South Australia's outdoor education sector has warned its future looks "dire" if COVID-19 restrictions and a lack of financial assistance continue to plague providers who heavily rely on school bookings for income.
Open Camps chief executive Adam Hooper estimated his organisation had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of revenue in the first five weeks of this school year alone.
The organisation provides free camping respite to disadvantaged and autistic children at its 10-hectare Victor Harbor site and relies on school camps – many of which would ordinarily be happening now – to fund its service.
He said state COVID-19 restrictions had led to schools cancelling bookings throughout the first semester.
"We've just been told we can't have activity, but now the schools are saying, 'Will the minister extend that … we better not book ahead, just in case,'" Mr Hooper said.
Mr Hooper said the sector had repeatedly asked to sit down with government officials, but had been rebuffed and told to "go and get your COVID plans in order".
"Despite peak bodies Outdoor SA, Australian Camps Association and Christian Venues Australia's repeated requests for the opportunity to sit down and discuss the decision to suspend camps and excursions for the first five weeks of term one, these requests have been denied," he said.
"There has been a lack of consultation, we would like to sit down and explain how the ambiguity is affecting our sector."
Mr Hooper said doubt over future income had left employees and volunteers without work and that some had left to find jobs in other industries.
"We would like some certainty, and rather than the narrative being, 'Yes we would like kids to be outdoors' … invest and say, 'Here's a bucket of money for schools to tap into to go and have those experiences in 2022,'" he said.
In a statement, the Education Department said public schools "have had success in managing the spread of COVID-19 by following the expert health advice".
"Currently the advice doesn't support school-based camps, excursions and incursions due to a number of higher-risk situations, including increased visitation to school sites, dormitory sleeping, extended bus travel and common food preparation," the statement read.
"We are in ongoing discussions with SA Health regarding our settings and we will step back these restrictions as soon as the health advice supports it."
Sector pleading for clarity
Outdoors SA spokesperson Luke Duncan said the industry was worth more than $200 million to SA's economy and employs more than 1,000 people.
He said he would "comfortably" estimate millions had been lost by outdoor education providers across the state due to cancellations in the first four weeks of the school term.
"What we're facing now is [that] school camp providers always go under a no-income, hibernation-esque period over Christmas because it's school holidays," Mr Duncan said.
"So term one is our opportunity to recoup some losses from over summer, to keep people employed, keep paying rent.
Mr Duncan also pointed out the discord between public health messaging pushing schools to take students outside for education as much as possible and the Education Department's policies affecting the sector.
"If we sat down and risk-assessed them, there are ways to do camps and excursions whilst still following stringent contagious illness practices," he said.
"I'm so confident that there would be more close contacts and more cases in a school environment than there would be in a camp environment."
Following recent financial support packages for Victorian, New South Wales and Western Australian outdoor education providers, Mr Duncan said the local sector was hoping for similar support.
In a statement to ABC Radio Adelaide, a spokesperson for Treasurer Rob Lucas said the government had "recently announced two further rounds of financial assistance costing about $90 million".
"Businesses in this sector are eligible to apply," the statement read.
