There are new criminal law offences commencing in Queensland to increase protection of children from the risk of sexual abuse. The new offences target behaviour that ignores or hides the sexual abuse of children. Everyone involved in sport, active and outdoor recreation has a role to play in keeping children safe from harm.

Failure to report

• All adults in the community that reasonably believe (or should reasonably believe) that a child is being or has been the victim of sexual abuse must report it to the police – unless they have a reasonable excuse.
• The maximum penalty for failing to report belief of a child sexual offence is 3 years’ imprisonment.

Failure to protect

• Adults in an institutional setting (including sport and recreation clubs) must protect children from the risk of a sexual offence being committed against them.
• Specifically, an adult in a position of power or responsibility within an institution that has children in its care, supervision and control will be required to reduce or remove a known risk of sexual offending against a child by an adult associated with an institution.
• How an adult can remove or reduce risk will depend on the situation. Adults should not have to adopt unnecessarily expensive or risk-averse behaviour.
• The maximum penalty for failing to protect a child from a sexual offence is 5 years’ imprisonment.

As activity providers, it is important that you understand your obligations and take the necessary steps to protect children at your institution.

For more information, go to www.qld.gov.au/protectchildren, and you may also wish to seek legal advice if you are unsure about reporting obligations.

Source
Department of Tourism, Innovation and Sport

Commission for Children and Young People and Child Guardian
Protects the rights, interests and well-being of children and young people in Queensland

Management of Outdoor Activities for Severe Weather Conditions
information and commonly agreed procedures for planning and responding to severe weather in the outdoors that involve led activities with dependent participants. The nature and intensity of severe weather can vary across Australia and local resources should be consulted when conducting activities in all parts of Australia.

Source: Outdoors Victoria

Developing a sun protection policy for sporting groups

Sample Sun Protection Policy

A SAMPLE SUN PROTECTION POLICY FOR WORKPLACES

Source: Cancer Council

ISO 21101:2014  Adventure tourism – Safety management systems 

Do you feel the call of adventure? Do daring rapids tempt you? Do you enjoy trekking through thick jungle or climbing the highest peaks? Do you dream of biking along the world’s most incredible routes?

Trekking, mountaineering, biking and rafting can be exhilarating experiences that stay with you forever, but they are also potentially dangerous. As adventure tourism grows in popularity, safety is becoming a key issue. ISO has developed a standard to help keep risk at bay and enjoyment high.

ISO 21101:2014 outlines the requirements of a safety management system for adventure tourism activity providers. A provider can use ISO 21101:2014 for the following:

• to enhance safety performance;
• to meet expectations for participant and staff safety;
• to demonstrate safe practice;
• to support compliance with applicable legal requirements.

ISO 21101 – Adventure tourism – Safety management systems
A practical guide for SMEs

Safety Guidelines for Children and Young People in Sport and Recreation

These guidelines will assist you to provide a safe and positive experience for those involved in junior sport and active recreation.

These guidelines have been developed to support safe participation in sport and recreation for children and young people. Injury is a known barrier to participation and it is estimated that 50% of injuries are preventable.

From the Australian Government, Dept of Health & Aging

Regulating adventure tourism?

Québec snowmobile tragedy raises questions about adventure tourism

The recent tragedy that claimed the lives of five French tourists and their Québec guide in the icy waters of Lac Saint-Jean during a snowmobile safari shook people on both sides of the Atlantic. It also rattled the tourism industry in Québec which had already planned to announce new safety regulations for adventure tourism users.

This led to questions about how to regulate risk and adventure. But what precisely do you regulate and how do you do it?  Read More

Source: The Conversation

La La Land: Galileo’s Warning

Galileo tried to teach us that adding more and more layers to a system intended to avert disaster often makes catastrophe all the more likely to happen. His basic lesson has been ignored in nuclear power plants, financial markets and at the Oscars… all resulting in chaos. Listen to the Podcast

Source
Cautionary Tales (Apple Podcast)

Disaster Preparedness While Camping and Hiking

There is some evidence that human-caused climate change is leading to an increase in the severity of weather-related natural disasters. Wildfires may become more prevalent during droughts, hurricanes can be intensified by warmer weather over the oceans, and more severe inland storms can cause unexpected flooding and mudslides. This has implications for how we organize our cities, and how we conduct and execute disaster-relief plans, but it’s also important for outdoors enthusiasts to be ready for whatever comes their way.

Even if the weather does not become more intense due to global climate change, hikers and campers should still be prepared for any sort of conditions that they may encounter outdoors. In these environments, where there’s not always the comfort of a sturdy roof or room enough to store weeks worth of supplies, it’s critical to be prepared for any sort of natural disaster. In this guide, you will find information about the kinds of disasters that may strike, how to survive them, and how to be prepared for whatever may come your way in the wild.

Read More

Source
Rider University Online

The risk of not letting our children take risks

It is very common for schools to have a ban on things like climbing trees, or sliding down slopes, just to keep kids safe.

By preventing our kids from taking risks we risk them never growing to be independent, brave, capable, resilient and much happier. (Maggie Dent)

NOLS Self Assessment Tool

At NOLS we believe people grow and learn by taking risks in learning environments that have
real hazards and potential consequences. Rather than avoiding risk, we have a responsibility
to run programs structured to recognize and manage risks.

Risk management is not a checklist; it is a culture and habit. Our training is intended to help
you ask questions about your organization to foster greater awareness of your strengths
and weaknesses.

It is a constant challenge to balance risk to the participant and risk to the organization. At
NOLS we prioritize managing risk to the participant and believe that helps us manage risk to
the organization.

Building a risk management plan is a long-term process. Our goal is to help organizations
identify how to make forward progress.

This program self-assessment tool is intended to start you on a path to identify strengths
and areas for improvement in your risk management systems in order to support your
participants, staff, and mission.

NOLS Risk Services

New Zealand leading the world in adventure safety auditing

Cybersecurity

A very real risk management issue for all Australian businesses and organisations

Cybersecurity, is the protection of computer systems from the theft and damage to their hardware, software or information, as well as from disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.

Information adapted from a presentation by The IT Department (IT without the overheads)

Building a Risk Management Machine

by Rick Curtis, 2003

The first thing to say is that I think we are bogged down in the concept of Risk Management. Part of our problem as an industry is that we are, I think, confused about what risk is. We have so many different definitions of risk that we use interchangeably that the word ceases to have much meaning. I think our approach of looking at risk is too simplistic for our industry. I think the reason for that is that we have imported other models from other industries, like insurance and patching it on our own. As a result, we have missed some things. As I said, these ideas aren’t necessarily new, but they may offer a new synthesis of various approaches that have been used before. What we are going to work on today is building what I call a Risk Management Machine.

Risk Management for Organizations: Keeping the Ship Afloat

by Preston Cline and Rick Curtis, 2003

The concept of risk management is one that has to encompass the whole of your program, from the first day of planning a new activity through the last piece of gear that is put away when the trip is over. It is such a huge task and involves so many different players in your organization that it’s often hard to make sure that all the jobs get done and done well. Our goal is to give you a framework to operate from that will help you both vision and envision how risk management permeates your organization.

Original Document

Can We Still Ethically Adventure?

A philosophical look at Adventure in NZ
By Mark Jones, 2003

So why is adventure important anyway?

“The civilised society exhibits five crucial traits; art, peace, beauty, truth and adventure;  without adventure civilisation is in full decay”

Alfred Whitehead, the noted Cambridgshire philosopher, articulates a fundamental truth about the value of adventure to society …

Is it possible to compare the risk on the rugby field to climbing a mountain?

You take a risk every time you run out on the field, hop on your bike, or tie your tramping boots.

Overall, the risk of serious injury or death from sport and recreation is extremely low.

But there’s almost always some risk.

Defining the world’s sport and recreation in terms of danger levels is not an easy task, mainly because comparing, say, motor sport with tramping, presents problems.

So, there are a few things to consider first. Any team sport with a ball, anything with horses, or water, and any sport involving a vehicle, runs a risk of injury or death. That’s part of the attraction of taking part and playing.

READ FULL STORY

How to turn risk and uncertainty into opportunity and innovation

What we know about risk?
Risk and uncertainty are forces that are part of everyday life. Consider the painter propping up a ladder to paint the side of a house: once the ladder has been spread open and placed in the right position, the painter will give it a good shake from side to side.

Steven Bowman
Strategic Planning and Governance Consultant