The varied careers of Australian Outdoor Educators

CAREER INSIGHTS

Some people complete their secondary school and just know they want to have a career as an outdoor educator due to the exceptional experiences they had during their schooling or through organisations like Duke of Edinburgh, PCYC, Clubs or Scouts.

Others though wind their way to becoming an outdoor educator through a variety of pathways. Having rich and diverse life experiences is an important attribute of an Outdoor Educator as you are facilitating people through programs of self discovery. Naturally having suitable training and experience in physical or “hard skills” and safety is important as well. OEA encourages anyone who wants to have a career in outdoor education to spend time in their youth and at other times in the outdoors, up-skilling in various craft.

On these pages you can discover the divergent path some of our outdoor educators have taken and what’s on their horizons next.

Meet Liam Sullivan from Presbyterian Ladies’ College, Perth.

For the last six years Liam has led a team with 2.6 FTE Outdoor Education Teachers and up to 9 casual Outdoor Education instructors, developing and delivery Outdoor Education programmes from Year 5-12. Read more about Liam here.

Meet Jess McDonald, a young PE & OE teacher at Ogilvie State High, Tasmania’s only all girls high school on the outskirts of Hobart.

While studying at uni and since graduating, Jess has been an active member of Outdoor Education Tasmania. Read more about Jess’s career here.

Meet  Dave Batt, an Outdoor Education and Outdoor Recreation Consultant.

Dave has had a long and varied career in National Parks, Outdoor Education and Outdoor recreation, working for various government entities, sometimes in remote locations. Find out about Dave’s career here.

Meet Daniel Rush, Outdoor Education Coordinator at Padua College.

Daniel has been the Outdoor Ed Coordinator for a Brisbane Boy’s School for 8 years, managing the outdoor learning programs offered at the their Amaroo Campus and also harnessing the Franscian Spiritual identity of this environment. He’s also a clean rock climber and mountain biker. Read more about Daniel here.

Women in Outdoor Education


There are many more women working in outdoor education in Australia. 

Across Australia there are women working as University lecturers of Outdoor Education, running outdoor education programs for various independent schools or state-based centres, working for Outward Bound and other experiential learning organisations like the Outdoor Education Group or Auscamp or working for outdoor recreation providers that subcontract part of their services to schools.

Please get in touch with us if you are open to us sharing your story here and inspiring other women to have great OE careers!