Australian Guiding Changes

We have been going through some major changes in Australian Guiding. One of the reasons for the changes is to try and keep more girls involved in Guiding. The idea is that, since 1995, officially there is no such thing as a Brownie or Gumnut anymore, the girls are all called Guides. The new name for the organization is Guides Australia.

The girls are supposed to plan and organize their own meetings. Unfortunately I believe that where this may be fine for older girls the younger ones find it hard to organize their own meetings.

We have adopted a halfway approach with the 6-11 year old girls in my group. We give them a large piece of paper at the beginning of term called a Graffiti page. They can then write up their suggestions for meetings. The most popular ones are done.

The older Guides in the area have gone one step further and have been using an ideas page to plan their terms activities.

I believe that there will always be something that will take girls away from Guiding whether it is other interests or peer group pressure. I am not sure what the magic answer is.

Contributed by:
Sue Callaghan
McLaren Vale, South Australia

See Guides Australia - Old Style Age Levels for the ages of what were Gumnuts, Brownies, etc.

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This page last updated July 2nd, 1999