Welcome
Our values and ethics
At Adventure Works, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive environment where every individual feels safe, valued and respected. Our commitment to anti-oppressive practices is reflected in our daily actions and policies. We actively work to break down barriers and create equal opportunities for all. We have over decades contributed to work of Outdoor Health Australia and its predecessors, including helping develop the existing OHA ethical principles and leading a recent review of the sectors ethical principles. The following ethical principles are the original ones and will soon change to the revised ethics and standards.
Adapted from OHA’s Ethical Guidelines
- Positive regard for all people, all beings, and the planet
- Respect for cultural custodianship of country
- Respect for differences in culture, gender, age, ability and identity
- Strong family and community connections
- Supportive physical, psychological and socio-cultural environments
- Voluntary participation & shared assessment of ‘readiness’ to participate
- Transparency, informed consent & confidentiality
- Individualised care & attention to individuals’ needs, hopes and life experiences
- Co-design & attention to group members’ needs and hopes
- Provision of options and choices (including supported exits)
- Increasing practitioner self-awareness and reflexive practice
- Diligent mitigation of harm to all people, all beings, and the planet.
Decolonising our work and practices
As an organisation and people, we are committed to the work of decolonising our practices and addressing the real and potential harms that continue to occur. We work in accountable solidarity with indigenous friends, colleagues and mentors; and, are always open to feedback about how we can go about this work better.
Adventure Works acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first and ongoing custodians of the lands in which we live, learn and work. We acknowledge that Sovereignty was never ceded. Always Was, Always Will Be!
Echoing the words of Aunty Verna Nichols – pakana/ Bunurong elder we pay our respects.
We pay our respect to elders past and present. We honour you. To the many Aboriginal people who, due to colonisation, did not make elder status, we honour you. To today’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of the lands on which we live, learn and work. We honour and pay our respect to you.
We acknowledge that our Outdoor Health practices have influence and origins that are linked to and draw on indigenous ways of knowing and being that have existed across the planet for millennia. If we trace any of our cultural roots far enough, we will find closer and more connected ways of being with and of the land. We work from a position of learning together to share respectfully and avoid appropriating knowledge.
“Meeting on country helps keep us strong. Our feet are planted on the earth so that we are always connected to country, mother earth. Country holds the knowledge of the old people. Their souls are within the land.” – Aunty Verna Nichols – pakana/ Bunurong elder
If you would like to offer us feedback or support in this endeavour, just send us an email or give us a call using the details in the footer below.
