Overview
All Outdoor Adventure Guides
-
$1,265 Weekly Pay
-
Very strong Future Growth
Whitewater Rafting Guides
-
n/a workers Employment Size
-
Medium skill Skill level rating
-
n/a% Full-Time Full-Time Share
-
hours Average full-time
-
years Average age
-
n/a% female Gender Share
Whitewater Rafting Guides plan, organise and provide guided rafting and kayaking trips for individuals or groups on whitewater rivers.
You usually need extensive white-water rafting experience to work as a Whitewater Rafting Guide. While formal qualifications aren't essential, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in outdoor recreation may be useful.
Tasks
- Meets members of a tour on arrival and makes introductions.
- Organises and supervises groups involved in white-water rafting outdoor adventures.
- Sets up and maintains equipment, and ensures that equipment is safe and in working condition.
- Demonstrates and provides instruction in the use of equipment and techniques required for participation.
- Provides advice on safety measures, and ensures that activities are conducted in a manner to minimise risk to participants.
- Responds to emergencies by providing first aid assistance and takes appropriate further action if required.
- Answers questions and advises on local interest points within a specific region.
- May maintain written reports of daily activities and carry out other administrative work.
Prospects
The number of Whitewater Rafting Guides stayed about the same over 5 years:
from less than 50 in 2011 to less than 50 in 2016.
Caution: These estimates do not take account of the impact of COVID-19. They may not reflect the current jobs market and should be used and interpreted with caution.
- Size: This is a very small occupation.
- Location: Many Whitewater Rafting Guides work in Queensland.
- Industries: They work in many industries such as Arts and Recreation Services; Administrative and Support Services; and Transport, Postal and Warehousing.
- Full-time: Around half work full-time (54%, less than the average of 66%), showing there are many opportunities to work part-time.
- Hours: Full-time workers spend around 45 hours per week at work (compared to the average of 44 hours).
- Age: The average age is 35 years (compared to the average of 40 years).
- Gender: 11% of workers are female (compared to the average of 48%).
Pathways
You usually need extensive white-water rafting experience to work as a Whitewater Rafting Guide. While formal qualifications aren't essential, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in outdoor recreation may be useful.
Before starting a course, check it will provide you with the skills and qualifications you need. Visit
- My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
- AAPathways website to explore Sport, Fitness and Recreation VET training pathways.
Skills & Knowledge
Employers look for Outdoor Adventure Guides who interact well with others, provide good customer service and are physically fit.
Filter Skills & Knowledge
Knowledge
These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.
-
Sales and marketing
Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
-
Customer and personal service
Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.
-
Clerical
Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.
-
Administration and management
Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.
-
Geography
Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.
-
Education and training
Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
-
English language
English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
-
Transportation
Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.
-
History and archeology
Events of the past, their causes, how we learn about them, and how they influence the way we live today.
-
Personnel and human resources
Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.
-
Mathematics
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.
-
Sociology and anthropology
Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
-
Communications and media
Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.
-
Philosophy and theology
Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.
-
Computers and electronics
Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
-
Economics and accounting
Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.
-
Fine arts
Compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
-
Production and processing
Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.
-
Public safety and security
Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.
-
Foreign language
Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Skills
Skills can be improved through training or experience.
-
Active listening
Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
-
Serving others
Looking for ways to help people.
-
Coordination with others
Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.
-
Critical thinking
Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
-
Reading comprehension
Reading work related information.
-
Persuasion
Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.
-
Social perceptiveness
Understanding why people react the way they do.
-
Judgment and decision making
Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.
-
Speaking
Talking to others.
-
Monitoring
Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.
-
Negotiation
Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.
-
Complex problem solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
-
Instructing
Teaching people how to do something.
-
Learning strategies
Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.
-
Writing
Writing things for co-workers or customers.
-
Time management
Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.
-
Active learning
Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.
-
Systems analysis
Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.
-
Management of personnel resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.
-
Mathematics
Using maths to solve problems.
Abilities
Workers use these physical and mental abilities.
-
Speech recognition
Identify and understand the speech of another person.
-
Speech clarity
Speak clearly so others can understand you.
-
Oral comprehension
Listen to and understand what people say.
-
Oral expression
Communicate by speaking.
-
Written comprehension
Read and understand written information.
-
Deductive reasoning
Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.
-
Problem spotting
Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.
-
Brainstorming
Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.
-
Originality
Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.
-
Near vision
See details that are up-close (within a few feet).
-
Sorting or ordering
Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
-
Inductive reasoning
Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.
-
Written expression
Write in a way that people can understand.
-
Categorising
Come up with different ways of grouping things.
-
Far vision
See details that are far away.
-
Multitasking
Do two or more things at the same time.
-
Working with numbers
Add, subtract, multiply, or divide.
-
Selective attention
Pay attention to something without being distracted.
-
Flexibility of closure
See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.
-
Perceptual speed
Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Activities
These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.
-
Building good relationships
Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.
-
Planning and prioritising work
Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.
-
Influencing people
Convincing people to buy something or to change their minds or actions.
-
Communicating with the public
Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Working with the public
Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.
-
Communicating within a team
Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Guiding and directing staff
Guiding and directing staff, including setting and monitoring performance standards.
-
Assessing and evaluating things
Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.
-
Making decisions and solving problems
Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.
-
Thinking creatively
Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.
-
Researching and investigating
Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.
-
Collecting and organising information
Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.
-
Keeping your knowledge up-to-date
Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.
-
Coaching and developing others
Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.
-
Negotiating and resolving conflicts
Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.
-
Scheduling work and activities
Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
-
Working with computers
Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
-
Looking for changes over time
Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.
-
Providing office support
Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.
-
Monitoring people, processes and things
Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 39-7012.00 - Travel Guides.
Work Environment
Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.
Filter Work Environment
Demands
The physical and social demands workers face most often are shown below.
-
Contact with the public
Work with customers or the public.
-
Frequent decision making
Frequently make decisions that impact other people.
-
Face-to-face discussions
Talk with people face-to-face.
-
Telephone
Talk on the telephone.
-
Contact with people
Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.
-
Impact of decisions
Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.
-
Teamwork
Work with people in a group or team.
-
Unstructured work
Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.
-
Lead or coordinate a team
Lead others to do work activities.
-
Freedom to make decisions
Have freedom to make decision on your own.
-
Electronic mail
Use electronic mail.
-
Indoors, heat controlled
Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.
-
Consequence of error
Work where mistakes have serious consequences.
-
Spend time sitting
Spend time sitting at work.
-
Letters and memos
Write letters and memos.
-
Competition
Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.
-
Being exact or accurate
Be very exact or highly accurate.
-
Time pressure
Work to strict deadlines.
-
Physically close to people
Work physically close to other people.
-
Responsible for outcomes
Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.
Values
Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
-
Independence
Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.
-
Relationships
Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
-
Achievement
Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.
-
Working conditions
Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.
-
Support
Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.
-
Recognition
Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.
Interests
Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.
-
Enterprising
Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.
-
Administrative
Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.
-
Helping
Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.
-
Practical
Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.
-
Creative
Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.
-
Analytical
Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 39-7012.00 - Travel Guides.
All Outdoor Adventure Guides
-
$1,265 Weekly Pay
-
Very strong Future Growth
Whitewater Rafting Guides
-
n/a workers Employment Size
-
Medium skill Skill level rating
-
n/a% Full-Time Full-Time Share
-
hours Average full-time
-
years Average age
-
n/a% female Gender Share
Whitewater Rafting Guides plan, organise and provide guided rafting and kayaking trips for individuals or groups on whitewater rivers.
You usually need extensive white-water rafting experience to work as a Whitewater Rafting Guide. While formal qualifications aren't essential, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in outdoor recreation may be useful.
Tasks
- Meets members of a tour on arrival and makes introductions.
- Organises and supervises groups involved in white-water rafting outdoor adventures.
- Sets up and maintains equipment, and ensures that equipment is safe and in working condition.
- Demonstrates and provides instruction in the use of equipment and techniques required for participation.
- Provides advice on safety measures, and ensures that activities are conducted in a manner to minimise risk to participants.
- Responds to emergencies by providing first aid assistance and takes appropriate further action if required.
- Answers questions and advises on local interest points within a specific region.
- May maintain written reports of daily activities and carry out other administrative work.
The number of Whitewater Rafting Guides stayed about the same over 5 years:
from less than 50 in 2011 to less than 50 in 2016.
Caution: These estimates do not take account of the impact of COVID-19. They may not reflect the current jobs market and should be used and interpreted with caution.
- Size: This is a very small occupation.
- Location: Many Whitewater Rafting Guides work in Queensland.
- Industries: They work in many industries such as Arts and Recreation Services; Administrative and Support Services; and Transport, Postal and Warehousing.
- Full-time: Around half work full-time (54%, less than the average of 66%), showing there are many opportunities to work part-time.
- Hours: Full-time workers spend around 45 hours per week at work (compared to the average of 44 hours).
- Age: The average age is 35 years (compared to the average of 40 years).
- Gender: 11% of workers are female (compared to the average of 48%).
You usually need extensive white-water rafting experience to work as a Whitewater Rafting Guide. While formal qualifications aren't essential, a Vocational Education and Training (VET) course in outdoor recreation may be useful.
Before starting a course, check it will provide you with the skills and qualifications you need. Visit
- My Skills to compare Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses, providers and student outcomes.
- AAPathways website to explore Sport, Fitness and Recreation VET training pathways.
Employers look for Outdoor Adventure Guides who interact well with others, provide good customer service and are physically fit.
Filter Skills & Knowledge
Knowledge
These are important topics, subjects or knowledge areas.
-
Sales and marketing
Showing, promoting, and selling including marketing strategy, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.
-
Customer and personal service
Understanding customer needs, providing good quality service, and measuring customer satisfaction.
-
Clerical
Word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office work.
-
Administration and management
Business principles involved in strategic planning, leadership, and coordinating people and resources.
-
Geography
Describing land, sea, and air, including their physical characteristics, locations, how they work together, and the location of plant, animal, and human life.
-
Education and training
Curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
-
English language
English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
-
Transportation
Moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road.
-
History and archeology
Events of the past, their causes, how we learn about them, and how they influence the way we live today.
-
Personnel and human resources
Recruiting and training people, managing pay and other entitlements (like sick leave), and negotiating pay and conditions.
-
Mathematics
Arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, or statistics.
-
Sociology and anthropology
Group behaviour and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures and their history and origins.
-
Communications and media
Media production, communication, and dissemination. Includes written, spoken, and visual media.
-
Philosophy and theology
Philosophical systems and religions, including their basic principles, values, ethics, ways of thinking, customs, practices, and impact on society.
-
Computers and electronics
Circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
-
Economics and accounting
Economics and accounting, the financial markets, banking and checking and reporting of financial data.
-
Fine arts
Compose, produce, and perform works of music, dance, visual arts, drama, and sculpture.
-
Production and processing
Raw materials, production processes, quality control, costs, and ways of making and distributing goods.
-
Public safety and security
Use of equipment, rules and ideas to protect people, data, property, and institutions.
-
Foreign language
Foreign (non-English) language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition and grammar, and pronunciation.
Skills
Skills can be improved through training or experience.
-
Active listening
Listening to others, not interrupting, and asking good questions.
-
Serving others
Looking for ways to help people.
-
Coordination with others
Being adaptable and coordinating work with other people.
-
Critical thinking
Thinking about the pros and cons of different ways to solve a problem.
-
Reading comprehension
Reading work related information.
-
Persuasion
Talking people into changing their minds or their behaviour.
-
Social perceptiveness
Understanding why people react the way they do.
-
Judgment and decision making
Figuring out the pros and cons of different options and choosing the best one.
-
Speaking
Talking to others.
-
Monitoring
Keeping track of how well work is progressing so you can make changes or improvements.
-
Negotiation
Bringing people together and trying to sort out their differences.
-
Complex problem solving
Noticing a problem and figuring out the best way to solve it.
-
Instructing
Teaching people how to do something.
-
Learning strategies
Figuring out the best way to teach or learn something new.
-
Writing
Writing things for co-workers or customers.
-
Time management
Managing your own and other peoples' time to get work done.
-
Active learning
Being able to use what you have learnt to solve problems now and again in the future.
-
Systems analysis
Figuring out how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect it.
-
Management of personnel resources
Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, and choosing the best people for the job.
-
Mathematics
Using maths to solve problems.
Abilities
Workers use these physical and mental abilities.
-
Speech recognition
Identify and understand the speech of another person.
-
Speech clarity
Speak clearly so others can understand you.
-
Oral comprehension
Listen to and understand what people say.
-
Oral expression
Communicate by speaking.
-
Written comprehension
Read and understand written information.
-
Deductive reasoning
Use general rules to find answers or solve problems logically.
-
Problem spotting
Notice when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong, even if you can't solve the problem.
-
Brainstorming
Come up with a number of ideas about a topic, even if the ideas aren't very good.
-
Originality
Come up with unusual or clever ideas, or creative ways to solve a problem.
-
Near vision
See details that are up-close (within a few feet).
-
Sorting or ordering
Order or arrange things in a pattern or sequence (e.g., numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
-
Inductive reasoning
Use lots of detailed information to come up with answers or make general rules.
-
Written expression
Write in a way that people can understand.
-
Categorising
Come up with different ways of grouping things.
-
Far vision
See details that are far away.
-
Multitasking
Do two or more things at the same time.
-
Working with numbers
Add, subtract, multiply, or divide.
-
Selective attention
Pay attention to something without being distracted.
-
Flexibility of closure
See a pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) hidden in other distracting material.
-
Perceptual speed
Use your eyes to quickly compare groups of letters, numbers, pictures, or other things.
Activities
These are kinds of activities workers regularly do in this job.
-
Building good relationships
Building good working relationships and keeping them over time.
-
Planning and prioritising work
Deciding on goals and putting together a detailed plan to get the work done.
-
Influencing people
Convincing people to buy something or to change their minds or actions.
-
Communicating with the public
Giving information to the public, business or government by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Working with the public
Greeting or serving customers, clients or guests, and public speaking or performing.
-
Communicating within a team
Giving information to co-workers by telephone, in writing, or in person.
-
Guiding and directing staff
Guiding and directing staff, including setting and monitoring performance standards.
-
Assessing and evaluating things
Working out the value, importance, or quality of things, services or people.
-
Making decisions and solving problems
Using information to work out the best solution and solve problems.
-
Thinking creatively
Using your own ideas for developing, designing, or creating something new.
-
Researching and investigating
Looking for, getting and understanding different kinds of information.
-
Collecting and organising information
Compiling, coding, categorizing, calculating, tabulating, auditing, or checking information or data.
-
Keeping your knowledge up-to-date
Keeping up-to-date with technology and new ideas.
-
Coaching and developing others
Working out the needs of others and coaching, mentoring, or helping them to improve.
-
Negotiating and resolving conflicts
Handling complaints and disagreements, and negotiating with people.
-
Scheduling work and activities
Working out the timing of events, programs, and activities, as well as the work of others.
-
Working with computers
Using computers to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
-
Looking for changes over time
Comparing objects, actions, or events. Looking for differences between them or changes over time.
-
Providing office support
Doing day-to-day office work such as filing and processing paperwork.
-
Monitoring people, processes and things
Checking objects, actions, or events, and keeping an eye out for problems.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 39-7012.00 - Travel Guides.
Learn about the daily activities, and physical and social demands faced by workers. Explore the values and work styles that workers rate as most important.
Filter Work Environment
Demands
The physical and social demands workers face most often are shown below.
-
Contact with the public
Work with customers or the public.
-
Frequent decision making
Frequently make decisions that impact other people.
-
Face-to-face discussions
Talk with people face-to-face.
-
Telephone
Talk on the telephone.
-
Contact with people
Have contact with people by telephone, face-to-face, or any other way.
-
Impact of decisions
Make decisions that have a large impact on other people.
-
Teamwork
Work with people in a group or team.
-
Unstructured work
Have freedom to decide on tasks, priorities, and goals.
-
Lead or coordinate a team
Lead others to do work activities.
-
Freedom to make decisions
Have freedom to make decision on your own.
-
Electronic mail
Use electronic mail.
-
Indoors, heat controlled
Work indoors with access to heating or cooling.
-
Consequence of error
Work where mistakes have serious consequences.
-
Spend time sitting
Spend time sitting at work.
-
Letters and memos
Write letters and memos.
-
Competition
Compete with others, or be aware of competitive pressures.
-
Being exact or accurate
Be very exact or highly accurate.
-
Time pressure
Work to strict deadlines.
-
Physically close to people
Work physically close to other people.
-
Responsible for outcomes
Take responsibility for the results of other people's work.
Values
Work values are important to a person’s feeling of satisfaction. All six values are shown below.
-
Independence
Work alone and make decisions. Workers are able to try out their own ideas, make decisions on their own, and work with little or no supervision.
-
Relationships
Serve and work with others. Workers usually get along well with each other, do things to help other people, and are rarely pressured to do things that go against their sense of right and wrong.
-
Achievement
Results oriented. Workers are able to use their strongest abilities, giving them a feeling of accomplishment.
-
Working conditions
Job security and good working conditions. There is usually a steady flow of interesting work, and the pay and conditions are generally good.
-
Support
Supportive management that stands behind employees. Workers are treated fairly by their company, they are supported by management, and have supervisors who train them well.
-
Recognition
Advancement and the potential to lead. Workers are recognised for the work that they do, they may give directions and instructions to others, and they are looked up to in their company and their community.
Interests
Interests are the style or type of work we prefer to do. All interest areas are shown below.
-
Enterprising
Starting up and carrying out projects. Leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes require risk taking and often deal with business.
-
Administrative
Following set procedures and routines. Working with numbers and details more than with ideas, usually following rules.
-
Helping
Working with people. Helping or providing service to others.
-
Practical
Practical, hands-on work. Often with plants and animals, or materials like wood, tools, and machinery.
-
Creative
Working with forms, designs and patterns. Often need self-expression and can be done without following rules.
-
Analytical
Ideas and thinking. Searching for facts and figuring out problems in your head.

O*NET is a trademark of the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration.
The skills and importance ratings on this page are derived from the US Department of Labor O*NET Database Version 21.2, 39-7012.00 - Travel Guides.