How Team Building Has Evolved in Australia Since the 1980s

Team building in Australia has come a very long way since the 1980s.   Sabre has been uniquely placed to see these changes unfold and has been instrumental in many of them.

In the early days of team building in Australia, the providers often borrowed from outdoor adventure models or adapted from corporate training practices in the United States and the UK.

Activities tended to be simplistic, physical, and heavily focused on “military / survival” challenges, raft building, and obstacle courses and the like. While these programmes offered novelty and entertainment, and we even ran some of them, they often lacked depth and alignment with the strategic goals of the organisations that invested in them.  Things needed to change.

Over the decades, Australian businesses began to demand more from ‘team building’ that often lacked a genuine ‘team development’ component.   Rather than just “days out of the office,” they sought more meaningful connections to leadership, culture, communication, and performance outcomes.

This shift reflected the changing nature of work itself—more diverse, more complex, and increasingly reliant on cross-functional collaboration. By the 1990s and 2000s, organisations were looking for solutions that blended engagement with psychology, strategy, and long-term return on investment for smaller cross-functional and project teams.

It is within this evolution that Sabre Team Building and Corporate Development, founded in 1988, has played a leading role. As one of the earliest dedicated team building providers in Australia (and now the most enduring), Sabre was not just a participant in this growing industry but a genuine pioneer shaping its direction.

Drawing on global best practice and alliances while adding uniquely Australian creativity, Sabre helped move the field beyond school style ropes courses and games, toward more sophisticated experiential learning models that deliver tangible workplace value.

From designing thematic business games and creative challenges, to integrating globally recognised frameworks such as the Belbin Team Role Model, Sabre has continually set benchmarks for innovation. Over the years, Sabre’s work has not only influenced trends across Australia but also resonated overseas, with their programs delivered to clients in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.

Today, team building in Australia encompasses a wide spectrum—from the light-hearted conference energisers to deeply tailored programs that address leadership dynamics, organisational culture, and even the challenges of hybrid and AI-enabled workplaces. Yet across this diversity, Sabre remains the most enduring and respected provider in the field. With more than three decades of experience, Sabre continues to be trusted by leading organisations to combine creativity, fun, and measurable impact.

The journey from the 1980s to now highlights how far team building has come: from novelty entertainment to a sophisticated industry. And at the heart of that journey, Sabre stands as both a witness and a driver of change—helping teams not just to play together, but to perform better together.