National Volunteering Strategy

The Australian Government is leading the development of a National Volunteering Strategy to be released ahead of 2011, which will mark the ten-year anniversary of the United Nations' Year of Volunteers celebrated in 2001.

Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector, has the responsibility for leading the development of the Strategy.

Input to the Strategy has been sought from a range of key stakeholders and partners including State and Territory governments, corporate Australia, Volunteering Australia and other peak bodies representing volunteers and volunteer based organisations.

• A Consultation Paper was prepared outlining the key issues and proposed direction of the Strategy ( PDF 48KB | RTF 55KB)
  

Interested community members were invited to respond to the Paper by 30 June 2010 and participate in an online survey, which closed on 25 July 2010.  A total of 725 responses were received, reflecting diverse community opinion and providing a valuable resource in the development of the National Volunteering Strategy.

Why a National Volunteering Strategy?

Volunteering delivers a number of key social and economic benefits including:

• creating social cohesion
• contributing to community capacity and resilience and supporting services that meet the needs of Australian communities
• a critical contribution to emergency services and disaster recovery
• a significant economic role, with voluntary work contributing approximately 623 million hours to the community worth approximately $14.6 billion per year to the economy.

A National Volunteering Strategy will articulate the Government’s vision and commitment to volunteering in Australia, highlight the key issues and flag the emerging trends in volunteering over coming years.

The strategy will emphasise the value of volunteering to Australia, in particular the role of volunteering:

• in contributing to the Australian Government’s vision of a socially inclusive society in which all Australian people feel valued and have opportunities to fully participate in community life
• in creating social cohesion, facilitating networks to build social capital and engendering a sense of belonging
• as it embodies active citizenship and community participation and in its contribution towards building the sustainability of communities
• in responding to the needs of disadvantaged Australians and communities
• in building community resilience and its critical contribution to emergency services and disaster mitigation and recovery in Australia
• in its contribution to the economy.

A National Volunteering Strategy will identify key barriers to volunteering and seek to develop and encourage appropriate policy responses to address these barriers. The development of a cohesive policy framework will support more strategic decision making in relation to volunteering into the future.

Volunteering Policy Advisory Group

The Volunteering Policy Advisory Group, chaired by Senator Stephens, has been established to provide advice about volunteering in Australia and provide input to the National Volunteering Strategy.

The Advisory Group’s nine members have been selected from volunteer-based organisations, academia, corporate volunteering, volunteering peak organisations and the emergency management sector. The members are as follows:

• Mr Gregory Andrews, Chief Executive Officer, Indigenous Community Volunteers
• Ms Margaret Bell, President, Chain Reaction Foundation
• Mr Jelenko Dragisic, Chief Executive Officer, Volunteering Queensland
• Ms Dimity Fifer, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Volunteers International
• Major General Hori Howard, Chair, Australian Emergency Management Volunteer Forum
• Ms Catherine Hunter, Director of Corporate Citizenship, KPMG
• Mr Matt Miller, Chief Executive Officer, Australian Sports
• Associate Professor Melanie Oppenheimer, School of Humanities, University of New England
• Mr Cary Pedicini, Chief Executive Officer, Volunteering Australia
• Mr Doug Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, United Way.

Photo: Volunteering Policy Advisory Group – L to R; Allison Shoobridge (FaHCSIA), Kym McConnell (FaHCSIA), Jill Farrelly (FaHCSIA), Melanie Oppenheimer (University of New England), Greg Andrews (Indigenous Community Volunteers), Cary Pedicini (Volunteering Australia), Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens (Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector), Hori Howard (Australian Emergency Management Volunteer Forum), Margaret Bell (Chain Reaction Foundation), Catherine Hunter (KPMG), Nancy Waites (Advisor to Senator Stephens), Jelenko Dragisic (Volunteering Queensland). (Not pictured – Doug Taylor, United Way and Dimity Fifer, Australian Volunteers International.)

Photo: Volunteering Policy Advisory Group first meeting.

Photo: Volunteering Policy Advisory Group final meeting.

• Communique from final meeting of the Volunteering Policy Advisory Group held on
  8 July 2010 ( PDF 35KB | RTF 35KB)
• Communique from fourth meeting of the Volunteering Policy Advisory Group held on
  6 May 2010 ( PDF 49KB | RTF 33KB)
• Communique from third meeting of the Volunteering Policy Advisory Group held on 19 February 2010 ( PDF 23KB | RTF 16KB)
• Communique from second meeting of the Volunteering Policy Advisory Group held on 1 December 2009 ( PDF 19KB | RTF 39KB)
• Communique from first meeting of the Volunteering Policy Advisory Group held on 23 October 2009 ( PDF 26KB | RTF 32KB)

Cross-government collaboration

Senator Stephens has been consulting closely with her Ministerial colleagues about the development of the National Volunteering Strategy as all governments have a stake in encouraging volunteering and reducing barriers to volunteering.

State and Territory Ministers responsible for volunteering have met to discuss the development of the National Volunteering Strategy.

Work has also been progressing at the officials level to identify priority areas that will have the most meaningful impact for volunteers.

Contact

Email: AustralianNVS@fahcsia.gov.au

Phone: 02 6244 8839

Postal Address: 

National Volunteering Strategy
Community Investment Branch
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs
PO Box 7576
Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610