Over 70 Years of Scouting in the Sutherland Shire

2nd Sutherland (Armco) Scouts began in May 1949¹ as a Boy Scouts troop, sponsored by the Sutherland branch of road barrier manufacturer Armco (Aust.) Pty. Ltd. (Armco being an abbreviated form of American Rolling Metal Company). Armco's factory was in Kirrawee, approximately where Bunnings stands now, and the first Scouts held meetings onsite. Later, the troop moved to a shared hall in Sutherland, but had plans for their own hall.²

On 13 March 1971, Mr M.H. Bailey, Managing Director at Armco officially opened the doors to 2nd Sutherland's new Scout hall, built entirely by volunteer labour, in its current location on Crown land at 11R Tathra Place, Gymea.²

In 1953 2nd Sutherland (ARMCO) Senior Scouts produced their first Queen's Scout, Richard Smith.² In 1964, Rover Scout James Buchan was the first in the Group to receive the Baden-Powell Scout Award.³

Women had been part of Scouting since the beginning, serving on parent support committees and as Leaders of Cub Scouts. In 1972, recognising the societal need for change, and in preparation for the preparation of women and girls to join as youth members, our association changed its name from The Australian Boy Scouts Association to The Scout Association of Australia.⁸ It was not until 1975 (with trials having started in 1973) that Scouts Australia allowed female youth members to join, in the Venturer Scouts (formerly Senior Scouts) and Rover Scouts sections.⁴ By 1988, girls were fully integrated into all areas of the Scouting movement.⁵

In 1976, 2nd Sutherland Rover Lesley Newham became the first woman in NSW to receive the Baden-Powell Scout Award.³ In 1993 2nd Sutherland congratulated its first female Queen's Scout, Sarah Robinson.²

Since we celebrated our first Queen's Scout, we have congratulated many peak awardees in all our age sections.

In 2018 we celebrated 2nd Sutherland's first recipient of the Australian Scout Award, Ben Nolan.⁶ Ben went on to become a Queen's Scout in 2020.²

Also in 2018, the first Grey Wolf Awards were presented to Cub Scouts Ella Buckley and Isaac Schippers.²

Recently, Ella became the first of our members to earn peak awards in three different sections, having gone on to receive the Australian Scout Award in 2022 and the King's Scout Award in 2025.²

To date:

• Eight Cub Scouts have earned the Grey Wolf Award.²
• 16 Scouts have earned the Australian Scout Medallion or Australian Scout Award.⁶
• 60 Venturer Scouts have earned the Queen's Scout or King's Scout Awards.⁷
• Three Rover Scouts have earned the Baden-Powell Scout Award over the course of 2nd Sutherland's history.³ (Note - we haven't hosted an active Rover unit since the mid-1990s).

See our Honour Roll for the full list of peak awardees.

1. 1949 'SCOUT NEWS', The Observer (Cronulla, NSW : 1939 - 1954), 20 May, p. 4., viewed 30 July 2026, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/264974330
2. 2nd Sutherland (Armco) Scout Group relics and memorabilia.
3. Baden-Powell Scout Award Honour Roll, Scouts NSW, viewed 30 July 2026, 
   https://www.scoutsnsw.com.au/info-for-parents/rover-scout-honour-roll/
4. 2024 'Celebrating 50 Years of Girls and Women in Scouting', Scouts Australia, 25 March, viewed 30 July 2026, 
   https://scouts.com.au/blog/2024/03/25/celebrating-50-years-of-girls-and-women-in-scouting/
5. 2023 'Scouting a multigenerational passion for Jackson family', Scouts NSW, 26 September, viewed 30 July 2026, https://www.scoutsnsw.com.au/news/scouting-a-multigenerational-passion-for-jackson-family
6. Australian Scout Award Honour Roll, Scouts NSW, viewed 30 July 2026, https://www.scoutsnsw.com.au/info-for-parents/scout-honour-roll/
7. Kings Scout Award Honour Roll, Scouts NSW, viewed 30 July 2026, https://www.scoutsnsw.com.au/info-for-parents/venturer-scout-honour-roll/

8. 1972 'THE SCOUT ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA', Commonwealth of Australia Gazette (National : 1901 - 1973), 1 June, p. 24., viewed 30 Jul 2026, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article241068707