Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) Framework Reference
The Outdoor Adventure Skills (OAS) framework is Scouts Australia's progressive outdoor skills program, spanning 9 activity streams across 9 stages of development. Each stage builds on the previous, covering skills from basic awareness through to leadership and instruction.
Core Streams
Core streams are the foundational OAS pathways. Every Scout Group is expected to offer programming across these three streams throughout the year.
Specialist Streams
Specialist streams are elective pathways that Groups offer based on local geography, leader expertise, and equipment. A coastal Group might run strong Aquatic and Boating programs; a mountain Group might focus on Alpine and Vertical.
9-Stage Progression
Every OAS stream has 9 stages of increasing complexity. Stages accumulate across a Scout's entire Scouting lifecycle — progress made as a Cub carries forward to Scouts, Venturers, and Rovers with no section-level reset.
| Stage | Typical context | General level |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction to the activity | Introductory |
| 2 | Building foundational skills | Introductory |
| 3 | Independent participation | Intermediate |
| 4 | Leading peers in basic activities | Intermediate |
| 5 | Planning and leading group activities | Advanced |
| 6 | Independent expedition-level skills | Advanced |
| 7 | Teaching and mentoring others | Expert |
| 8 | Advanced instruction and leadership | Expert |
| 9 | Elite practitioner and assessor level | Expert |
The exact requirements for each stage vary by stream. Stages 1–3 are typically reached during younger sections (Cubs / Scouts); Stages 6–9 are typically achieved by Venturers and Rovers with significant outdoor experience.
How Tussock handles OAS
Tussock tracks OAS progress across all 9 streams for every Scout in your Group. When planning a Scout Night, leaders select the streams and stages to target — Tussock pre-loads the specific requirements so there's nothing to look up on the night.
At the end of the night, a single "Complete & Award" action writes completed stages and requirements to every Scout who was present. These requirements can be tracked and awarded in Tussock, which syncs completed stages back to Terrain.
See How Tussock Works for the full Plan > Do > Review walkthrough.
See also
Scout Night Ideas
Ready-to-run Scout Night plans with OAS requirements pre-mapped.
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