Welcome to Amanda and Fiona!
Amanda Smith (she/her) is a social work lecturer in the School of Health Sciences and Social Work at Griffith University, Australia. Amanda is an enthusiastic social worker with over two decades experience working in various community and government sectors including direct service delivery, counselling, therapeutic program design and facilitation, leadership and training / education. She continues to bridge values and principles of compassion and critical structural analysis within her teaching, practice and lens within the field.
Amanda founded a Bush Adventure Therapy program within a national NGO service and designed, facilitated and evaluated numerous BAT programs. Amanda increasingly believes that social work and outdoor health theories and practices are a dynamic, climate responsive and critical collaboration. She continues to advocate for the introduction of Bush Adventure Therapy curriculum and progressive pedagogical approaches to be offered in social work and other health care tertiary education settings. Amanda values collaborations with research and practitioners across disciplines and geographical locations that explore ethical inter-cultural outdoor therapy training and practice.
Amanda co-facilitates the Foundations of Outdoor Therapy training with Adventure Works and co-established the first LGBTIQASB+ Outdoors Health Australia group. Amanda is a co-international representative for Outdoor Health Australia and previous national Chair of Australian Association for Bush Adventure Therapy.
Fiona Cameron (she/her) is a social worker who holds a Masters in Experiential Education. With more than 25 years’ experience working with vulnerable children and young people, Fiona has been fortunate to combine her passions for nature, adventure and travel with her professional career. She has held roles of Manager, Coordinator and Practitioner of various outdoor health programs. Fiona also worked in the UK and SE Asia for a number of years focusing on the prevention of child exploitation.
Fiona has delivered presentations and facilitated workshops at various national forums and she previously held the position of Deputy Chair of AABAT (Australian Association for Bush Adventure Therapy). Fiona also presented at the International Adventure Therapy Conferences in New Zealand, Scotland, Czech Republic and Norway. Fiona values collaboration, creativity and shared opportunities for learning. Fiona is currently the Operations Manager at Camp Kiah, based in Wallan, Victoria.
