Louise Markus (Greenway, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

I preface my remarks by first thanking the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Family, Community, Housing and Youth for inviting the participation of not just me but my colleagues, the Hon. Judi Moylan, the Hon. Tony Abbott, the Hon. Sussan Ley who worked together to produce The value of volunteering landmark document.

The purpose of producing this body of work was, most importantly, to identify the challenges faced in the volunteer sector. Changing patterns of volunteering in terms of time given, a decline in the numbers of people volunteering and an increasing administrative and legal environment meant that the study of this important activity was timely.

There are two types of volunteering. The formal definition is an activity where someone will ‘willingly give unpaid help in the form of time, service or skills, to or through an organisation.’ The Australian Bureau of Statistics says that 30 per cent of the population are involved in this kind of volunteering. For example, the Sydney Olympics and Clean Up Australia Day are examples of formal volunteering.

Then there is informal volunteering. This is where an individual, a neighbour, friend or colleague, does not even realise that they are giving their time in the form of volunteering. This could be as simple as collecting a neighbour’s children from school, driving an elderly friend to a doctor, or collecting cans for charity. It is unstructured, often random, and most of the time just seen as giving a helping hand. The ABS estimates that 19 per cent of Australians are identified as informal volunteers.

The committee held a forum in Sydney in May 2008 and a number of individuals and representatives were invited to participate. These included Volunteering Australia, the national peak body for volunteers and volunteering; a number of large and smaller community and welfare organisations, from both local and regional areas; and individuals. In fact, a very good cross-section of the community involved in volunteering were present. Their contribution to the research was invaluable, and I thank them. At the forum, discussion focused on emerging trends in volunteering in Australia—notably, challenges for individual volunteers, and also operational, administrative and legislative challenges for volunteer organisations.

According, again, to the Bureau of Statistics, more than five million Australians aged 18 years and over performed voluntary work in 2006. These volunteers contributed a total of 713 million hours of unpaid work to the Australian economy. The economic value of volunteering in Australia has been estimated to be approximately $42 billion per annum, with the time donated by volunteers to welfare services alone being responsible for $27.4 billion per annum. Governments and the community do value our volunteers because of the enormous savings that their unpaid work delivers to our economy. We need—it is vital for us—to support their work and encourage their activities.

A number of issues emerged during the forum, including the changing patterns of volunteering. I will highlight several points. Some organisations are facing declining volunteer numbers and are having difficulty attracting new recruits. Volunteers have less time to give to volunteering. Thirteen years ago 24 per cent of the total number of annual volunteer hours was contributed to the community and welfare sector but, by 2006, the ABS reports that this number had halved. Younger volunteers contribute a smaller number of volunteer hours per individual. The emergence of corporate involvement with volunteering is another point. The concept of social responsibility has been embraced by a number of large corporations who have set up employee groups.

The volunteer organisation sector is as diverse as it is large. In my own electorate of Greenway we have examples of the broad range—and this list is not exhaustive; there are many other volunteer organisations—including Lions; Rotary; chambers of commerce; sporting and recreation groups; farmer groups; environmental organisations; multicultural groups such as Sri Om Care, a voluntary care organisation for elderly people which has a day centre and activities for seniors, and the Australian Sikh Association in Glenwood, which has a number of community support programs and relies solely on volunteers; and Connections Community Developments, which operates in the newer Rouse Hill development sector within my electorate. They are supported by the corporate organisations but, again, rely heavily on volunteers. Thanks to them, initial support groups for families, such as parents groups, are being developed for the first time. They run a number of community activities and events where they bring the community together.

What type of people are likely to volunteer? Historically, of course, women have volunteered more commonly than men, although the percentage is not that different—36 per cent versus 32 per cent. For the population as a whole, the volunteering rate was highest, at 43 per cent, in the 35 to 44 age group, followed by the 45 to 50 age group at 39 per cent. Those groupings correlate to families with children in sport and people reaching retirement age with extra free time. The saying ‘If you want something done just ask a busy person’ is evident in the statistics for people in employment. They had an 11 per cent higher rate of volunteering than those who were unemployed.

I suppose the question needs to be asked: why do people volunteer? The most popular reason, of course, was ‘helping others or helping the community’. Other reasons are more personal, such as personal satisfaction, social contact, learning new skills and gaining work experience.

One participant at the forum said that the older generation seemed, from their experience, to volunteer out of a sense of responsibility and that, growing up in a culture of responsibility, they felt a responsibility to contribute. The younger generation are often looking to how they can develop their needs and their skills, and so this is where volunteer organisations are challenged with adapting to and engaging younger volunteers, and newer groups are having to think outside the box and connect with the real motivations behind people volunteering. Whatever the reason, we are all better for the experience—those who volunteer and those who are the beneficiaries of their work.

Of course, the downside of volunteering is the increasing paperwork and levels of duty of care. There is an increasingly complex administrative and legal operating environment that affects volunteers. There is a view that volunteers are reluctant to accept governance or administrative roles because they did not volunteer necessarily to do paperwork, they want to do the practical side of things. In addition, concern was expressed regarding possible legal implications and liabilities for volunteers who accept governance positions.

The work of the committee revealed a new view of volunteering issues. Organisations wishing to recruit volunteers looked at trying to link opportunities for personal development and skills, or the opportunity to undertake training or gain qualifications. Assistance with costs would be of some benefit, and 28 per cent of volunteers reported that out-of-pocket expenses had a negative impact on their volunteering and that could be the high cost of fuel, phone or other items.

While volunteering may be free, the cost of recruitment, support, management and retention of volunteers is not. That is a cost to organisations and there may need to be some support for these. Ways of harnessing the goodwill of people, who are already volunteers or who are seeking to volunteer, are being canvassed and this work needs to be done. That work has started with the work of this committee and the generous and honest participation of volunteer organisations and individuals. I was pleased to be a part of that work and I wish the committee well in the future. I commend the report to the House.

See this speech in context