From the Chief Commissioner
Hi everyone, hope you are having a great month!
I trust and hope that we are over at least the weather component of Cyclone Alfred. Now our focus needs to be on recovery and clean up.
I know some of our members and their families may still be without power and some may be isolated due to flooding.
Please continue to take care in those circumstances to ensure your safety.
In terms of impact to Scout facilities we are still assessing that. We are continuing to reach out to our Groups through the line system to seek information on other Scout facilities where we can provide support.
The Branch Support Office has reopened on Tuesday 11th March, with staff who are able to return to the office.
Further, we took advantage of the recent closure of the office, to migrate our Server that supports SMS, to the cloud. That migration has been successful, and SMS was returned online on Monday of this week. Thanks to all who worked hard over challenging times to achieve this outcome.
Scouts Australia released a New Code of Conduct just prior to Founders Day. This code needs to be completed by all adult members by 1st August 2025. It will become a mandatory module going forward. You can jump into your training record and login to complete. Please make that time as soon as you can.
A Volunteer Survey is also in market for the next three weeks and this is an opportunity for all adults to have input into a proposed volunteer model. There is an opportunity for parents to contribute to this so please take time to give us your thoughts to contribute to the work being undertaken by Scouts Australia.
There is an article below that provides the details and link to the survey.
Further the Resilient Youth Australia survey for Youth Members is also available and I would really appreciate your support in encouraging your youth member to complete it. This survey it is hoped will provide more data around how being a scout demonstrates resilience compared to non-scouts. Link is here.
Just a reminder about some of the great activities planned for
- LEAP Southern/Northern (Kennedy Region)
- Brisbane Gang Show and Scout Revues
- Kiwi Woggle (Northern Moreton Bay Region)
- Agoonoree
- Nighthawk (Darling Downs Region)
- RAW Weekends (Far North Region)
- Scoutfest (Central Coast Region)
- Banana Bash
- Urban Challenge
- Joey Scout Jaunt
- Cub Scout Day Out
- Butterfly
This is just to name a few! So, stay tuned as you hear more about these plus the activities that happen every week in our Units/Groups.
Our new membership fees for 2025/26 come into effect from 1st April 2025.
This year following a review of our fee structure we have made some changes that we think will again make life easier for Groups and families. However, we do need to acknowledge the continuing increases we are seeing in our cost base.
Further we have taken the opportunity to include the Public Liability Insurance cost within the Membership Fee. That will save Groups on charging this cost or reduce the fundraising requirements to meet this cost in May yearly.
All groups received a memo distributed at the end of last year that outlines our fees which are effective from 1st of April 2025.
In summary; –
We are removing the Joining fee – this has been a challenge particularly for new members who have indicated they see the current joining fee as a monthly cost of Scouting. Accordingly, it has been removed.
It will be replaced by a pro rata membership fee of $22.50 per month through to either April/October, when the half yearly invoice will be issued.
- Youth Member Fees for 2025/26 will be $270 per annum invoiced half yearly @$135.00.
- Leader Fees for 2025/26 will be $90 per annum invoiced half yearly @$45.00.
- Adult Member Fees for 2025/26 will be $60 per annum invoiced half yearly @ $30.00.
Have a great month and good Scouting!