Outward Bound Australia CEO Darren Black recently presented at the Association of Heads of Independent Schools Australia Pastoral Care Conference in Launceston, Tasmania. The Conference was held at Scotch College, Oakburn in May 2008 addressing the theme of "Life, Love and Leadership: it's all about relationships".
Outward Bound offers exhilarating personal development courses that take people into new territories, giving them the opportunity to test themselves, inspire each other and come back with a new outlook on life and the world.
Outward Bound is firmly established at the forefront of personal development and experiential outdoor education. Since 1956, more than 250,000 people have participated in one of our programs! Being part of the international Outward Bound community means we have close ties with the many Outward Bound schools operating around the world.
Our desire is to assist you in your journey of self-discovery. We offer our programs as tools to help you develop your potential and achieve greatness in your life. The more we understand ourselves, the more we can be of service. Join us, and discover that there is more in you than you think.
Outward Bound congratulates Westpac, Toyota Australia and Rio Tinto on achieving over 95% in the 2007 Corporate Responsibility Index. These three companies and their Foundations were strong supporters of Outward Bound in 2007. Here are some of the ways they support Outward Bound and the youth of Australia:
The Westpac Foundation is the principal sponsor of the Outward Bound National Aspiring Leaders Summit. This annual program brings together youth leaders aged 16-18 to Canberra in April to develop the necessary leadership skills, behaviours and attitudes to make a difference in their communities. Communities in every Australian state and territory have benefited from Community Action Projects conducted by these young people.
Toyota have been sponsoring Outward Bound in Western Australia for many years by providing vehicles to conduct our programs. The impact of this initiative has reached thousands of young West Australians and made a significant contribution to Outward Bound's ability to achieve its mission.
Rio Tinto's Coal and Allied Community Trust have sponsored over five hundred young people from the Hunter Valley to participate in an Outward Bound program. This initiative has been supported by Coal and Allied since 2003.
The Corporate Responsibility Index measures and reports on the social and environmental impact of participating companies. Responsibility is one of Outward Bound's core values, and we extend our congratulations to these companies on their success. These initiatives and others assist Outward Bound in achieving its mission to help people to discover, develop and achieve their potential.
The National Aspiring Leaders Summit is a one of Australia's peak leadership events. It brings together young people from across Australia to participate in a seven day program that provides them with the necessary skills and experiences to return to their community and make a difference. The young people walk away from the program with a plan to complete a Community Action Project.
The National Aspiring Leaders Program successfully engaged ten not-for-profit and community organisations across Australia to support young people in establishing social enterprises or projects that make a difference. Twenty-eight communities from five states and two territories were represented in the 2008 program. These communities represent varying degrees of disadvantage including geographic isolation, high unemployment and a lack of educational and health services provided for young people. Each project or enterprise focuses important needs in those communities. Some young people chose to focus on local projects, while others chose to collaborate across borders. One example was in a group of four young people representing four states to tackle the issue of abuse in their communities.
Outward Bound has been changing the lives of Australians now for 50 years. In 2007/08 almost 5000 people have participated in an Outward Bound course and of these, over 500 young Australians will have benefited from an Australian Outward Bound Development Fund (AOBDF) scholarship.
These scholarships have enabled young Australians from regional communities and disadvantaged backgrounds to attend one of our youth leadership courses, regional community programs or staff training scholarships. We have achieved this by working closely with other organisations such as: The Country Education Foundation of Australia, The Smith Family, Reach and many of our regional Lions clubs. However, the major share of the scholarship funding has again been provided by the generous support of the friends of Outward Bound.
We are opening up seasonal and casual employment opportunities to the Australian and International Outdoor professional field. Traditionally, seasonal or casual staff utilised during our peak seasons have been solely ex-Outward Bound Australia instructors. We are now changing in our approach to seasonal and casual staffing, looking to employ staff from the Outdoor Education field in general.
We are seeking staff who have some degree of outdoor education experience, and are looking to build their level of experience further.
Outward Bound has been changing the lives of Australians now for 50 years. In 2007/08 almost 5000 people have participated in an Outward Bound course and of these, over 500 young Australians will have benefited from an Australian Outward Bound Development Fund (AOBDF) scholarship.