Outdoor Industry Connect & Share Forums
Outdoor Industry Connect & Share Forums
Season Kickoff: Industry Updates And Action
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We kick off season four with concrete wins on e-bike hire, frank talk on safety and oversight risk, and a roadmap of reviews and consultations that will shape access, standards, and workforce. We also share new chances to lead locally through NPWS committees, PD pathways, and Women’s Week programs.
• Upcoming forums on AAAS review, WWCC review, and Great Koala National Park
• E-bike hire exemption outcome and compliance for new fleet additions
• Federal engagement on outdoor education and preventative health
• Tourism competitiveness gaps in sustainability, infrastructure, and value
• Butarooroo draft plan concerns and how to submit
• AAAS as de facto practice baseline and WorkSafe reference
• WWCC review consultation dates and how to attend
• NPWS Regional Advisory Committees application details
• Gardens of Stone bush camping proposal feedback
• Women’s Week bushwalking activation and club involvement
• Workforce shortage survey to inform occupation lists
• PD calendar, awards, masterclass, and mini-conference
• Community themes: growth, collaboration, safety, succession
ACTIONS FOR INDUSTRY TO CONSIDER: Please submit feedback on Budderoo National Park Plan of Management by Monday 5 pm; register for the WWCC consultations via the Office of the Children’s Guardian; apply for NPWS Regional Advisory Committees by 25 February; complete the workforce shortage survey by 18 March.
Host: Lori Modde, CEO Outdoors NSW & ACT
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There we are.
SPEAKER_01: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_04:And here we are for another year with Outdoors New South Wales and ACT for our Connect and Share forum. So thank you everyone for joining us live. Everyone watching the recording for season four, episode one. So it's the 6th of February today, and today we have a lot of information that will keep you all up to date in the know of what's going on around the industry. So before we get into it though, I would love to acknowledge the tradition the traditional owners, I can't speak this morning, the traditional owners of the lands in which we all meet today and pay my respects to elders past, present, and those that we are working with to connect more with our values on country and uh the first nations history that we want to bring to life and do more of in the outdoors. So let's get into today. And uh we've got a lot of things coming up in our Connect and Share forum. So here's a bit of a rundown of what's already scheduled in. Today we, as I say, we'll be doing a bit of an update because we haven't been together since early December. Um, so what has happened over Christmas? Uh, I won't give you all the lowdown, but I'll certainly give you the top lines and uh what the new year will bring. We'll have a bit of a discussion about that. Um, next week I won't be here, but Dave Marsden will be running the Connect and Share. Now, if you know that name, Dr. David Marsden is the project lead for the AAAS review. So he's going to be sitting in my chair uh looking at um your feedback on the AAAS, where it is at the moment in its review stage, but just generically around the AAAS, the importance of it. Um, maybe you don't use it. Why don't you use it? Um, all the different areas uh around the AAAS, it's a really important session to be involved in because this will really set the path for the industry, um, certainly in our practices and uh and everything to do with operations. So, yes, get involved in next week if you can. Um, the week after, we have the Officer Children's Guardian coming along to talk to us about another review. So, from review to review, we've got the working with children check review. Now, this is a really important project as well, because uh you might remember there was a recommendation from the federal inquiry to look at a federal system. So we've got state by state working with children checks, uh, which does add a layer of complexity, certainly for those in our industry and in our volunteer network that work across borders. So let's have a look at what they're going to be proposing at the state level in this review and how that might impact a federal review. Um, on the 28th, sorry, 27th of February, I think the Friday is, uh, we are pending a uh speaker there, so haven't confirmed that as yet, but we will still be here. And then the following week is the 6th of March. Now, if you don't know what GKNP stands for, it's because I couldn't fit it on the slide. It is the Great Koala National Park. So this is a uh new park on the North Coast. You would have seen some correspondence from me on this park uh in the past. Now, this is an important session because the National Parks and Wildlife of New South Wales will be coming along to talk to us about the consultation that they're running on what uses that park could have within it. Now, the consultation live, which I'll talk to in a little bit, does end on the 1st of March, but they've given us the opportunity to add to that consultation by them coming along to this session on the 6th of March. So lots of great topics coming up in our Connect and Shares and more in store during the year. So make sure you jump in every time you're around on Fridays at 10 a.m. So the month that was, or should I say the months that were uh December and January. Who would have thought we've got uh two months that we haven't been together? So let me give you a quick rundown. And for those that know, we uh we put these recordings into a podcast and make it live for um our members to even listen if they're in the bush uh or on in their car. So it gives people an able enable opportunity to catch up wherever you are. Um, so we've been podcasting for three years. We've published over 1400 minutes of content. So that's for you to understand uh what's happening and some information that's going to only serve you better in the industry. So that certainly uh was a big milestone as we get close to 1500 minutes. The other thing that uh we we were successful in, you would have seen some emails from me, was our advocacy around e-bike hire. Now there's a lot of movement in the e-bike space, of course, but this one was really going to be hugely detrimental to some of our members, um, but also the industry more broadly, who actually hire out e-bikes to get people active and outdoors very quickly. So that the law actually got implemented ready for the 1st of February, which was this week, and uh it would have basically rendered all of our fleets obsolete overnight. So we did some amazing advocacy getting them to realize this part of the industry and the importance of getting people outdoors. Um, and even if it's an e-bike, it still is an active participation. We know that uh riding an e-bike is equivalent to going for a walk. So we wanted to make sure we weren't limiting that access and also supporting our businesses as well. So that was great to have that announcement the week before Christmas. You know, talk about timing, huh? Also, what happened was Kai Fanault, our wonderful ambassador, released her latest book. So if you haven't grabbed that yet, um, she's got that discount offer for all members, uh, and you can get that through her website. Um, she is also running our Pinnacle Leadership program, which you might know. And uh during um, I suppose our break of Connect and Shares, I think we had three Pinnacle Leadership sessions and um some great speakers, great talk, yeah, great uh conversations, and uh they are progressing through their modules. I think we're up to module seven now. I think that's the next one. So they're doing uh great in uh in progressing there. The other thing that we did was we spoke at the access restrictions to public lands at New South Wales Parliament. Uh, we were accompanied by our colleagues and friends and members from ACA New South Wales, which is the Australian Climbing Association of New South Wales and Vanessa Wills. Um, so it was great to be able to talk to parliamentarians on the need to ensure public lands continue to give access to bushwalking, to climbing, to recreators, to operators. Um, so um, yeah, hopefully we'll see a great outcome from that. Now, the week that was, which was just the past week, um, I was in Canberra. Some of you may know that I hold uh now as the CEO of Outdoors New South Wales ACT, I'm a member of the Outdoor Council of Australia and I have been voted in as the current chair. So that enabled me to be while I was in Canberra, go and see some federal uh members of parliament to talk about our pre-budget submission. So that is trying to give rise to the need to get kids outdoors more often, to embed outdoor education into our policy settings and look at proactive health budget measures. So uh lots of conversations there, all very positive. Um so we'll keep our fingers crossed as this progresses, but it's a it's a long, slow burn with these things. But we're started out and looking forward to working, continuing to work with the federal government. Um, I also was part of an insurance presentation with Oz Trade. As most of you know, our industry has been heavily engaged in working through solutions for public liability insurance in particular. We work with colleagues and um and stakeholders in our industry, including uh brokers and insurers such as Affinity Insurance Brokers on this. And we have uh probably jumped ahead of most of the associations in um various sectors in understanding and educating as a result, you know, from what I hear from most of you, that the insurance situation for our industry is a lot better. Um, in premiums are starting to come down, uh, which is great news, and um safeguarding that for the future is our as our key. So uh we'll be continuing those discussions. And of course, another pinnacle leadership program uh session this week, and we caught up with some members in Canberra. So great to see a lot of smiling faces and uh hearing about what was happening on the ground in Canberra at the moment. Now, I wanted to share this slide with you. On Friday, I attended the uh Tourism Leadership Forum in Canberra. It is uh hosted by David Marshall, who's the lead on the Tourism Leadership Forum. Um, this was actually presented by John Hart. Now, John is um uh the Australian uh Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Uh, he has a tourism arm, so it's heavily um about tourism and transport this slide, but I wanted to share it with you because it does highlight some of the areas where Australia could definitely perform better. Now it looks very confusing. Let me talk you through it. So this is about tourism and transport, as I say, and they have a development index across the world to measure us against 116 nations. So what I want you to look at is obviously the top headings there, and you can see the position where you might see 8th, 11th, 43rd, 24th, down in that middle bottom area. If you can see my cursor, it's these ones here. That is our ranking against those 116 nations. So let me take you to the positives. Australia is very good for its natural resources. I think we know that only too well. Um, so we are leading certainly in our natural resources, but if I jump over to sustainability, we're not looking after them as much as we should. And I think we all hand on heart probably realize that uh to a degree. But if we look at environmental sustainability, and this comes down to how businesses interact and measure sustainability, but also look at further improvements in that area, uh, we are sitting at 30th. Now that's quite disappointing in such a high natural resource country. So certainly this is an area that the government is focusing in on to try to drive more environmental sustainability across the board. Now, the other one I wanted to pinpoint for you, you can see overall we're sitting at 8th, but what really does bring us undone is certainly our ground and airport infrastructure, our problem child of getting through customs, our interaction with international visitors. Um, so we're actually sitting at 53rd as far as our ground and port infrastructure. So that's uh cruising infrastructure and our airport infrastructure and how it measures against other airports around the world. Um, but then I'm going to jump to the worst part, and this comes into our price competitiveness. We are sitting at 112 out of 116. So we know that we're a very expensive country to come to, but what this says is that it's not seen as value for money. So 112 is pretty significant. Um, we know we're expensive to come to, but uh what the the people are asked in this is, you know, are they getting their value for money when they actually come here? So yeah, a bit surprising. And uh certainly Tourism Australia has some some work to do in that area, but I think more importantly, regional investment. Um, and this is something that John was speaking about, working with Ostrade to reinvest into um in particular into the regions, but also into aging infrastructure and trying to get innovative um experiences. Now, this is where we can play quite well in our experience provision. Uh, Tourism Australia is highly looking at experience to drive um visitation to Australia. So, yeah, here we go, guys. We've got to look at what we provide, is it value for money, and um start doing better in that area. So, if you want to copy this slide to have a look at, please let me know. But it's got a lot of detail in there and uh certainly interesting information. Okay, on to more um negative news, unfortunately. But this Butaroo National Park, which is the Macquarie Pass area of New South Wales in the Southern Highlands, right now we have a draft plan and management on exhibition that closes on Monday at five o'clock. We have already submitted a response to this draft management plan. We are deeply concerned about some of the restrictions that he has put into this draft. So please, if you are thinking of putting in a submission, um, have a look at our latest blog that went up on our website yesterday. Feel free to pull any data from that uh blog and reiterate that in your own submission. But uh basically, it's very hard to see any allowances for any adventurous activity in that national park as it currently stands. So, look, we look forward to working with National Parks and Wildlife on a better solution uh for this draft plan of this plan of management. Um, and uh we've certainly reached out to the department uh to have those discussions as well as submitted through the pre the um the portal as uh required. Um so yes, please, if you are looking at that area, you're conducting activities in that national park, get in touch with them, please put in a submission. It's as easy as just filling out the survey on their website. AAAS, we mentioned this uh a little uh at the beginning about the session that we have on the 13th of February, but uh just an update. You might have seen if you're engaged already on the platform, an update that came out from David Marston yesterday. Um, but it is progressing well. We actually have a survey coming out very soon to see where everyone is at in the thinking around uh changes to the AAAS, but also we have the monthly meetings which continue this year. So if you haven't seen those, been involved in those, it's a really good idea, even if you just jump into a couple to get a bit of a feel for what are some of the recommended changes that are coming through into these important documents, which really do be the backbone of what we do in the outdoors. I've said this before, but the important thing here is if anything happens, whether a near miss, an incident, these are the go-to documents for work safe. So, you know, as much as I think we started on this journey back in 2019 as voluntary guides, we've certainly moved away from them being voluntary. They are being used by our policy setters, um, including land managers, as the guidance for good practice. Okay, next week we have a member board meetup. So if you are the primary contact for your membership with Outdoors New South Wales ACT, you have got an invitation to come and meet the board on Thursday night. So they're all going to be in town. I've captured them and I'm going to lock them away so you guys can uh come and chat with them. So they're at uh Parramatta on Thursday night. If you want to come along to that, please get in touch, send me an email and I'll send you the form to fill out. Um, but we look forward to connecting with our members and our board. And as discussed before, we have the 20th of February Connect and Share session all about the working with children check review. So here's a little bit more information for you. And if you can't come along to the 20th of February, they actually have some consultations going on at the moment in Wollongong, Newcastle, Tamworth, Dubo, Lismore, and Albury. So if you jump onto the Office of Children's Guardian website, you can certainly see all those dates and opportunities there. They will be in Parramatta the same day as our board. Um, so if you wanted to uh kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, you can go along to that session in Parramatta and uh then come along to our Meet and Greet. And the Business Sector Forum is on the 17th of February in Sydney. So you can certainly register for free for any of those consultations and um yeah, keep involved because obviously, as we know, this is an important tool for our industry when you're working with children. National Parks and Wildlife New South Wales have a structure around regional advisory committees. So, this is a really great opportunity for those that might have connection to a local area and their national parks to be involved in an advisory committee. These terms are for three years, and you can apply to be on those committees and meet regularly and assist national parks in understanding some of the things that they need to know about what happens on the ground, what our industry needs are, and certainly making sure that these are better spaces and places for us to play. So applications close on the 25th of February. Um, I just assume it's just before midnight, 11.55 to be exact. But yes, if you want to get your application in for the New South Wales Regional Advisory Committee, uh jump onto the environment.nsw.gov.au website. If you do forward slash RACS, you should get straight to that application. Another national park is the Gardens of Stone State Conservation Area. And right now there's a public consultation on what they're proposing around bush camping. So look at that if you're interested in either utilizing that bush camping or being involved in the process. This does look at the review of the environmental factors that would be imposed by these bush camps, but a great tool for a lot of our bushwalkers and tour organizers that use that area. It could be a great new facility for you, but we want to make sure it's exactly what we need for the industry. So that one's due on the 26th of February. Like all submissions, if you are submitting to any of these, please keep me in touch so I can certainly reiterate some of your points into our submissions as well. The Great Koala National Park. So we spoke about this in our Connect and Share previews, and this the Connect and Share will be on the 6th of March. So the Great Koala National Park is on the north coast, mid-north coast of New South Wales. It is a brand new national park being gazetted. So this opportunity to have your say is all about what you want to see as activities that will be allowed in this national park. So there'll be opportunities obviously for visitor experiences and recreation, but they want to hear from uh recreators and organizations about what their needs in this space will be. So a great opportunity for us to have that session on the 6th of March that is specifically for outdoors New South Wales. Bushwalking, and we have Jessie with us, so she might want to talk to this, I'm not sure. But uh Jessie was successful in uh getting a grant from New South Wales government through Women New South Wales, and this is all about Women's Week, which is on the 2nd to the 8th of March. Now, this uh will enable us to have that conversation with women who are looking to get outside and uh do a bit of walking, but in the comfort of being amongst others in a bushwalking club. So Jesse's team is uh making sure all the clubs are offering more opportunities for women to get engaged in the clubs uh from the 2nd to the 8th of March. Hopefully, then it'll instill some great practice and they continue to working with Bushwalking New South Wales. So, um, Jesse, did you want to say Anything more or did I cover it?
SPEAKER_00:Um no, you've got it, but um yeah, thank you very much for for mentioning it. Um Outdoors New South Wales and ACT have been very helpful um in the media side of getting our campaign off the ground. So thanks, Laurie and your team for that. Um yeah, we have a dedicated webpage that you can go and check it out and book onto all the walks from there.
SPEAKER_04:Amazing. Thank you. Yeah, and just for those that are listening to the audio only, that's bushwalking newsouthwales.org.au. David, you have a question or a comment?
SPEAKER_02:I'd get a comment actually. Uh I've been watching that organization while women on top for many years. Yeah, which has been encouraging uh women to go and do all sorts of amazing adventures, but mostly bushwalking. Um so that's a good example of what can happen in that uh in that scene.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, absolutely. No, thank you for that. So, yes, um, maybe spread the word, get some more women active out there and part of bushwalking clubs across New South Wales. Now, this is a little bit of a challenging one to get your head around. I feel like I live and breed this one, but the occupational shortage list is an important tool for government to see where the jobs are needed the most. You might remember last year I spoke about this, and we were absolutely excited to get our outdoor leaders on that list in 2025. Um, hopefully, we'll be working with government uh while it's on that list to see what uh incentives and opportunities we have to get more people into our jobs. Um, the census, as you know, just closed. So I'm looking forward to digging deep into that data to see where we sit as far as our need for our jobs, and uh that will help inform my entry into this 26 survey. So every year they do this survey, and that's what uh they need to understand what's happening on the ground. So if you do have issues at filling your jobs, this is an important tool for you. Please jump on to desi.gov.au. So it's d se.gov.au and register for that survey. It's a two-stage process. So register, then they send you the link, then do the survey, and tell them, you know, the troubles you're having, the numbers of people that you could employ, um, should they be available, because that that will help them understand where we sit with outdoor leaders. That survey actually closes on the 18th of March, so we've got a little bit of time, so you'll hear me uh rabbit on about this uh for a few weeks yet. But it is an important tool that the government uses to really review the job situation, and uh we want to be on that list as long as we need to be to get our jobs filled. Um, PD sessions. You some of you might have seen this in our monthly newsletter as well as others, that we have a magnificent calendar of professional opportunities available uh for our members, and um, we'd love you to be part of it. So we've already run uh quite a few in January. Um, I spoke to Mick from Dynamic Motivation yesterday, who ran a fabulous session with Barker College in getting those teachers well set for this year in their mountain biking activities. So there's a lot going on. There's uh first aid, there's wilderness first aid, uh, there's paddling, there's climbing, um, there's even leadership programs. Uh, if you're wanting your leaders to certainly develop in their skills of being a professional leader, not necessarily an outdoor leader, that's an opportunity for them. So please have a look at that calendar, see if there's anything of interest, um, book your sessions because I know some of the first aid ones, particularly, are filling up fast. So guarantee your spot. Top tour guide. Here we go again. So this year we've got the top tour guide awards being hosted by the New South Wales Tourism Association. So if you know of a fabulous adventure guide who should be our top tour guide for New South Wales, this is a great opportunity. Why don't you nominate even if it's yourself? Uh, you can nominate now, they close on the 10th of April, and then you've got until the 13th of May to get your submission in. Now it's not too onerous, but certainly there is a bit of detail that they're wanting, rightly so, because they're measuring uh those people up against everyone across the state. And please remember that uh we are happy to supply letters of support for all of you to assist in some of those processes. So, yes, if you know a fabulous adventure guide, let's get them nominated on the platform and up there in lights. Who knows? If you win New South Wales, you might be Australian tour guide over the year. Masterclass is this year. So for those that have been heavily engaged with us over the years, every two years we hold a summit, every other year we hold an outdoor industry masterclass. So this is fine-tuned for those that are either running an organization, um, a business owner, uh, senior management, right? So these are the people that need to understand how to equip their organization for the best outcome in the next couple of years. So over the two days, we look at all the different topics that might be either an opportunity or might be a challenge for small businesses in our industry. So when I say small businesses, that could be charities, it could be not-for-profits, it could be um sole traders or it could be companies. So this is a great opportunity to get uh really that knowledge that you need to set yourself up for success and for the organization. It will be followed by our industry awards, which uh will be open very soon. You might have already seen that the Outdoor Education Australia Awards are open now. We will be selecting our state winners from the OEA awards and recognizing them on the night, but we do have some new categories. So we're going to be putting it out to all of our members, and uh you'll see that in the coming weeks. Submissions will close on the 10th of May, which is the same date as the OEA Awards, and we'll have the ceremony at the end of the masterclass that evening. And of course, if you want to stay on, you can because the outdoor learning mini conference will be the following two days. So we'll be down in Willemeya in the Jarvis Bay region uh for four days in July. The outdoor learning mini conference is a great opportunity for teachers, educators, facilitators. This is a conversation amongst colleagues, amongst friends about techniques that we need to do more in getting kids outdoors. So uh look forward to that one this year. We'll be calling for submissions for speakers very soon. And we have a pro deal from our friends at One Planet. So for all members of Outdoors New South Wales Act, OnePlanet has given us access to some fabulous deals. So you can apply through that website there, which is excuse me, I'm gonna cough, oneplanet.au slash pro deal dash apply. Now, when that goes through, I'll verify you as a member and you will get access to some incredible deals, courtesy of one planet. Right now, enough of me talking. Over to you guys. I wanted to ask you what is one word that you would use to describe 2026 so far? Why don't you think about that for a minute? Yeah. Kirsty's got a thought. Growth. That's my word.
SPEAKER_05:I already feel like it's gone to a little bit of the next level. So yeah, that's my word.
SPEAKER_04:Awesome. Do you feel like that's happening already, or is that your vision?
SPEAKER_05:It is definitely my vision. Growth and price point, I guess.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:Making sure I'm sitting in the right price point so I can keep growing and be more viable.
SPEAKER_04:Amazing. Okay, fabulous. Has anyone got one?
SPEAKER_02:Crazy.
SPEAKER_04:Crazy.
SPEAKER_02:Well, in Victoria, we've already had to finish a full review of the of the of the permit system, plus all this stuff with the AAS, plus, yeah, there hasn't been any time to do any work, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:And that, yes, yes, I can I can uh certainly empathize with you there, David. I feel like everything's under review. So which is always a positive thing to look at what's going to be on the other side. But yeah, crazy is certainly a good word. Anyone else?
SPEAKER_00:Um, I've got one. Yeah. Uh collaboration or collaborative. Um I'm noticing uh a lot of interactions between, um, especially within our organization, between clubs and between different outdoor organizations. And I'm really enjoying seeing that.
SPEAKER_04:Amazing. That's really great, Jesse. And look, you know, I think like anything in an industry setting, collaboration gets things done better but stronger. Um, you know, we're a we're a social system and we're here to support each other. And uh I think the sooner people realize that collaboration can take them that little bit further, success. Yeah, great stuff. Thank you so much. Awesome. Now I'm gonna ask a very negative question. If you were pessimistic, what would the word be? It's hard to put you in a pessimistic mind frame, isn't it? Right?
SPEAKER_03:From our point of view, probably are we gonna be or am I gonna be overwhelmed? Uh overwhelmed, uh number of things that are happening, particularly with the Great Koala National Park. No doubt there's a fair bit of interest in that. Um, and there would no doubt be draft plans of management to respond to those sorts of things.
SPEAKER_04:Yes, yep. Overwhelms are a great word. And if I can give you any satisfaction there, knowing again through Jesse's word collaboration, you know, we're sort of all in the same boat. So hopefully we can help get through that. David.
SPEAKER_02:I don't have a word, but uh we're still working on our best practice and getting people to be safe. I don't think we're particularly safe as an industry, to be quite honest, recreationally or professionally. And I think one major incident with, as David Strickland says, with half a dozen dead kids on a river somewhere, yeah, would bring us undone. Yeah. So hopefully we can get our act together over time before we have that uh avoidable major incident.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, absolutely. I'm trying to think of a word for you. Um, you know, uncertain, um challenging, yes. Um the safety.
SPEAKER_05:Maybe unpredictability or something like that.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, unpredictable.
SPEAKER_05:For me, it's like climate unpredicta unpredictability. We just don't always know what the weather's doing. We think we're in the right season and then it does a 180 and suddenly we've got our jackets back on. Yes, yeah, yeah. Things like that. It could be summer, but you could be wearing a jacket, like on Boxing Day this year.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, it's all it's also about oversight. Currently, we because of the work we've done with adventure activity standards and other things, we're managing our own oversight. Whereas if there was a big risk, a big incident, I should say, government could step in, as has happened in England and uh and New Zealand and mandate oversight. Yeah, so that's what we've got to avoid, in my opinion, is government oversight.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, yeah, agreed, agreed. Yeah, no, very good. And I'm glad we didn't get too pessimistic in that conversation. I was worried. But I think we're all positive animals in this world. But okay, so if you were more optimistic than when we started, what would the word be? So think about where you started with this conversation. We were pretty optimistic, but what if you were more optimistic? What would that word be? Now I've got you thinking. I can see the cogs turning.
SPEAKER_02:I I like networking, which is a follow-on from yeah, the collaboration. The collaboration is definitely networking much better than we ever ever have with inventor activity standards, with a whole range of other things that are forcing us to come together. So I think that networking is probably what I see as the positives at the moment, yeah.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah, amazing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05:I have to second that, David. Collaboration. Like I'd love to talk to Jesse soon. Um, from because our you know, our missions cross over a little similar as well. Very much so. Yes, and particularly the the you know, getting more women outdoors. Yeah, but definitely collaboration, yeah, that's an optimistic view of just me just keep, you know, get myself just getting in touch with more um providers to help me get them outdoors as well. I feel like CXIS is a bit of a feeder into the industry. Yes, feeder into the for other outdoor providers.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_05:So I my mission, or I'm concentrating on but building that community to then go, come on, let's get out there and try other things as well.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely. And I think you are right in saying you're actually probably putting, I don't I want to use the word ambassador, but really um examples out there. Like you're putting ambassadors for the outdoors, but you're those people that you're leading out there are now becoming examples of other others to follow.
SPEAKER_05:Yes, and just getting them out there in in the amongst nature in the bush, just the conversations that I'm having. I'm trying to lead them into building their confidence so they can try, you know, paddling and and I'm still working on upsailing, trying to, you know, help them aspire to be try, uh upsailing, things like that. But yeah, just that soft adventure is working, that sort of mentality at the moment. Yeah, it doesn't have to be extreme. And um yeah, stepping outside onto the trails, that's really helping those conversations that I'm having with them. And I'm they're helping me steer what they would be willing to try.
SPEAKER_04:So yeah, brilliant.
SPEAKER_05:So yeah, collaborating and learning off the other providers as well who have gotten it.
SPEAKER_04:Absolutely. And as you know, you know, some of the events that we hold where everyone comes together is where a lot of that magic happens too, that that conversation. Yeah. Um and don't forget, there's a good plug for our Friday happy hours. Um so every Friday, as uh most of our members know, we've got four o'clock happy hour where you can just come and and you know throw an idea out and see what everyone has to say about it. We're here to support everyone going through their journey here. So um, you know, if you're around on a Friday afternoon at four o'clock, jump online and yeah, it's amazing where the conversations go in those those sessions. Well, thank you everyone for contributing. I think that's a really good place to sort of leave us uh for today. Just a reminder about the upcoming sessions um that are coming up. Sorry, Brian, you wanted to jump in?
SPEAKER_03:Well, I actually want to go right back to the beginning of your presentation. Sorry to uh not jump in at the time, but um e-bikes. What's been the outcome there? Is it that the um higher companies can continue to use what's in their fleet?
SPEAKER_04:Correct. That was the outcome. So we managed to get an exemption pass for all higher fleet um so that they could continue to use um and they'll be grandfathered basically. So um they still need to comply with the usual safety requirements, but they didn't have to comply with that brand new code that was that um uh standard that was required. So um great outcome for the businesses that were hiring e-bikes. But as you know, there's a lot of um different legislation that's being looked at for e-bikes. And um, Kirsty, I know where you you live and where there's a lot of problems associated with e-bike riders. So, you know, that's a different end again. Um and yeah, there's a lot being looked at.
SPEAKER_03:If they want to add something to their fleet, does the new addition have to comply with their tradings requirements?
SPEAKER_04:Yes, they do. So any new e-bikes need to comply with the um the new uh um new legal requirement.
SPEAKER_03:So in that case, so in that case, they'll then need to look at the list, see what's already been approved or accepted, correct. And to choose one of those because obviously um they wouldn't have the the money to be able to get something certified.
SPEAKER_04:Correct. That's right. So we're that's it. So we're urging all um uh hires or people that are looking at this not to buy secondhand stock um for that reason because that actually have to go through the manufacturer, which chances are the manufacturer would not uh be able to recertify those bikes if they're over 12 months old.
SPEAKER_03:Okay, thanks.
SPEAKER_04:Pleasure, David.
SPEAKER_02:So I think something that we need to be looking at as the year progresses and we find some time is how do we manage succession planning now that many of us are over 50? Uh yeah, yeah, as volunteers and others in the industry and organizational leaders and influencers, but also people like David Strickland, uh, you know, as an example of a government person, not only influences what happened in Victoria, but is it's on a national basis. Yeah, how do we how do we succession plan for that wide range? We probably need to decide not only how we do it, but who we need to do it for.
SPEAKER_04:I I have a a good thought on that, and um it's probably a good good place to to sort of leave our session today. But um, you know, I'm a big believer of processes, um uh are the failure of um people, not people are the failure of processes. So um that goes very deep, but basically that means that you know, if we have the right systems and processes in our industry, no matter who sits in those chairs, um that should be the vehicle that carries um an industry and organizations forward. Something that I often talk about with all of our strategy sessions that I have with you in our membership is you know, ensuring that uh you set up the processes so that um, you know, you are not the bearer of all the content and it falls over should something happen to one person or yourself. Um, yeah, so great comment, David. And um, yeah, hopefully uh I'll let make people think about that in their own settings as we finish today's session. So there's the reminders for the upcoming Connect and Shares on your screen now. Um I will close the recording, we'll open up for general chit chat, and um thank you for joining us for our first session of 2026 in season four. We'll look forward to seeing you all next week.
SPEAKER_01: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 pick 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.