HISTORY OF OCA

OCA History

2003: Outdoor Recreation Council of Australia Incorporated (ORCA), and the Australian Outdoor Education Council Incorporated (AOEC), merge to form OCA as an incorporated Association – with membership across: Outdoors New South Wales & Australian Capital Territory (ONSW&ACT), Outdoors Queensland (OQ), Outdoors Victoria (OV), Outdoors South Australia (OSA), Outdoors Western Australia (OWA).
2004-2021: The National Outdoor Leadership Registration Scheme (NOLRS), was established and overseen by OCA until 2021 when support ended due to the lack of adoption.
2005: Australian Camps Association (ACA) and Christian Venues Association (CVA) join OCA as members.
2011: Scouts Australia (Scouts) join OCA as a member.
2014: OCA and member organisations participate in the first stage of the Understanding and Preventing Led Outdoor Accidents Data System (UPLOADS) project.
2018: OCA hand-over oversight and administration of the Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education (JOEE) to Outdoor Education Australia (OEA).
2019: OCA achieves major sector milestone with the release of the voluntary framework - Australian Adventure Activity Standards (AAAS) and Good Practice Guides (GPGs), spanning:
- Abseiling & Climbing, Angling, Bushwalking, Camping, Coastal waters paddle-craft, Inland water paddle craft, Canyoning, Caving, Challenge courses, Cycling, Cycling touring & mountain biking, Horse trail riding and Snorkelling.
2020: OCA develops a national framework – including management plan template, for rebooting outdoor activities in a COVID-19 environment.
2021: OCA hosts the online OCA Summit 2021 with several priority Outdoor Industry issues being highlighted including:
- Attraction & retention of outdoor workers, Outdoor qualifications & training pathways, and, Outdoor accreditation.
2022: Pre-election communication to all political parties highlighting outdoor industry issues namely: Capacity support, Education, Accreditation, & Support for a labour agreement.
2023: OCA transitions from an incorporated association to a company limited by guarantee, with constitutional objects spanning the following four (4) themes: a) Representation and collaboration, b) Advocacy, c) Safety, quality and sustainability, and, d) Research.
2024: Outdoor Education Australia (OEA), Outdoor Health Australia (OHA), Nature Based Outdoor Network of South Australia (NBONSA) joined OCA.
2025: Paddle Australia joined OCA, OCA appointed its first paid staff member to carry out the grant funded review of the AAAS.
2026: The AAAS Framework was adopted to assist with the evolution and reviews of the documents for future needs of the standard. Snow Resorts Australia joined OCA. The Snow Guidance Note was added to the AAAS Framework for use in the Alpine season of 2026 in preparation for the 2027 release of a Good Practice Guide for Snow Activities.

All board positions remain voluntary.