E&OE transcript
Good morning.
I’d like to begin this morning by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet, the Kaurna (Gaa-nuh) peoples, and pay my respects to elders past and present.
I extend that acknowledgement to all First Nations peoples joining us today.
I would also like to acknowledge:
- Hamilton Calder – CEO Volunteering SA&NT
- Louise Miller-Frost MP – Member for Boothby
- Jacob Dommerson – Campaign ambassador and volunteer at St John Ambulance NSW
- Allira Potter – First Nations campaign ambassador and life coach
It’s so great to be with you all here today.
Volunteers are the backbone of our communities.
Every time you patrol the beach here in Glenelg to keep swimmers safe.
Every time someone cooks the sausages to feed hungry athletes and raise money for their local sports team.
Every time someone visits a local retirement village to have a cuppa and a chat with someone who might be experiencing loneliness.
Every time a volunteer gives up their time to help another Aussie be happy, or safe – you make Australian society richer.
But I have not always had the best relationship with volunteering.
I say this because as a child, I was very close to my grandmother, and I got a bit jealous when I wasn’t able to see her because she was such a dedicated volunteer.
Tuesday was Meals on Wheels. Thursday afternoon she was volunteering at Flinders Medical Centre in South Australia. Every second Friday she was at Probus and she was involved with the local Lions group as well.
I felt more than a little resentful that I wasn’t getting to see my grandmother but as I became an adult, it really instilled in me the importance of volunteering.
To see the pride that she took in the help she gave and the connections she made.
And of course, it didn’t take long until I found myself being a Seacliff Surf Lifesaver volunteer. It really was passed on from generation to generation.
I am proud to support volunteering in Australia on both a personal level and as a representative of the Albanese Government.
Volunteering builds communities. And if you think about connections in the community, those are often built by lending a hand and helping others out.
But COVID interrupted that connection, and we have not seen volunteer numbers return to what they were pre-pandemic.
Many dedicated volunteers have returned, but we are yet to see young people volunteering at that pre-pandemic rate. That’s a real challenge that we need to address.
We had 1.86 million fewer formal volunteers at the start of 2022 compared to pre-pandemic. And while the demand for the help and support volunteers provide remains high, for some volunteering organisations there are not enough new volunteers to fill the gap. 83 per cent of volunteer involving organisations say they are in need of more volunteers.
Decreased volunteering creates significant challenges for volunteer organisations and Australia’s communities. We know that with fewer volunteers, it means that organisations are limited in delivering the amount of work in community than they would like to. Or, existing volunteers are expected to take on more.
There is a clear need for more volunteers across Australia right now.
Our ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Strategy gives us the framework to boost volunteering supports nationwide. Of course, this is just one part of our investments.
We are working towards increasing the numbers of young people getting into volunteer roles. Because we know that young Australians have plenty to benefit from when volunteering, and we want young people to be supported to volunteer to the pre-pandemic participation levels.
Though we saw a small uptick in participation in 2023, only 29.7 per cent of young people were participating in formal volunteering, which was still far shy of pre-pandemic levels of 36.5 per cent.
There are many reasons for this drop, including the extra challenges faced by many Australians due to the impacts of the pandemic, and the day to day pressures of balancing school and work.
But recent research has shown that for young people between 15 and 18 years old, a big barrier is as simple as a low awareness about the need for young volunteers, the flexibility and variety of volunteering opportunities available to them, and the personal benefits that volunteering can bring.
Many young people that took part in the research looked on volunteering positively but didn’t think it was something for them.
They were uncertain about what a volunteer actually does, and saw it more as an activity for older people, something that would be onerous and difficult to fit into their lives.
While volunteering offers opportunities to people of all ages, as our ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Strategy for Volunteering makes clear, young people are the future of volunteering in Australia.
Which makes it vital for us to reach out to show them what volunteering can be and what it can bring into their lives, and how easy it can be to make it a part of their day-to-day.
We know young people who engage in volunteering prior to entering the workforce are more likely to have a lifelong connection to volunteering.
This is why today we are launching the Hanging out to help out volunteering awareness campaign.
The campaign shows young people that volunteering is something enjoyable and rewarding, an opportunity to give back and do good while hanging out with friends.
It will be a chance to demonstrate to young Australians all the personal benefits volunteering can bring, like gaining lifelong skills, meeting new people, connecting with like-minded young people, and boosting their mental and emotional wellbeing.
While I was in high school, I worked in a variety of volunteering roles, including as a surf lifesaver at Seacliff, and I believe that experience when I was younger has helped shape who I am today.
Yes, sometimes patrolling for five hours along the beach felt like a drag and sometimes the water was freezing, but the friends, experiences and skills I gained throughout my volunteering are invaluable.
I know many of you will share this sentiment and know the great benefits volunteering can bring to you as a volunteer as well as to those you help.
The Hanging out to help out campaign will shine a light on the diversity of volunteering opportunities available to young people to suit all different types of interests, circumstances, and time availability.
The campaign will meet young people across Australia where they are, with a focus on digital communications across social media, including Instagram and TikTok, YouTube, streaming services and podcasts.
This will ensure that young Australians, regardless of their background, know what volunteering opportunities are available to them and how they can access them.
It’s as simple as going to volunteering.gov.au to find opportunities nearby, or talking to people around your community who run local volunteering organisations.
Because we know many young people are looking for opportunities to take a gap year before embarking on further education or entering the workforce following their completion of high school, we are also partnering with Year 13, a website for students looking for information about post-school pathway options.
The partnership will be running through to June 2025 and is expected to reach more than a million 15- to 18-year-olds across Australia and open the door for them to a whole new world of volunteering.
Showing them they can contribute their time and skills in a way that suits them and do meaningful work while enjoying themselves and spending time with their friends.
This new awareness campaign is one part of the Government’s broader suite of support for volunteering in Australia.
The campaign directly supports the objectives of the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Strategy for Volunteering to reshape the public perception of volunteering and recognise the inherent value of volunteering.
The ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Strategy for Volunteering, funded by the Government and developed by Volunteering Australia, sets out a 10-year blueprint for a brighter future for volunteering, where more people volunteer more often, in a safe, supported and inclusive volunteering environment.
We are proud to have worked with Volunteering Australia to develop the ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Strategy, which is being backed in by our investments in volunteering.
These are not just words on a page for us. The Albanese Government is investing in a strong volunteer sector and encouraging more Australians to enrich their lives through volunteering.
In August, I was pleased to join with Volunteering Australia at the Hectorville Community Centre to launch the first Action Plan under the Strategy, outlining how governments and volunteer organisations will work to achieve the goals of the Strategy.
We’ve invested over $83 million committed between July 2022 and June 2026 for our Volunteering and Community Connectedness programs.
Australia’s volunteers are at the heart of our communities and are vital to a vibrant, inclusive Australia.
I thank Volunteering Australia, Volunteering SA & NT, and Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club for all the hard work you and your members do to give back to keep volunteering strong.
With the introduction of the Hanging out to help out campaign I hope many young Australians will be inspired to make their own contributions and discover all the wonderful things that volunteering can bring into their lives.
Thank you.
