FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

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Find answers to our most commonly asked questions.

What's the difference between sequences and journeys?

Journeys are a one-off experience delivered to your students, whereas a sequence is a series of programs spanning several years of a student’s scholastic career. Sequences begin by shaping foundational skills and each year’s experience builds upon the year before ensuring the challenge is appropriate and learnings are embedded. Each year, your students will experience a program to suit their stage of development, assisting their transition to adulthood. You can find more information on our Sequences page.

What is the difference between a bush camp and a camp?

Just like our camps, bush camps offer an immersive and unique experience in the Australian bush. At a bush camp, you’ll find fewer amenities in a semi-remote setting than you will find at one of our camps. Accommodation is either tented or, in some cases, a rustic bunkhouse will provide evening shelter. For more information, visit our Centre-based Camps page.

Where are your centre-based camps?

Camp Marysville is located in Marysville, Victoria.

Camp Jungai is located in the Rubicon Valley, Victoria.

Bush Camp Eildon is in Eildon, Victoria.

Camp Wombaroo is located in High Range, New South Wales.

Bush Camp Biloela is in Belangalo, New South Wales.

Bush Camp Margaret River is located in Karridale, Western Australia.

You can find more information on our Centre-based Camps page.

Who facilitates your programs?

The Outdoor Education Group help young people realise their personal best by using experiences in the outdoors as a vehicle for impact. Our Leaders are highly skilled and experienced in guiding young people through outdoor experiences, activities and adventure and are all COVIDsafe trained.

Our team of diversely talented and experienced people support and deliver outdoor education for more than 48,000 students each year across Australia. Our Leaders are experts in facilitating powerful and enjoyable experiences that support your curriculum and teaching frameworks to provide social, physical and psychological outcomes. They receive ongoing training and participate in assessments and refresher courses to ensure they remain technically proficient and continue to deliver unforgettable experiences. Our Leaders come from all walks of life and are passionate about the outdoors and believe in delivering meaningful and memorable experiences for your students.

What do the students eat? What about specific dietary needs?

The Outdoor Education Group’s Catering Department are experts at providing healthy meals for active students from fresh, locally sourced produce Students will eat a mix of fresh and freeze-dried foods. Our Catering team has decades of experience in creating nutritious and tasty menus for all our programs. Our menus are carefully tailored to the program’s location, duration, focus, anticipated weather conditions, and students’ age, gender, and specific dietary needs and preferences, including vegetarian, Halal, Kosher, and vegan. Parents are required to fill out a form advising their child’s dietary requirements prior to program.

What happens if we have bad weather while on program?

Students wear wet-weather gear and carry on with activities. Weather patterns are monitored prior to any program commencing and the Field Duty Manager liaises with program staff daily. The All Hours contact (Course Coordinator) provides twice-daily weather updates throughout the program. A defined bush fire procedure will be enacted if the Fire Danger Rating for the specific weather region reaches pre-determined points. These may, for example, necessitate moving to an urban location for a portion of the program or remaining at the current location until the threat returns to acceptable levels. You can learn more on our Risk page.

How do you manage specific medical/dietary requirements?

The Outdoor Education Group uses a secure online system for parents to register and communicate medical information and any special requirements the student may have.

Do you offer Duke of Edinburgh programs?

The Outdoor Education Group deliver powerful Duke of Edinburgh programs across New South Wales and Victoria for all the award levels – Bronze, Silver and Gold. We also provide the Duke of Edinburgh mandatory training days prior to the Adventurous Journey. We work with schools to ensure the unique needs of your students are met. You will find more information on our Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award page.

Which venues can be hired?

Camp Marysville, Marysville, Victoria, Camp Jungai, Rubicon, Victoria and Camp Wombaroo, High Range, New South Wales. All venues happily welcome school groups, Indigenous groups, youth groups, weddings, religious groups, community groups, special interest groups, family retreats and more. For availability, please submit an enquiry on our Venue Hire page.

How do you manage risk?

As Australia’s largest outdoor education provider, we take a systems-based approach to managing risk and work to imbed best practices at each step of program preparation, delivery, and review. Each and every program involves detailed components of both our proactive and reactive strategies. As required by law, The Outdoor Education Group implements processes and systems which endeavour to ensure, as far as reasonably practicable, the safety of all staff, participants, and others who are associated with our programs. Our standards align with the Australian Adventure Activity Standards. We are the first Australian organisation to receive international accreditation from the Association of Experiential Education, reflecting over 36 years of industry-leading experience. You can learn more about The Outdoor Education Group’s risk management strategies and principles on our Risk page.