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Scouts Australia | |||
---|---|---|---|
Country | Australia | ||
Founded | 1908 | ||
Founder | Lord Baden Powell | ||
Membership | 70,000 [1] | ||
Chief Scout | David Hurley (October 2019) [2] | ||
The Australian Scout Jamboree is a jamboree which used to be held every three years but is now held every four (like World Scout Jamborees) by Scouts Australia. The Jamboree is traditionally held in early January and typically runs for ten nights.
The first, in 1934, was held in Frankston, Victoria, and was attended by the World Chief Scout, Robert Baden-Powell. The Frankston district still uses the original Jamboree logo as its district emblem. Jamborees have been held regularly since 1934, except for 1942 and 1945, due to World War 2, and in 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Traditionally Australian Jamborees are hosted on a rotational basis, with the order of hosting being as follows:
Each Scouting Branch (State) is the effective host of the Australian Jamboree and takes responsibility for its management.
By world standards, Australian Jamborees are medium-sized, with the largest Jamborees being held in Europe and North America and generally hosting between 35,000 and 40,000 participants.
Jamborees were not held during World War II or during the COVID-19 pandemic (AJ2022 was cancelled on 23 January 2021 [6] )
The Jamboree Organising Committee (JOC) has the primary task of organising and running the Jamboree. The host state takes the responsibility for forming a JOC from local Scouters.
The largest organisational unit of the Jamboree is a Contingent. There is one contingent for each of the Australian States and Territories - Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, - as well as New Zealand, Guides Australia, and International Contingents.
A unit consists of about 36 Scouts, six patrols of youth members and six to seven leaders. Each unit shares a common camping area where they will cook, sleep and socialise for the duration of the Jamboree. Units are generally made up of members of the same contingent and Mixed Overseas contingent.
Youth members in units are further subdivided into patrols of five or six Scouts. The most experienced Scout is generally given the task of being 'Patrol Leader' or 'PL', and another experienced Scout is assigned as 'Assistant Patrol Leader' or 'APL'. Scouts work in patrols for all activities and tasks during the Jamboree. At the jamboree Patrol Leaders are given special prizes and a special lunch to acknowledge the important task they carry out.
Scouts must be between the age of 11 and 14. Jamborees will have badge and experience requirements for attendance. For the 25th Australian Jamboree, these are Program Essentials Milestone 1, Outdoor Adventure Skills Stage 3 in Bushcraft, Bushwalking, and Camping and 10 nights under canvas [7]
Participants will be expected to cook for themselves, keep their sleeping area and campsite clean and tidy, participate in their assigned activities, and cope with the experience of being away from home for the period of the Jamboree (usually about 11 days).
Older members, namely Venturers and Rovers, also attend the Jamboree to assist with activities and other tasks. Younger members, including Joeys and Cubs, and families and friends of Scouting are able to visit the site as day visitors, especially on Future Scout Day (Market Day), where games and stalls are set up by the Scouts attending the Jamboree.
Jamboree activities are a mixture of on-site and off-site activities that seek to challenge the participants, reinforce Scouting values, provide valuable and new experiences, and most of all, be great fun.
Activities for the 2007 Australian Scout Jamboree included:
Activities for the 2019 Australian Scout Jamboree included:
During a Jamboree there could be more people on the Jamboree site than there are in some regional towns. Considerable resources and infrastructure are set up at the Jamboree sites to ensure the safety, well-being and enjoyment of all participants. Some of the Jamboree resources include:
The 21st Australian Jamboree (AJ2007) took place at the Elmore Field Days site in Elmore, Victoria, from 1 to 13 January, 2007. [8] It was the first major Scout event in 2007 and thus the first to celebrate 100 years of Scouting. 12,000 adults and youth from Australia and 30 other counties attended the Jamboree, 8,500 of whom were Scouts. [9] The Jamboree had a theme of "Get in the Game" to promote participation.
AJ2007 featured four off-site activities: Wet Wild & Windy, Riverforce, Bushwacked and Ready Set Bendigo.
On-site activities included Venture Extreme (learning about linking to Ventures), X-Site (circus themed), Planet Blitz (focused on recycling and the environment), Rock Sports (rock climbing and abseiling) and Sky High (joy flights over the Jamboree site Elmore, and Rochester). Game On was another activity featuring six bases. It included sports, car smashing, mud and a giant water slide.
Additional on-site activities included a carnival, contingent HQ, subcamp activities and a mall.
An amateur radio station was also set up at the Jamboree by the Scout Radio and Electronics Service Unit (Vic), utilising the special event call sign VI3JAM. A notable achievement of the station was a live link to the International Space Station when Scouts had to opportunity to talk with Astronaut LCDR Sunita Williams in orbit of the earth.
The Australian Jamboree 2007 featured much entertainment, with music acts such as Evermore, The Rogue Traders, Björn Again, Tripod and Taxiride performing on the main arena; along with numerous cover bands. Stunt planes and Motocross riders brought other nights alive; along with a Marquee called “The Place” which had themed discos.
Cleanup of the site involved removing 200 tonnes of rubbish, dismantling 16,000 square meters of marquee, and removing 208 portable buildings on site, including toilets. It was expected to take a fortnight using 50 volunteers. [10] The Scouts had already taken down their own tents and troop facilities.
Scouts Australia is a trading name of The Scout Association of Australia, which is the largest scouting organisation in Australia, claiming 48,796 children and youths and 2,792 young adult participants in 2022, and is a member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. It was formed in 1958 and incorporated in 1967. It operates personal development programs for children and young adults from 5 to 25 years of age with programs successively opened to girls after 1971.
Elmore is a town in Victoria, Australia, north-east of Bendigo on the Campaspe River. Elmore is close to the Whipstick State Park.
Frankston South is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 43 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Frankston local government area. Frankston South recorded a population of 18,801 at the 2021 census.
Before Federation in 1901 five of the six separate colonies maintained their own naval forces for defence. The colonial navies were supported by the ships of the Royal Navy's Australian Station which was established in 1859. The separate colonies maintained control over their respective navies until 1 March 1901, when the Commonwealth Naval Forces was created.
Scouting started in Victoria, Australia, as early as 1907 and local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently. Several separate central organisations began operating including Boys' Brigade Scouts, Church Lads' Brigade Scouts, Chums Scouts, Imperial Boy Scouts, Girl Peace Scouts, Imperial Boy Scouts Victoria Section, Imperial Boy Scouts Victorian Section, Gippsland Boy Scouts Association, Australian Boy Scouts, Australian Imperial Boy Scouts, The Boy Scouts Association, Life-Saving Scouts of the Salvation Army and Methodist Boy Scouts.
Scouting in South Australia began in 1908.
Scouting started in New South Wales, a State of Australia, in 1908. In the early years, local Boy Scout patrols and troops formed independently and several separate associations began operating including the Chums Scout Patrols, League of Boy Scouts, Girl Peace Scouts, Boys Brigade Scouts and Church Lads Brigade Scouts. These were later joined by The Boy Scouts Association, The Girl Guides Association and Life-Saving Scouts and Life Saving Guards of the Salvation Army. Some local Scout groups moved affiliation between the different associations.
An adaptation of the Rovers training program is operated by Scouts Australia for adults aged between 18 and 25 years of age.
Piccadilly is a small town in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, Australia. At the 2006 census, Piccadilly had a population of 509.
The 21st World Scout Jamboree was held in July and August 2007 and formed a part of the Scouting 2007 Centenary celebrations of the world Scout Movement. The event was hosted by the United Kingdom, as 2007 marked the 100th anniversary of the founding of Scouting on Brownsea Island.
The Scouting 2007 Centenary comprised celebrations around the world in which Scouts celebrated 100 years of the world Scout movement. The original celebrations were focused on the United Kingdom, such as the camp on Brownsea Island, the birthplace of Scouting, and the 21st World Scout Jamboree in Chelmsford, Essex.
Girl Guides Australia (GGA) is the national Guiding organisation in Australia. Its mission is to empower girls and young women to grow into confident, self-respecting members of the community. Membership is open to all girls and young women from all cultures, faiths and traditions. Guiding groups formed in Australia as early as 1909, and by 1920 Girl Guide Associations had been formed in six states. In 1926 the State Associations federated and formed a national organization which became a founding member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1928. It still operates as a federated structure made up of six state-based Guiding organisations. It has roughly 19,000 members including adult and youth members. Over a million Australian women are or have been Guides. The Girl Guide emblem incorporates the Commonwealth Star.
The Scout and Guide movement in Australia consists of:
The Australian Venture is an event for Australian Venturer Scouts. It is their equivalent of a Jamboree, but for Venturers there is a lot more freedom and latitude in what they do. There is a number of on site activities and also an off site expedition, normally totaling about 12 days long. In 2021, Scouts Australia announced that Ventures would no longer be organised nationally. The last Australian Venturer Scout Event was at Lardner Park, Victoria, 2024. The theme for this Venture was "Go Places". The event which spanned two weeks was run in January 2024 with over 1000 people from around Australia and New Zealand. The event included over 20 expeditions around Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, making it the largest Venturer Scout Event in over 20 years.
Scouting in the region of Greater London is largely represented by The Scout Association of the United Kingdom and some Groups of traditional Scouting including the Baden-Powell Scouts' Association.
The 23rd World Scout Jamboree took place in Kirarahama, Yamaguchi in western Japan from 28 July to 8 August 2015. The event was attended by 33,628 Scouts and leaders. The theme was 和 Wa: A Spirit of Unity. The kanji 和, meaning harmony, unity or togetherness, was part of the theme. Wa is also an early name for Japan.
The 16th World Scout Jamboree was held from 30 December 1987 to 7 January 1988, the first World Scout Jamboree held in the Southern Hemisphere, and the first to change the date from the traditional August to January to coincide with summer. The Jamboree was hosted by Australia at Cataract Scout Park a specially constructed Scout tent city situated on a 160-hectare site at Appin, New South Wales, near Sydney, New South Wales. 14,434 Scouts from 84 countries attended the Jamboree, with around 13,000 more in attendance on "Visiting Day". The theme was Bringing the World Together.
William Francis "Bill" Waters was Scouts Victoria's Headquarters Commissioner for Rover Scouts between 1930 and 1965.
The Asia-Pacific Scout Region of the World Organization of the Scout Movement has run or sponsored region-wide Asia-Pacific Scout Jamborees in its member countries, originally known as Pan-Pacific Jamborees.