Dedication and fun bring peak awards
Published Tue 03 Nov 2026
Photos by Tony Rosier Photography
The drive and perseverance of 53 Scouts were recognised in two special ceremonies on Saturday.
Held at Heathcote Scout Camp, the ceremonies recognised those youth members aged 11 to 14 who have completed the requirements to attain the Australian Scout Award – the highest honour within the Scout section. Recipients received their certificates from Deputy Chief Commissioner Phil Crutchley to acknowledge this achievement.
The day also recognised the nine Scouts who had completed their Gold, Silver, or Bronze Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
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Chief Commissioner Bel Howell said seeing Scouts achieve their ASA was a proud moment for them, their families, and for the Leaders involved in that young person’s journey.
“What they learn along the way are skills that will remain with them as they move into adulthood,” she said.
“While they are having the time of their life, they are building confidence and resilience that will support them as they become adults.
“Achieving the peak at anything is not something that comes along frequently in an individual’s life. Being able to reach their peak at 14 years of age is a remarkable achievement.”
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State Commissioner (Scouts) Larissa Tompsett was proud to attend the event, having been on the journey herself as the parent of two Scouts who had previously achieved their ASAs.
“To earn this award, it isn’t just about turning up to weekly meetings. It represents years of dedication, commitment, and perseverance,” she said.
“The word leadership stands out most. Leadership in Scouting isn’t about standing at the front and giving orders. It’s about pitching in when the tents are wet, encouraging a younger Scout who feels homesick, and staying calm when things don’t go according to plan.
“Wearing this award isn’t a finish line – it’s a launchpad. As you look toward your next chapter, hopefully in Venturers, carry this same initiative, curiosity and friendship with you.”
As part of the ceremonies, two recipients spoke on behalf of their cohorts to recognise the variety of experiences everyone had in achieving their awards.
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Jose Justin Paulraj, from 1st Westmead Scout Group in Greater Western Sydney, said one of the most important things he and others have learned in Scouts is how to adapt and change the plan when things do not work out.
“My Adventurous Journey was one of the greatest challenges I faced in Scouts but was also one of the most rewarding and enjoyable experiences I have ever had,” he said.
“Despite the difficult terrain and long distances, it always felt really fun, and I was happy to be out there with my friends. Even when we ran out of water and had to walk 6km to filter water from a river, we persevered and helped each other overcome this adversity.
“If there is one thing I want you all to take away today it’s that while achieving your ASA is a huge achievement that you have put a lot of time and effort into, and so you should be very proud, also remember what you have received from the journey to get there.
“The best thing about the ASA isn’t necessarily achieving the award, but the many things that you have gained from this program that have helped you grow and develop as a person.”
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Finn Angus, of Nambucca Valley Scout Group, said he would not have achieved his peak award “without the other awesome Scouts I know”.
“We need each other – to help us learn, to have fun, to encourage to come on our Adventurous Journeys!” he said.
“The great thing about Scouts is it allows us to explore all different parts of ourselves and develop lifelong skills. The most valuable thing I think we gain is building resilience. I have found that just about anything can go wrong when you are in the bush. Going through these challenges all helped me build resilience, by teaching me to find another way, and don’t just give up straight away.”
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Both speakers also gave credit to the families, friends, Leaders and others who supported all recipients in achieving their peak award.
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Spotlight on our recipients
Scouts showed their individuality through a range of Special Interest Areas and had new memories and experiences on their chosen Adventurous Journeys. Read some of them below.
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Samuel Bartlett – Singleton Scout Group My mate and I were planning our Adventurous Journey and we didn’t check the elevation map and grade of the hike we chose, so we learnt that coming off the mountain was a lot harder than we thought. We were all of a sudden going down 900m of elevation in just about 1km, so that was not fun – we hiked for 13 hours that day! But I still think it was the best part of the peak award. |
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Callum Colquhoun – East Maitland Scout Group For my Adventurous Journey, something I’m rather proud of was finding a water source better than the one planned ahead for us. After finding our water source was contaminated, we found clean, fresh, rainwater runoff at the base of a cliff on the beach where we set up camp. Our group all agreed this was a much safer water source and so we planned to make a simple and small dam and drainage system for easier collection of the water and it worked great. For the rest of the camp, even when we came back the next day, we rebuilt our dam and it made a perfect water source to replace the old one. |
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Tristan Cowie – 1st Balgowlah Scout Group The highlight of my experience was looking back at all the people I had helped. I did two charity activities, and I felt satisfaction when I finished – not because it was over, but because I was able to bring joy and happiness to kids in hospitals who lead lives that I cannot be more grateful that I haven’t experienced. Especially for the teddy stuffing, as the coordinator of the charity sent me a few photos of the kids receiving theirs, and it was incredible to see my impact first-hand.
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Zander Durrant – 1st Castle Hill Scout Group Out of all my Special Interest Area projects, the one that stood out most was the personal development badge. For this area I decided to cook a dinner and dessert from each continent of the work aside from Antarctica. This was different as cooking is something I am not entirely familiar with, and doing this definitely helped me grow and taught me many skills, such as patience.
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Deegan Edwards – Singleton Scout Group Doing my Adventurous Journey, I had a lot of fun with my friends and it was challenging, but I had a good time. During the hike we saw a snake and it was just sitting in the sun, which was good for someone afraid of snakes.
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Sam Hines – 1st Kiama Scout Group One of my most significant achievements was undertaking a challenging, 34km Adventurous Journey with over 1000m of elevation on the Mt Solitary track in the Blue Mountains with four fellow Kiama Scouts under remote supervision. The adventure got off to an interesting start when, less than 10 minutes into the hike and still within sight of our parents, we discovered that track works had closed our planned entry point. After all the time I’d spent planning, it was a bit funny that our carefully planned route lasted only a few metres before we had to change it. Fortunately, we were able to adapt, work out an alternative route and continue the journey.
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Brianna Isaacs – 3rd Rose Bay (Judean) Scout Group My Special Interest Areas were especially interesting, particularly perfecting a jazz dance solo, working towards my aerials in acrobatics and creating a short film, which I entered in the V-Fest film festival 2024, where I directed and edited a short film. This entry was especially exciting because it got into the festival and even won the People’s Choice Award.
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Tamara Kalsow – 1st Albion Park Scout Group I enjoyed caving because it was outside my comfort zone – it was a different experience and was really fun. I went into Grilled at Bungonia and explored in it. I have also abseiled into a cave which is something I would have thought I would never have done as I don’t like abseiling, but I’ve done a 40m abseil into a cave with a 15m overhang.
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Amber Lewis – 1st East Ryde Scout Group My highlight was when we built a structure and slept in it for our pioneering night and it thunderstormed. It was kind of scary because we thought our structure might fall over but it stayed strong. It was really fun planning our trips to bring our stuff from the hall in and out of the rain to our tent on top of all our hard work. I also enjoyed building this structure as our Scout Leader was telling us lots of stories about his Scouting experiences as we worked.
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Stephanie McCallum – 1st Bomaderry Scout Group One highlight of my peak award experience would be the Australian Jamboree. I really enjoyed hanging out with friends and trying all the experiences that were on offer. I also enjoyed talking with another Unit that came to our campsite when there were the floods and we helped them set up their beds under one of our shelters.
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Callan McInney – 1st Turramurra Scout Group I made a remote-controlled plane, which was difficult because I used my 3D printer to print the body of the plane, which was extremely strange and not something that is often used (as I found out), because the body ends up being too heavy.
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Alfonso Pearce Pulido – 1st Sefton Scout Group The highlight of my Peak Award experience was definitely the Adventurous Journey. I led my Adventurous Journey in January 2026, and it was an experience that none of us will ever forget. It was a three-day bushwalk through fire trails, rainforests, and sand dunes of the Myall Lakes National Park, totalling a distance of 30km. It was the first time most of us were hiking without adult supervision which made the stakes higher. It was also my first time planning and leading something of this scale. With the help of Aussie (shoutout to Aussie), I created a proficient Route, Activity Plan, Risk Assessment and Navigation Data Sheet for my Adventurous Journey. I genuinely don't think I would've completed my Adventurous Journey without the help of Aussie.
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Alice Robinson – Normanhurst Scout Group The most memorable and unique Special Interest Area I did was making a papier-mache cardboard black tip reef shark for my bedroom wall. I had never made one before and there were lots of steps involved, including cutting out the base, attaching the spine and the supports, filling it with tissue paper, covering it all with newspaper and finally painting it. It came out pretty great and I think it’s a good idea for an SIA.
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Hannah Smith – 1st South Penrith Scout Group The highlight of my peak award experience was the friends I made along the way, with many friends made outside of my Group on camps and at other events. These friends helped me along the way by supporting me leading activities such as my peak award and SIA activities.
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Matthew Summerfield – 1st Balmain Scout Group A three-day hike through Kosciuszko National Park was challenging, rewarding and fun. We walked through blistering sunshine, torrential rain, and a hail and lightning storm. My Patrol learnt so much.
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Shangyao Sun – 1st Brush Park Scout Group The highlight of my peak award experience was completing my Adventurous Journey and seeing how much I had developed as a Scout and a leader. Planning and completing the journey challenged me to use skills such as navigation, teamwork, leadership and problem solving. I also enjoyed being able to take responsibility for the my Patrol and support others throughout the experience. Looking back, I am proud of how much I have grown in confidence and leadership since I first joined Scouts. The peak award experience showed me that leadership is not just about telling people what to do but about listening, supporting others and making sure everyone feels included and capable. It has been a rewarding experience that allowed me to put the skills I had developed through Scouts into practice.
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Annabella White – 1st Winston Hills Scout Group One of my SIAs was to build a battery box for the new lights we got for my mum when she goes on Scout camps, so she can see at night and to make her experience more enjoyable. My dad had a spare battery at work that was originally used in PLANT machinery, but we had to make some adaptors to make it easier to charge and use. Then we decided to put a light on the battery box so if my mum gets there at night, she instantly has a light so she can see where she is setting up. This required us to wire in a switch and the light. I didn’t know much about wiring and didn’t think I would be able to do something like that myself. It was great to learn a new skill and do something nice for my mum.
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