Girl Guides Australia

Girl Guides Australia
Country Australia
Founded 1910
Membership 30,811
Chief Commissioner Helen Geard
Affiliation World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts
Website
http://www.girlguides.org.au/

Girl Guides Australia (GGA) is the national Guiding organisation in Australia. Its mission is to enable girls and young women to grow into confident, self-respecting members of the community. Membership is open to all girls and young women from all cultures, faiths and traditions. Founded in 1910, the girls-only organization became a full member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 1928. It has 30,000 members (as of 2010) including 18,000 youth members, aged 5 to 17. Over a million Australian women are or have been Guides.[1] The Girl Guide emblem incorporates the Commonwealth Star.

Promise & Law

Guide Promise

Historically

For many years, the Guide Promise closely resembled that of Girlguiding UK:

I promise that I will do my best:
To do my duty to God,
to serve the Queen and my country,
To help other people, and
To keep the Guide Law.

The Girl Guides Australia Board in May 2010, passed a recommendation that Members may opt to use an alternative to the current Promise:[2]

I promise that I will do my best:
to do my duty to God and my country;
to help other people; and
to keep the Guide Law.

Other alternatives were also agreed for members of other nationalities.[2]

Current Promise

In July 2012, the Guide Promise was updated, along with the Guide Law (as below), to better reflect modern society and the perspective of current day Guides. These changes were a result of comprehensive consultation with Girl Guides throughout Australia through the Promise and Law Review.

Notable changes include the removal of explicit reference to God, instead replaced by "my beliefs", and removing reference to the Queen. This updated promise was ratified by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts on July 3, 2012[3] and now stands as below:

I promise that I will do my best
To be true to myself and develop my beliefs
To serve my community and Australia
And live by the Guide Law.

Guide Law

Historically

The original and long-standing Guide Law, as established in 1910 was:

A Guide is loyal and can be trusted.
A Guide is helpful.
A Guide is polite and considerate.
A Guide is friendly and a sister to all Guides.
A Guide is kind to animals and respects all living things.
A Guide is obedient.
A Guide has courage and is cheerful in all difficulties.
A Guide makes good use of her time.
A Guide takes care of her own possessions and those of other people.
A Guide is self-controlled in all she thinks, says and does.

Current Guide Law

As a part of the Promise and Law review, the Guide Law was updated in July 2012. This followed extensive consultations with Girl Guides and Leaders, with an emphasis on identifying those principles they felt best reflected the goal of modern Guiding. The updated Guide Law was ratified by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts on July 3, 2012[3] and now stands as below:

As a Guide I will strive to:
Respect myself and others
Be considerate, honest and trustworthy
Be friendly to others
Make choices for a better world
Use my time and abilities wisely
Be thoughtful and optimistic
Live with courage and strength.

Program

Historically

Prior to 1996 Girl Guides in Australia were organised into one of four youth sections based on age. These were: Gumnut Guides; age 5–7 years old Brownie Guides; aged 7–10 years old Girl Guides; aged 10–14 years old Ranger Guides; aged 14–18 years old

Sections

Since 1996, all youth members from 5-17 have been known as Guides. Units can choose their own name and can cater for guides of any age range between 5 and 18 years. Guiding resources, such as the Guide Handbooks, use the Girl Guides Developmental Stages of 5 –7, 7 - 9, 9 - 12, 12 - 14 and 14 - 17 to categories and organise resources, allowing leaders & Guides to choose as relevant for their unit.

There is also a program specifically for young women aged 18–30, known as the Olave Program. Guide Leaders are adult volunteers aged over 18, and have hold various GGA Qualifications relevant to their position.

The Australian Guide Program

The Australian Guide Program is a non-formal educational program based on shared leadership and decision-making at all ages.[4] It is organised around the Elements, Fundamentals and Process.

The four elements of the Australian Guide Program are :

Theses elements are essential parts of every Guiding activity.

The seven fundamentals of the Australian Guide Program are:

A unit will plan their program around these fundamentals to include aspects of each in areas of the Guide's interest.

The Australian Guide Program Process is used at various levels of program planning and implementation in order to fully involved Guides in leadership and decision making. The cyclical process is: Discover - Decide - Plan - Do - Check

Girl Recognition System

The Girl Recognition System is the reward or badge system of the Australian Guide Program. Individual Guides, Patrols or whole units can choose to work towards appropriate challenges in a wide range of areas, though it is not compulsory. There are 4 main types of challenge badges (Explore, Create, Achieve and Discover) each pursued in a different way. Some allow Guides to set their own personal challenges, some have set criteria; some focus on a certain topic or skill, others cover a group of skills in an area, and some are based on a wide verity of different areas across the Australian Guide Program.

Major Awards

Girl Guides Australia has a number of major awards that Guides can work towards.

Queen's Guide Award

The Queens Guide Award is the peak youth achievement in Girl Guides Australia. It provides opportunities for personal development and self-awareness, in addition to community service and a specific focus. Guides aged 14+ can begin their Queens Guide award, and all challenges must be completed by the Guides 18th birthday. It is a significant commitment, held in high regard around Australia, and can count towards high school graduation certificate in some states.

BP Award

The BP Award is open for Guides aged 10+. Guide must complete 3 significant challenges in each of the areas of Promise and Law, Outdoors, Service, World Guiding, Guiding Traditions, and Patrol System. The BP Award is presented at significant awards ceremony.

Junior BP Award

The Junior BP Award is open for Guides aged 7+. Guide must complete 2 significant challenges in each of the areas of Promise and Law, Outdoors, Service, World Guiding, Guiding Traditions, and Patrol System.

Duke of Edinburgh Award

The Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme has three levels of Award - Bronze, Silver and Gold. Any girl 14 years and over can join Guides to participate in the Duke of Edinburgh's Award Scheme. You can register through your State Girl Guides organization and join a local Unit of girls your age. Guides provides you with many opportunities to learn new skills, give service, participate in a recreational activity or expedition and take part in a residential camp - this could even be at a WAGGGS World Centre such as SANGAM in India.[5]

Commonwealth Award

The Commonwealth Award is open to Guides in all Commonwealth Countries. In Australia it is open to Guides aged 14–30 years old. It includes challenges based on:

Olave Baden Powell Award

The Olave Baden Powell Award is the peak achievement award for members of the Olave Program aged 18–30. It involves a commitment between 2 and 6 years and involves completing personal challenges in each of the areas of Promise & Law, Our Community, Heritage and Traditions, International Guiding, Social Networks and Self Development.

Girl Guide Biscuits

Guides sell quality biscuits manufactured in Australia by Modern Baking Company to raise money for Girl Guide activities. In 2016 Girl Guides Australia increased its product range and has three varieties of Girl Guide biscuits:

The money raised is spent at a local and national level. The Guide biscuit campaign starts in May each year.[6] Further information can be found on the Girl Guide biscuit website www.girlguidebiscuits.com.au

Centenary

In 2010, Girl Guides Australia celebrated 100 years of Guiding across Australia. The centenary ran from September 2009 to February 2011.[7]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "About Us". Girl Guides Australia. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
  2. 1 2 Promise and Law Review and Update
  3. 1 2 "Promise and Law". Girl Guides Australia Website. Retrieved 2012-07-07.
  4. ↑ Girl Guides Australia. "What is Guiding?".
  5. ↑ Girl Guides Australia. http://www.girlguides.org.au/Resources-for-Guides/Girl-Recognition.html. Retrieved 2014-04-17. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  6. ↑ Girl Guides Australia. "How to Buy [Guide Biscuits]". Orite. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  7. ↑ "Celebrate the Centenary of Guiding in 2010". Girl Guides Australia. Archived from the original on 2011-02-22. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
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