Lifetime love of Scouting leads to OAM
Published Thu 05 Feb 2026
A humble Cub Scout Leader from 1st Russell Vale Scout Group was thrilled to be awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours last week.
Jennifer King OAM has been involved in Scouting for 40 years, when in 1986 her uncle invited her to help out with Venturer Scouts for six months.
“He went to my mum’s house and saw a photo on the wall of me getting my Queen’s Guide from the Governor of the time Roden Cutler,” she said.
“What started out as six months’ helping out has turned into a lifelong commitment. I’m still in the same Group. I started with Venturers and I was only young at the time. I like the adventure – I learnt to abseil, to canyon and to cave.
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“I wasn’t much older than some of the Venturers then and I loved the adventure of it.” After taking a break in 1992 to raise her family, Jenny returned to 1st Russell Vale Scout Group (near Wollongong) as a Cub Scout Leader and now continues that role as well as supporting the entire Group as Leader in Charge. Jenny said she was thrilled to have been awarded the OAM but did not know who had nominated her. “I wish I did so I could thank them for thinking of me,” she said. |
“About three months ago I got an email saying someone’s nominated you, you’ve reached so many levels, and if it’s offered to you, will you accept? I said I’d love to; I’d be honoured. Then nothing!”
See the full list of Scouts NSW's recipients
Jenny was overwhelmed by the reactions after the award was announced. Her husband and three adult children were “beside themselves” with excitement, while the response from the media – with numerous outlets contacting her – was staggering for someone who “likes to be behind the scenes”.
Putting into words what she loves about Scouting, particularly being a Cub Scout Leader, is hard for Jenny, because there is so much she loves about it. She is constantly thinking about Scouting – everything she sees is a Cub Scout or Scout opportunity. She said she has about three years’ worth of term one activities in mind to explore as part of 110 Years of Cub Scouts this year.
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“I still love the outdoors – our Cub Unit is active in bushwalking, and we’re on the ocean so we do night hikes along the beach. I like the kids; I like the awe and the wonder when they learn something,” she said.
“We have property down south where the South Coast Rovers run Wide Games. I look at all these young Rovers and think ‘gee, our future is in good hands’. Not only Scouting, but the young people are so switched on and polite. I like that I can see where our future generations are and Scouting must have a lot to do with it.
“People say the young people these days are no good. Sorry, but you must mix with the wrong young people. You need to mix with Scout people. They are just brilliant.
“You like to see the kids thrive. That’s the other thing I like about Scouts – I don’t have a competitive bone in my body. At Scouts, it doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be the smartest, the quickest runner, the best at kicking the ball. There’s a place for everybody.”
