Two Australian AAS (AAAS) Q & A webinars were held on February 12 and 13.

The recordings and an overview of questions from each of the Q&A webinars are now available.

The AAAS is a voluntary set of guidelines for organisations that lead dependent groups in outdoor activities.

As safety requirements shouldn’t change just because you cross a state border, state outdoors bodies have come together to develop the Australian Adventure Activity Standard (AAAS) and related Good Practice Guide’s (GPG’s). The AAAS and GPG’s provide a voluntary good-practice framework for safe and responsible planning and delivery of outdoor adventure activities with dependent participants.

Tuesday February 12th Webinar

Click to view Webinar Recording

Questions asked included:

• How do Education Dept requirements and the AAAS fit together?
• Is there a system for reporting of providers not doing the right thing?
• Will there be a snowsports GPG?
• Will giant swings & flying foxes be included in Challenge courses GPG?
• Query on supervision ratios in specific situations for climbing?
• What about raft building activities in inland water paddlecraft GPG?
• Hypothetical question – can the AAAS & GPG’s be used against recreational groups in legal situations?
• Will there be surfing & swimming GPG’s?
• If its a voluntary framework how can it there be must requirements in the documents?
• Requirements relating to for use of technology e.g. communications?
• Is it better to have a process for determining ratios rather than including example ratios in the GPG’s?

Wednesday February 13th Webinar

Click to view Webinar Recording

Questions asked included:

• Thought on registration of activity leaders?
• How can organisations use the good practice guides to review practices?
  (Full example provided of Leadership in the AAAS, the Core GPG and an activity GPG.)
• When, where and how will implementation workshops be run?
• Are they recommendations rather than mandatory?
• Is the Standard more important verses the GPG’s?
• How will we have input into this?
• Will there be development of logbooks to help demonstrate leader competencies?
• Land manager requirements relating to leader competence when they do not check provider competencies?
• Will they be reviewed?
• What happened if there is an incidental activities and emerging activities?
• Who do you address follow up questions to after the webinar?
• Finding the draft version & involving public consultation of those still under development?
• What about the existing state AAS or Education Dept guidelines the AAAS & GPG’s are based on?

Still to come

The various State Outdoor Sector peak bodies are planning to run further AAAS workshops later in the year. Details of these will issue closer to the time.

The Challenge Courses Good Practice Guide (GPG) (low and high ropes) is nearing completion. This should be available for pre-release in March 2019.

Work has recently started on the final four GPG’s:

• Angling
• Caving
• Sea kayaking
• Snorkelling.

These four GPG’s will go to public consultation in the middle of the year and will be released at the official AAAS launch in September 2019.