About Scouts

Scouts Australia provides boys and girls aged 5 to 25 with fun and challenging opportunities to grow through adventure. With around 70,000 members, Scouts Australia is one of the largest youth development organisations in Australia. What makes us unique is our diverse range of activities that develop skills in young people such as leadership, teamwork, problem solving and communication from the age of 5 years old.

Today’s Scouts can take part in an extraordinary variety of outdoor activities, from ‘traditional Scouting skills’ such as camping and bushcraft, through to more extreme challenges such as abseiling, overnight hiking, rafting, canoeing, canyoning, snow activities, rock climbing, sailing… even flying!

The Scouts Australia Program also incorporates contemporary issues such as youth health, ‘responsible risk-taking’, vocational skills, and issues pertinent to Indigenous Australians.

We offer an Award Scheme that encourages participation in the full range of activities available and provides recognition of individual achievement.

Scouts Australia is an accredited member of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM), which has over 40 million members in 169 National Scout Organisations around the world.

The Scout Program

In 2013, Scouts Australia reviewed the youth program and in 2019 the revised youth program was introduced.

The key purpose of the Scout Movement is to contribute to the education of young people in achieving their full physical, intellectual, emotional, social and spiritual potential as individuals, as responsible citizens and as members of their local, national and international communities.

We achieve this through a diverse program of activities that are adventurous, fun, challenging & inclusive.

Every person’s development is completely individual, in Scouting we recognise this, and each Scout’s personal learning needs are considered first.

The Achievement Pathway is the framework through which we recognise personal progression for individual scouts comprising of:

- Program Essentials consisting of

• Introduction to Scouting

• Introduction to section &

• Milestones (involving participating, assisting & leading)

- Outdoor Adventure Skills

- Specialist Interest Areas

- Adventurous Journey

- Leadership or Personal Development Course (cubs & up)

- Peak Award

Peak Awards

The peak award is the pinnacle of the Achievement Pathway in each section and includes elements of all the other components. It exists to challenge those Scouts who wish to reach the mountain peak and be recognised for their achievements.

To earn the peak award, most sections require Scouts to complete six elements:

- Developmental progress in Program Essentials, Outdoor Adventure Skills and Special Interest Areas

- Adventurous Journey

- Personal Development (or Leadership) course

- Personal Reflection