Outward Bound Australia Turns 70!
Many of us know the origin story of the first Outward Bound school in Aberdovey, Wales UK, that comprised of a 26-day survival course for young sailors, designed by famous German educator, Kurt Hahn. The first program that began in 1941 was born with a simple yet powerful idea: challenge young people, and they’ll discover capabilities they never knew they possessed. Since then Outward Bound schools expanded across the globe into more than 30 countries and its programs have matured and evolved to be relevant to the personal, social and environmental challenges of the modern world.
In 2026, Outward Bound Australia will be celebrating our 70th birthday. As the 3rd oldest Outward Bound school in the world, we are extremely proud to have served the Australian community for seven decades and are very excited to launch a series of events next year to celebrate! But first, let’s go back to the beginning…
It was in 1956 that the Outward Bound School in the UK identified judge, prisoner-of-war and surf lifesaving president, Adrian Curlewis (1901-1985) as the perfect person to help establish the Australian branch of the organisation. Although Curlewis had never heard of the organisation before, he immediately saw the potential to transform young Australian lives and took up the challenge and ran with it.
Although an official site had not yet been chosen, the first Outward Bound Australia course took place at Narrabeen, NSW in November 1956, with 50 boys aged between 16 and 18 years’ old. For most participants, the course fees were covered by forward-thinking employers or families who recognized something special was happening and could see the benefit to their personal development. There’s no doubt that those first boys discovered strengths within them that they never knew they had, and the program was heralded as an “outstanding success.” Now it was time for the OBA committee to turn their attention to finding a physical base to run programs.
The first Outward Bound site in Australia was at Fisherman’s Point on the Hawkesbury River, some 20 kilometres north of Sydney and the first boys’ course was held there in November 1959. It didn’t take long for girls to also go “Outward Bound”, and in 1961 the first girls’ course was run, although they did get the raw end of the stick, as the courses were initially run in the winter holidays, leaving the summer months for the boys’ courses, so that resources and staff could be shared.
Over the next decade or so, a range of courses across different locations in NSW grew and a Victorian arm of operations took hold, as well as specific programs for the Cranbrook School in Sydney and pack & paddle programs for younger students. However, by 1973 Fisherman’s Point was proving too difficult a location for Outward Bound operations and the OBA executive committee made the decision to move operations to the ACT between the two main States.
After a brief stint at a sheep station in Lanyon, on the outskirts of Canberra, Outward Bound Australia finally found its true home at Cuppacumbalong Station, right on the Murrumbidgee River in Tharwa, ACT, where we have been ever since. The site has gone through many iterations over the years, and now, with the building works for our new Communal Centre started, we are looking forward to the next era, as we transform The Tharwa Campus into an exceptional outdoor learning campus to match our industry leading programs.
As we prepare to celebrate this incredible milestone, we’re not just honouring our past—we’re excited to share stories of transformation, adventure, and growth that have shaped generations of Australians. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be revealing exciting celebration events, and we hope you’ll join us in marking 70 years of discovering what’s possible when young people are challenged to reach beyond what they thought they could achieve.
