Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

It's with great pleasure that I rise to speak on this motion on volunteers. Winston Churchill famously said, 'We make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.' I, along with my colleagues on this side of the chamber—and I've got no doubt those on the other side of the chamber—value the role and contribution that volunteers make to our communities right across this country. If I look at that, in part that is reflected in the nearly $10 million of volunteer grants that this government issues every year to assist volunteers and encourage volunteering. I'm very pleased that nearly $60,000 in volunteer and stronger community grants were allocated to my electorate in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 years for volunteer activities, including for organisations such as the Beenleigh Girls' Brigade, Chambers Flat Rural Fire Brigade, Coomera Valley Rural Fire Brigade, Girl Guides Queensland, Logan House Fire Support Network, Rosies youth mission, Shailer Park Meals On Wheels, St Vincent de Paul, Beenleigh BMX Club, Soroptimist International of Beenleigh and Beenleigh Quilters' Association. That is a reasonably long list but it does not in any way reflect the full list of the wonderful volunteer organisations across the electorate of Forde.

More broadly, the Australian government will deliver up to $40.1 million over five years for the new volunteer MA model to volunteering peak bodies. We're also providing a one-off investment of some $3.4 million to Volunteering Australia to develop and improve volunteer management and IT infrastructure. With many of the volunteer organisations that I deal with I know it is those skills in IT management and managing the volunteer base of those organisations that systems like this are greatly going to improve the efficiency of.

This is important because the volunteering sector is still struggling with the impact of COVID-19. Volunteering Australia's research shows that nearly three quarters of volunteer programs have not come back, or are not coming back—even as COVID restrictions are lifting. Out of the 600 respondents over half said their organisations needed more volunteers and four out of 10 are finding it difficult to re-engage or recruit previous volunteers or new ones. These, I think, are concerning numbers because the numbers of volunteers had already been declining in the lead-up to COVID-19. Being busy limits the free time that we have available to give to others. From 2010 to 2019 there was a seven per cent decline in the number of volunteers. The six million volunteers who volunteered in 2019 contributed nearly 600 million hours to our communities right across this country, yet, disappointingly, that's still a 20 per cent decrease from 2014.

With COVID, we've seen a long period of social distancing and isolation. Volunteering has been a terrific way for many to reconnect in our communities. But I know from speaking to those at our Meals on Wheels organisations, who do such a tremendous job, that they have struggled with volunteers, as have their clients. Normally their volunteers can go in and have a cup of tea and a bit of a chat, which breaks that loneliness and provides some company and discussion to those who might be home alone. It has been very difficult for them during COVID because they haven't been able to do that. They've had to knock on the door and leave the meal at the door and they've not been able to engage. Both the volunteers who are delivering the meals and also the people who are isolated in their homes have found that incredibly difficult.

The Volunteering Queensland website lists over 224 volunteering opportunities within 15 kilometre of Beenleigh. The Salvos in Beenleigh are looking for retail assistance. The Story Dogs volunteer team at Upper Coomera are looking for people to take their dogs into a local school every week to help children learn to read. Lives Lived Well need volunteers for Logan House and the Logan Family Recovery teams. The Logan Area Committee on the Ageing are looking for people to be part of their community visitor scheme.

I want to thank everybody in our community who are involved in volunteering. They make our community a richer and more vibrant place in which to live. I want to commend their efforts and wish them every success with their efforts in the future.

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