Rover Scouts

Program

A World Scout Moot in Australia in 2029?!?!

The National Rover Council, through a team led by Rover Scouts and Advisers, committed to undertaking a feasibility study to determine whether it would be possible to hold the 2029 World Scout Moot in Australia, which would ordinarily fall to Queensland Branch to host the Australian National Moot in that year.

This feasibility study was approved by the National Operations Committee and National Executive Committee of Scouts Australia in November 2020. This has given the Rover Scout section the green light to go ahead and start developing a formal bid to host the World Scout Moot.

This bid needs to be completed and presented to Scouts Australia in November 2021. As a result, we are seeking enthusiastic and passionate people to join the World Scout Moot 2029 Bid Team!

Pulling the bid together will require consideration of site constraints, cash flow, administrative processes, integration with youth program, on-site and offsite activities, developing a marketing strategy, risk assessments, pulling together a fully-formed bid budget, and more! For this reason, we are seeking a diverse team with a diverse skillset.

Who?

Anyone! Doesn’t matter whether you’re a Rover Scout, a leader in another section, a previous major events organiser, or just a person who’s passionate about International Scouting and youth program – this is for you!

Skills Preferred

The team will need a balance of skills, ranging from event management, (new) youth program knowledge, marketing, design, bid development, admin and finance, logistics, and more.

Length of Commitment

A minimum of 12 months up until November 2021.

The World Organization of the Scout Movement will determine who will host this event by vote in 2023, so there is the option for long-term involvement up until 2023 for those who are interested – however, this is not required.

Interested? Have any questions?

Send an email to nrcchair@scouts.com.au outlining:

• Your full name
• Branch
• Membership number
• Your current involvement in Scouting
• 2 x referees – please provide their name and contact phone number
• Your interest in the role
• What skills you’d bring to the team
• Any previous experience with this sort of task (not essential)

A big thank you to all the members of the Rover Scout section who were involved in developing the feasibility study!

Earth Tribe Rollout

In June this year, the World Organization of the Scout Movement launched “Earth Tribe” – a new educational initiative for environmental action. This replaces the long-standing World Scout Environment Programme, and is part of the wider collective mobilisation through Scouts for SDGs.

Earth Tribe offers a self-progressive educational journey that young people can experience through a series of exciting Earth Tribe Challenges. The first three challenges are: Champions for Nature (in partnership with the WWF), the Tide Turners Plastic Challenge (in partnership with UN Environment), and the Scouts Go Solar Challenge (in partnership with Solafrica). As Earth Tribe continues to grow, more challenges and partnerships will be featured – allowing young people to earn recognition badges and become champions for sustainability.

Click here to find out more about Earth Tribe.

Scouts4SDGs

Are you interested in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

The National Rover Council are looking to work with the National Sustainability Team on a project for Scouts4SDGs, aimed at facilitating awareness and engagement with the SDGs.

If you, or anyone you can think of, may be interested in this, please contact Matt (NRC Vice Chair) at nrcvicechair@scouts.com.au.

Rover Scout Ceremonies Guide

The National Rover Program Team has been working on a project to provide more guidance around how Rover Scout Units can create their own ceremonies and embrace “Beyond the Horizon” as the section motto. This project is progressing well and will be available for Units to view in the coming months.

Program Conference

A big thank you to everyone who participated in the Rover Scout session at the National Program Conference this year. We hope you enjoyed the session, learnt something new, and got the opportunity to meet some new people.

The workshops offered were:

• Supporting mental wellbeing at events
• Diversity & Inclusion at Region, Branch and National events
• Breaking down barriers between sections, including Venturer retention

The Q&A session had Rover Scout subject matter experts in the following areas:

• New youth program
• Supporting mental health in Rover Scouts
• Diversity & inclusion
• International Scouting

Resources from the session will be sent to all participants via email. Please reach out to nrcchair@scouts.com.au if you missed the session, but would like the resources.

Rover Scout Plasma Challenge 2020

The Rover Scout Plasma Challenge 2020 is officially over.

Back in August, we set a target of 500 donations nationally between 31 August – 31 October 2020. Thanks to the support of Rover Scouts and Rover Scout section supporters, we reached this target – with 533 total donations, and 1599 lives saved. This equates to 1 in 6 Rover Scouts per capita donating nationally.

Participation in this challenge came in many forms – from providing moral support to friends, to assisting with transporting members of Units to and from donor centres, to sharing the social media posts, to encouraging friends and family to get involved, and to being one of the 272 unique donors.

Did you know, 20% of all donations during the challenge period were from first time donors? How incredible is that!?

For all those that donated or supported others to donate, there are badges available through your Branch Rover Council – please get in contact with them to find out how to get one of these.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge, and we look forwards to seeing whether we can beat this record next year!

Adventurous Activity (AA) Training

The AA Summer school is a seaside adventurous activity aquatic program, coming up from the 17th- 22nd of January at Karingal Scout Camp, QLD – visiting Moreton Bay and North Stradbroke Island. Applications are open to participants across Australia at any skill level in a range of activities, including fishing, raft-building, basic water rescue, stand up paddle boarding, snorkelling, try scuba, surfing, power boating and an island day trip. There will also be the choice of sea kayaking, canoeing, flat water kayaking or windsurfing. An amazing opportunity to get out and enjoy Summer.

To find out more, email trainingsupport@scoutsqld.com.au – this course is open to all Branches.

Training

On Demand Learning

Have you checked out the new On Demand Learning platform yet? This new, engaging and flexible training platform is now available at training.scouts.com.au for all Rover Scouts and Adult Leaders. More content is being added over time, so keep checking in to see new modules.

The new platform also displays the VET qualifications available through the Scouts Australia Institute of Training, and shows you how you as a Rover Scout can use your experiences to gain a real world qualification. 

Marketing

Rover Scouts Australia Website

Congratulations to Joshua from NSW and Ben from SA, who have stepped into the roles of ‘Website Officer’ and ‘Website Content Creator’ respectively. Joshua and Ben are working with the NRC Marketing and Promotions Officer to update the Rover Scouts Australia website – ensuring new content and resources are made available to all.

Check out our website as it is getting updated! We’re sure you can find things you haven’t before.

Facebook – THANK YOU

The marketing team celebrated their 4,000th like on Facebook last month, and the page continues to grow! Be sure to like our Facebook page and follow our Instagram @rover_scouts_aus to stay up to date with everything Rover Scouts!

Governance

2021 NRC Conference

The 2021 National Rover Council (NRC) Conference will be held at Camp Cottermouth, ACT from 29-31 January 2021. The NRC Executive and the ACT Branch Rover Council are currently preparing this annual event.

Are you interested in attending NRC Conference as an observer with your Branch? If so, contact your Branch Rover Council to find out your Branch’s application process. Please note that you must be a currently registered Rover Scout to be an observer.

Shoulder Badges, Rover Knot and Service Bar

In early 2020, Branch Rover Councils voted through the National Rover Council regarding the wearing of the green shoulder badges with ‘Rovers’ embroidered, the service bar, and the Rover Scout knot to determine the future of these items in the context of the (new) youth program. This was after much discussion and debate throughout 2019.

As a result, advocacy for these changes began in early 2020:

• Discontinuation of green Rover Scout shoulder badges
• Continuation of the Rover Scout knot
• Update of the ‘Service’ bar to read ‘Rovers’

The National Rover Council took these suggested changes to the National Operations Committee, and these changes were approved unanimously. As such, section R14.4.6 Rover Scouts of Scouts Australia Policy & Rules will be amended to read:

1. Rover Scouts wear badges as illustrated in Appendix 4.
2. Rover Scouts wear a shoulder knot of tan, yellow, green, maroon and red upon investiture into the Section, which may (as an option) be secured to the left sleeve of the uniform by a gold bar with the words “Rovers” inscribed.
3. Rover Scouts who have completed the requisite training are entitled to wear in uniform the Gilwell Woggle.
4. Rover Scouts who have gained the Wood Badge are entitled to wear in uniform the Gilwell Scarf and Woggle, and the Wood Badge.

The previous version read:

1. Rover Scouts wear badges as illustrated in Appendix 4.
2. Rover Scouts wear a shoulder knot of tan, yellow, green, maroon and red, and a shoulder badge with the World Scout Emblem and “Rovers” superimposed in gold.
3. Rover Scouts who have completed the requisite training are entitled to wear in uniform the Gilwell Woggle consisting of a leather two-strand Turkshead.
4. Rover Scouts who have gained the Wood Badge are entitled to wear in uniform the Gilwell Scarf and Woggle, and the Wood Badge on a leather thong around the neck.
5. Rover squires and trainees wear a shoulder knot of tan, yellow, green and maroon, but do not wear the shoulder badge.

This updated language will appear in a future update of Scouts Australia Policy & Rules. The uniform layout accessible on pr.scouts.com.au will also be updated to show the placement of shoulder knots and the Rover bar. The National Rover Council is currently working with the Scout Shop to amend the available products in line with this.

The timeline for these changes will be…

• After 1 January 2021 – green shoulder badges may not be presented to new members.
• After 1 May 2021 – the ‘Service’ bar may not be presented to new members, and existing members must not purchase the ‘Service’ bar to replace their old one if it becomes damaged. Instead, replacements must be the ‘Rovers’ bar which will be available in the Scout Shop (the ‘Rovers’ bar will be available from the 1st of May 2021).

As there are changes to the green shoulder badges and the Service Bar, a grandfathering approach will be employed. This means that Rover Scouts who currently wear the Service Bar or green shoulder badges are able to continue wearing these until the end of their time as a youth member in the Rover Scout section. As people need replacements, or join the section, they must purchase the new Rover Bar and new members should not be presented with green shoulder badges.

Representation

Pronoun Culture

There has been an increase in pronouns being used on various platforms by Rover Scouts, this is really great to see, and the NRC Diversity & Inclusion team would like to encourage it even more. If you need some inspiration, check out some examples from our NRC Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

Adult Recognition Awards

The National Rover Council sought to amend Scouts Australia Policy & Rules (P&R) earlier this year so that Rover Scouts can be nominated for an adult recognition award (like a Special Service Award or Meritorious Service Award) for service to the Rover Scout Section. The existing P&R statement excluded service provided by Rovers to Rovers.

This has officially been approved, and the Adult Recognition Award information displayed on the Scouts Australia website is being updated to formalise the changes. Branch Rover Councils will be notified when these changes are live on the website – so keep an eye out for information from them.

And don’t forget – if you’ve got an awesome Rover Scout in your Unit, Region, Branch who has provided service within the Rover Scout section over a 12 month period, why not nominate them for an Adult Recognition Award?

Opportunities

Want to help shape the direction of Rovers nationally? Keen to take on a project at a National level and make a difference? Well we have got some new project officer positions available with the NRC, covering diverse areas including mental health, respectful relationships, and website content creation. We’ve included a small selection below, but check out what’s on offer on the website for the full list.

Rover Development Project

Expected length of project: 8-10 months

The National Rover Council is on the search for someone who is interested in the “big picture” of Rover Scouts – we are seeking someone to write and promote a survey to Venturer Scouts who did not continue to Rover Scouts, Rover Scouts who left before turning 26 and as well as current Rover Scouts.

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is passionate about the development of the Rover Scout section.

This survey will explore a number of topics such as:

• What do people love, and dislike about Rover Scouts
• What some of the barriers to regular participation are
• If they could change one thing about Rover Scouts, what would this be?
• Why did Venturer Scouts not continue to the Rover Scout section?
• Why have people left your Unit before 26?
• What improvements can be made at National, Branch and Region levels to provide a better experience?
• Other prompts determined by the Project Officer.

The results of these surveys will be reviewed by the Project Officer, alongside the NRC Executive, and relevant projects developed from here. These projects will be passed on to future Project Officers.

Think you have what it takes?

Email applications to nrcvicechair@scouts.com.au including a brief statement about why you are interested in taking on this challenge, and the experience and knowledge you would bring to the role.

NRC Respectful Relationship Project Officer

Length of term: 12 months

Everyone deserves the right to feel safe and to be treated with respect.

The NRC is looking for a Respectful Relationships Officer. This person will be responsible for leading a team to explore and recommend strategies to promote respectful relationships in the Rover Scout section.

For more information please read the full position description.

NRC Mental Health Resource Project Officer

Length of term: 12 months

Are you passionate about mental health? Do you want to help Rover Scouts develop the skills needed to tackle these issues? This person will be responsible for leading a team in developing resources and guidelines for supporting the mental health of Rover Scouts, as well as providing suggestions as to what training the Rover Scout section may benefit from in these areas.

For more information please read the full position description: read the full position description.