Sustainable Tourism Law

LEGAL SUSTAINABILITY OF ADVENTURE TOURISM 367 Thepurposeof this International Standard is to set out theminimumrequirements for a safety management system for adventure tourism activity providers. A risk management process is an integral part of a safety management system. A safety management system provides the framework for continual improvement and contributes to the delivery of safe adventure tourism activities. The safety management system approach encourages providers to analyse their adventure tourism activities, understand participants’ requirements, define the processes that ensure safety and keep these processes under control. III. EXPERIENCES Australia Parks Victoria requires compliance with the Adventure Activity Standards (AAS) as a condition to all tour operator licenses. These standards have been developed by the Outdoor Recreation Centre Victoria (industry) as a minimum standard for organisations conducting outdoor recreation activities for dependent groups. A consortium of four government agencies, Sport and Recreation Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Parks Victoria and Tourism Victoria support and finance the project. The financing consortium has an ongoing role on the steering committee for the project, ensuring that the AAS are endorsed and recognised by the Victorian State Government. The AAS have been developed for abseiling, artificial climbing structures, bushwalking, canoeing & kayaking, challenge ropes courses, 4WD’ing, horse trail riding, mountain biking, recreational angling, recreational caving, river rafting, rock climbing, snorkelling, SCUBA swims, wildlife swims & surfing sessions, and trail bike touring. This list is certainly consistent with the coronial / hospital separations and other data recorded above, becoming a strong indicator of the priority activities for Western Australian interests. Victoria’s AAS project provides Australia’s first industry supported safety and environmental guidelines for all providers of group adventure activities. They cover essential practices, including leader competency, emergency procedures, equipment and commitment to environmentally sustainable practices. National discussions to adopt these have been relatively slow, which is very surprising given the available evidence on accidents and fatalities. In possible civil cases that would be taken by a plaintiff against an individual tour operator, they would be subject to limitation provisions. Therefore, any