Future Direction of Outdoor Pursuits in WA - Australian Sports ...

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3. Findings and Issues Arising Applying regulation to outdoor pursuits Options available in for the regulation of outdoor pursuits in WA, include: • self-regulation; • full licensing, supported by government policy and legislation; and/or • status quo/do nothing. To maintain the status quo is not acceptable and will not address current and emerging pubic liability, risk management issues and future development of outdoor pursuits activities. To ensure there is ongoing access to safe environments for participation in outdoor pursuits, regulation and/or improved procedures in the following areas should be addressed: • education and training; • accreditation of leaders and registration of service providers; • risk management policies and procedures; • insurance requirements; and • site access and safety. Benefits Regulation and improved practices within the outdoor pursuits industry can: • Provide a focus on safety standards. • Reinforce the environmental values associated with outdoor pursuits activities, such as environmental awareness and conservation. • Establish enforcement and compliance mechanisms and structures which could ultimately help the industry grow in professionalism and participation. • Help eliminate small and independent operators who are not prepared to accept minimum standards or costs associated with regulation. • Provide managed access to natural environments. • Clarify the roles and responsibilities of the different stakeholders in the activities concerned. • Illustrate governments’ preparedness to act on community concerns and promote consumer confidence. Disadvantages The disadvantages of regulation (specifically legislation) within outdoor pursuits may include: • Difficulty for legislation to be prescriptive enough to cover the broad range of activities, practices, and circumstances characteristic of outdoors pursuits without affecting the individuals’ rights to act freely. It could, effectively, ‘dumb down’ the sector. • Enforcement and compliance would involve the setting up of costly and time-consuming administration within government and other stakeholder groups. • The lengthy and onerous process of developing the legislation would distract from the tasks of ‘industry’ service quality improvement. • Overly prescriptive policies could lead to the banning and outlawing of many existing informal activities, or a reduction in the number of activities provided by commercial and community service groups. Future Direction of Outdoor Pursuits in WA 15
16 • Nomination of prescribed sites via legislation requires constant monitoring by land managers which utilises a significant allocation of resources, especially considering the changing nature of the outdoor environment. Ultimately, this may lead to a reduced number of approved sites, but would not necessarily be adhered to by informal participants. • The inability of stakeholders to agree on what criteria can or cannot be validly and reliably judged by a certifying agent – therefore, what is a reliable indicator of outdoor leadership ability? • Certification decisions are based upon human judgement 17 , and may result in inconsistent outcomes. What is the Current Status of Regulation for Outdoor Pursuits in WA? The last four years have seen an evolution in the management and structures of organisations involved in the coordination and delivery of outdoor pursuits. Major changes include: • national developments in education and training brought about through the National Training Reform Agenda; • establishment of Outdoors WA as the recognised peak body for outdoor pursuits in Western Australia, which has provided a much needed forum for service providers to address selfregulation and advocacy requirements; • the Hartfield Inquest 18 ; and • the debate on public liability and Tort law reforms and the subsequent introduction of legislation 19 . In Western Australia, these changes have been catalysts for the non-profit outdoor pursuits organisations across a number of disciplines (e.g. bushwalking, caving, climbing, climbing walls, ropes courses and sea kayaking) to address regulation and improved practices for issues such as: • the demand for education and training; • risk management policies/practices; • ‘best practice’ standards; • professional development; • program diversity; and • participant/membership servicing. The emergence of Outdoors WA as the recognised peak body for outdoor pursuits in Western Australia has provided a much needed forum for service providers to address self-regulation and advocacy requirements. Outdoors WA aims to represent and ultimately assist in the ongoing development of a variety of outdoor pursuits. Organisations with a vested interest in Outdoors WA’s activities include: • CALM Tourism Industry Reference Group; • Art Sport and Recreation Industry Training Council; • Abseiling Assessment Panel; • Cave Management Advisory Committee; • Australian Camping Association; 17 ‘To Certify or Not to Certify: How judgement works in certification decisions,’ Cheryl Teeters, Ph.D. Trends, V32, No. 3, 1995. 18 ‘Record of Investigation in Death of Kristy Rose Hartfield’, SM McGuire, Coroner, 8 September 1998, ref. No. 46/98. 19 The ‘Volunteer Protection Bill 2002’, the ‘Insurance Commission of WA Amendment Bill 2002’ and the ‘Civil Liability Bill 2002’ have been introduced into the Western Australian Parliament in 2002. Future Direction of Outdoor Pursuits in WA
Page 1 and 2: Future Direction of Outdoor Pursuit
Page 3 and 4: 4 Contents Executive Summary ......
Page 5 and 6: 6 • the debate on public liabilit
Page 7 and 8: 8 Strategy 6 - Public Liability Ref
Page 9 and 10: 10 Reference Group The reference gr
Page 11 and 12: 12 Trends in participation The foll
Page 13: 14 Business • Characterised by a
Page 17 and 18: 18 A number of systems have been in
Page 19 and 20: 20 4. Strategies and Recommendation
Page 21 and 22: 22 Sport and Recreation recognises
Page 23 and 24: 24 Strategy 6 - Public Liability Re
Page 25 and 26: 26 Appendix 1: Excerpt from the Cor
Page 27 and 28: 28 Country Current trend in Sample
Page 29 and 30: 30 Links to other government polici
Page 31 and 32: 32 References A Guide to safe pract
Page 33 and 34: 34 Useful Additional Reading Educat

Future Direction of Outdoor Pursuits in WA - Australian Sports ...

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