushfire Season After the horrendous bushfires in Victoria earlier this year we are now coming to the next bushfire season. The media will inevitably start to focus on the potential for more fires this season and this coverage will obviously be heightened as the first hot days occur. There have already been bushfires in South-East Queensland and those bizarre dust storms over New South Wales and South-East Queensland.
One of the issues for you to seriously consider is how you proactively manage your bookings and activities for the next few months. It is highly likely that there will be heightened anxiety surrounding extreme weather during this period and so communication with your clients (who could be paying customers or your own members) will be even more important than usual. The three points listed above are to give you some basic guidance with this.
Your clients will want more detailed information about your preparedness for severe weather, particularly bushfires, than they would have in the past. They will want to know your plans in the event that fires occur near your activity. There is also likely to be anxiety from others – e.g. parents putting some pressure on schools to cancel or postpone camps – so the more you can do to relieve those anxieties, the better your chances of your activities going ahead..
Rather than wait for them to ask, it would be prudent to be proactive and reassure them that you have taken appropriate steps. You should consider telling them:
- What your triggers are for reviewing activities at your location(s)
- What changes you will make to your program if a day of Total Fire Ban is declared
- What you have you done to review & revise your emergency management plan(s)
- What your emergency management plan is, perhaps in some detail
- Under what circumstances you would cancel the activity &/or evacuate the participants
- Identify current programs being run
- Identify current barriers camps are encountering
- Identify what resources camps would like from the ACA
Should you have any questions or concerns, please contact your peak body. If you are unsure how to do so, the person you received this information from will be able to refer you.
Murdoch Childrens Research Institute – Outdoor Youth Programs Research
This is an executive summary of a proposed major collaborative research project looking at the benefits of outdoor youth programs. The ACA are currently working closely with potential industry partners to get this project off the ground. If we are successful the project will be a very significant one for the outdoors sector.
To view the executive summary, please click
Outdoor Youth Programs Research (PDF 94KB)
Hale and Hearty - The Age article November 2008
School camps are bigger than ever. But there's more to heading outdoors than sending out permission slips and finding a teacher keen on bushwalking, reports Denise Ryan.
For the students and staff at Geelong Grammar's famed Timbertop campus it looms as the ultimate challenge: After a school year of intensive training that included 65 days of hiking and camping, they now await the marathon.
To read more, click on the following link:
Hale and Hearty - The Age - article on school camps, November 2008 (PDF 86KB)
Australian Outdoor Adventure Activity Benefits Catalogue
The Australian Outdoor Adventure Activity Benefits Catalogue is now available for members to view. Our intention is to use it to promote the benefits of camps and outdoor activities. To access this document please click Outdoor Activity Benefits Catalogue (PDF 623KB)
Children in the Outdoors
A literature Review
This literature review from the United Kingdom examines existing research on health and the outdoors – highlighting the key ways in which researchers have, thus far, examined the links and reported causality and effects.
By Dr. Sarah-Anne Muñoz Sustainable Development Research Centre.
Children in the Outdoors literature review (PDF 1.06MB)
Camps Deposit Survey Results 2006
The issue that arose for one camp and the problem of a small deposit (Camping News July 16; Letters, Q’s and A’s to the Association) reminded us of a survey we did in May 2006. Members might find it useful as it looks at fixed amounts versus percentages for deposits, compares mid-week and weekend approaches and asks what, if anything, might influence the camp to change the deposit. Also several pages of quotes from camps!
(The orginal survey was only available to those who contributed but we think the passing of over two years means we can now offer the information to everyone).Camp Deposit Survey Results 2006 (PDF 100KB)
Message from Sleepmaker
Sleepmaker is one of a number of companies which the ACA is working with to provide quality products at reasonable prices to our members. Sleepmaker is also in the process of joining the ACA.
Phil Ellis from Sleepmaker has recently met with our EO, David Petherick, and Business Manager, Jenny Beales, to discuss how Sleepmaker can support our members.
To access a flyer from Sleepmaker with some details of their bunk beds and Phil's contact details for those who would like to speak to him please click Beat the Price Rise
Vision for Tourism
This document is the speech given by the Minister for Tourism, the Hon Martin Ferguson AM MP, to the Tourism Alliance of Victoria on Thursday 17th April 2008, in which he refers to the topic of a national accreditation program.
To access the full text of his speech Click Here
Outdoors WA Conference 2007
'Emerging Themes' presentation by David Petherick, Executive Officer ACA.
To access these notes Click Here
Risk Management Forum Notes
Prepared by David Petherick, Executive Officer ACA, these notes provide an
interpretation of key points raised in Preston Cline's Risk Management forums held in October 2007. Provided as a reference
for workshop attendees we have posted them online to enable access by the wider camping/outdoor recreation sector.
To access these notes Click Here
Photo Consent Form
The ACA is currently looking at the development of an electronic photo library to be
used for publications, promotional and marketing material and on its website.
The photo library would be accessible for both the ACA and its affiliated members for promoting camp programs.
Members are welcome to submit electronic photos that they feel are of high quality and show the spirit of our camps.
All photos in which participants can be recognized must have participant consent and parental consent if participants
are under the age of 18.
To print a consent form Click Here
Marketing Tips for Members
How to respond to Booking Service Enquiries
To access please click Marketing Tips for Members
YMCA Camp program for young adults who experience mental illness
Liz Leorke of YMCA has provided the following
resources for camps accommodating camping programs for young adults who experience mental illness.
To access these resources (pdf format) click on the following links
4 Day Camping Program
First Communications
Outdoor Recreation supports traditional mental health therapies
Questions to ask when choosing a camp
A vital element in your conference, workshop, camp or weekend away is the site. You need to select it with care and ensure it matches your needs.
In addition to these questions, there are two services that the Australian Camps Association offers that can be of immense help to you.
Firstly, there is a FREE Booking Information Service which can help you locate a camp that meets your needs, for your particular date and within your locality and price range.
A second service is that of accreditation. ACA Accredited camps will have answered many of the questions as part of the accreditation process.
A key resource at the planning stage is the camp operator - they'll be happy to discuss your group's requirements and how the camps may be best utilised.
Plan to meet the manager well ahead of your camp so adequate arrangements can be made. A visit to the site well before the camp and preferably before making a final booking will ensure things go smoothly.
For a list of possible questions to ask a camp
Click Here
These questions will help you make the appropriate choice.
Survey - How Diverse are Our Camps?
As part of the CEAP (Community Education and Awareness Project), the ACA is
conducting an online survey to evaluate how diverse our camps are in providing programs and services to all sectors of the
community.
The Aims of the survey are to:
WorkSafe Adventure Activity Injury Prevention Project (Vic)
WorkSafe Victoria, through their new Public Safety Branch, has commenced a project titled the "Adventure Activity Injury Prevention Project". The ACA, along with a range of other stakeholders, has attended a briefing about this project. Click Here to view the briefing.