For more than 110 years, Scouts has supported young people around the world and across NSW to make friends, experience adventures and learn valuable skills that aren't readily available elsewhere.
We help create lasting memories and build self-confidence and, at the same time, help young people become resilient, innovative, adaptable and purposeful. In fact, a study conducted by Resilient Youth Australia in partnership with the University of South Australia found that young people participating in Scouts have an overall better life satisfaction than their peers, and the longer they remain with Scouts, the more resilient they become!
We believe that Scouting remains one of the most valuable investments we can make in young people today so they can become the leaders we will turn to tomorrow.
There are many behind-the-scenes operations in place to ensure we can safely and successfully deliver the Scouting program, and that our members can enjoy Scouting now and into the future. The Scouts NSW State Membership Fee is an annual fee that helps to make this happen by covering the costs of essential services and behind-the-scenes operations at a Region and State level.
In prior years, families would have received their bill for the State Membership Fee as a part of a single invoice from their Scout Group. This invoice would have included both the cost of the State Membership Fee and the cost of local Group fees, charged and managed by the Scout Group to deliver Scouting locally.
This web page aims to provide parents and guardians of youth members with the useful information about this change in the billing process.
FAQ
The Payments Portal is the invoicing and payment system for the State Membership Fee. This is a process change from members paying their State Membership Fee to Scout Groups, then Groups paying this to State.
You will be billed the cost of your child(ren)’s Scouts NSW State Membership Fee. If your child is new to Scouts, you will also be billed their one-off joining fee.
Your child’s State Membership Fee covers the cost of delivering Scouting to many thousands of young people across NSW.
The fee covers the cost of essential services and operations such as risk management and safety, seeking and facilitating grants to help us develop and address organisational opportunities, accounting and IT services, training, property services and Region support. It also covers the cost of public liability and personal accident insurance for your child or young adult, their Leaders and other youth and adult members participating in approved Scouting activities.
The State Membership Fee differs from the local fees charged by your Scout Group. Click here for a breakdown of the differences between the State Membership Fee and local Group Fees.
The Scout Financial Year runs from 1 April through to 31 March.
This email will be sent to your email address as listed on your child’s membership record. Please ensure your email address is up to date by updating your contact details via your child’s care profile on Operoo.
You will receive a separate email and invoice per child.
Invoices are payable within 30 days of the invoice issue date.
Invoices are payable within 30 days of the invoice issue date. You can choose to pay the invoice either in full or enter into a payment plan with a partial payment upfront.
If payment has not been made by day 30 (either full upfront payment, payment via Active Kids voucher or payment plan not entered), you will be sent a reminder email to do so and will have a final seven (7) days to action this.
If payment has not been made at the end of the final seven (7) days’ notice, your child will be resigned in the membership database and unable to attend any Scouting activities.
The Payment Process
Step 1: Member will receive their State Membership Fee invoice via email
Step 2: In the email, the member will be able to access a link to the secure online payment gateway.
Step 3: In the online payment gateway, the member will select their payment option. These include a full upfront payment, a quarterly payment plan and Active Kids vouchers (twice yearly).
Step 4: The member will be prompted to enter their payment details. The accepted payment methods include credit card, debit card and Active Kids rebate voucher.
Step 5: The payment will be processed. A confirmation message will appear on the screen, and a payment receipt will be emailed to the member for their records.
Step 6: The member’s Scouts NSW membership record is updated to reflect their status and ‘financial to’ date.
The Payment Gateway
All payments for the State Membership Fee will be processed through an online secured payment gateway.
The email you receive will have a link to a secure online payment gateway, where you will be able to pay your child’s State Membership Fee.
All payments for the State Membership Fee must be paid via the payment gateway, which includes a number of payment methods including credit card, debit card and your child’s Active Kids rebate voucher(s).
There are three payment options:
- Full upfront payment
- Quarterly payment plan (from October 2021)
- Active Kids voucher payment plan (twice yearly)
The available payment methods are credit card, debit card and Active Kids rebate vouchers.
Absolutely. The Active Kids rebate voucher is an accepted payment method. You will need to apply for their Active Kids voucher from Service NSW in the first instance, and then redeem the voucher with Scouts NSW by entering the voucher details into the payment gateway.
The payment gateway utilises PCI compliant secure tokens to safely and securely store credit card credentials as a token following a successful payment transaction. Scouts NSW nor the payment gateway can access any credit card details. All transactions are conducted in a secure PCI-DSS manner.
No. Members will not be charged additional fees for using the payment gateway.
2022 – what will be the payment options under the annual process?
From April 2022, parents will receive one annual invoice for their child/s State Membership Fee (and joining fee if applicable). There are a number of ways in which parents can pay these fees:
Payment Option 1: Full Upfront Payment
You will have the option of paying the full amount upfront.
This can be done via a full credit card or debit card payment, or you can pay the full amount by using your child’s Active Kids rebate voucher ($100) and paying the remainder of the fee ($150) using a credit card or debit card.
Payment Option 2: Payment Plan
No – you will receive one invoice for the State Membership Fee per child, per year.
If you opt in to a payment plan, you will receive an automated email notification 30 days before the next payment instalment date to remind you that the next payment will be automatically deducted from your nominated credit or debit card.
You will receive an automated email reminder 30 days prior to the next payment instalment date.
All payment-related information entered into the payment gateway is stored and tokenised. This protects the sensitive data by replacing it with an algorithmically generated number called a token.
If you opt into a payment plan with your credit card or debit card, the payment gateway will use the tokenised details to automatically charge the nominated card the next portion of the payment when the next instalment is due.
You will receive automated email notifications 30 days before the next instalment date (except the initial 1 April date) to remind you that the next payment will be deducted from your nominated card.
No. Any member whose payable amount is less than $100 will be prompted to pay the entire amount upfront via credit card or debit card.
Payment Option 3: Active Kids Voucher Payment
Other
Each year, Scouts NSW members pay two main ‘types’ of fees:
- State Membership Fee set by Scouts NSW each year to cover the costs of essential state-wide services and support, and
- Local Group Fee set by individual Scout Groups to provide local Scouting.
In previous years, you would have received a single invoice from your child’s Scout Group which included both the cost of your child’s State Membership Fee and for their local Group Fees.
From 2021 onward, families will receive their invoice for the State Membership Fee directly from Scouts NSW. This aims to provide you with a simple way to manage and pay for this fee, and also provides a clear distinction from the fee you pay to your Scout Group.
Keep Your Contact Details Up To Date
You can update your email address directly through Operoo (formerly called CareMonkey).
If your child's Scout Group does not use Operoo, speak with your Group Leader to have your details updated on your child's membership record.
Downloadable Resources
Submit Your Question
Have a question about direct billing? Fill in the form below, or email [email protected].
