National Volunteer Week – time to say thank you

7 May 2009 | Volunteering Australia

National Volunteer Week will be held from the 11–17 May 2009.

Volunteering Australia CEO, Cary Pedicini, said that volunteers have again stood tall when needed. "The bushfires in Victoria and floods in Queensland earlier this year are high profile disasters where volunteers provided the majority of the response and recovery roles. We could not have coped with those disasters without the commitment of volunteers. And there are millions of other volunteers who everyday make amazing contributions in their communities, but often go unnoticed, in areas including sport, welfare, education, conservation, environment and the arts."

"Australia is often dubbed 'the lucky country' and we are lucky to have more than 5.4 million Australians ready and willing to help in their communities. Demand is growing for voluntary services, particularly in the welfare sector as demands for welfare grows, exacerbated by the global financial crisis. This places huge demands on not-for-profit organisations which not only have to cope with the growing demand for their services, but have to recruit and train volunteers. This comes at a cost for the infrastructure needed to support volunteers. It is important to remember that volunteers are not free."

Volunteering Australia is calling on state and federal governments to ensure that funding to support volunteers grows in line with these demands. "Volunteers relieve governments of the costs of services that they may have to provide if the volunteers were not so generous, but this is often not reflected in the funding provided to recruit, train and support volunteers. Volunteering comes at a cost and government support must increase to meet the growing demands or volunteering will suffer."

"Volunteers provide more than $70 billion of value to Australian communities. How could that ever be replaced if volunteering stopped?"

"National Volunteer Week is a great opportunity to say thank you to Australia's volunteers and to encourage more people to volunteer."

More details on National Volunteer Week are available from www.nationalvolunteerweek.com.au

Volunteering opportunities can be found on www.govolunteer.com.au

Volunteering Australia recognises the contribution of National Volunteer Week sponsors NAB, The GPT Group, FaHCSIA and AAMI.

Interviews

Peter Cocks
National Communications Manager
Volunteering Australia
T: 03 9868 5519    
M: 0417 398 232
E: peter.cocks@volunteeringaustralia.org

What is Volunteering Australia?

Volunteering Australia is the national peak body working to advance volunteering in the Australian community. Our role is to represent the diverse views and needs of the volunteer movement while promoting the activity of volunteering as one of enduring social, cultural and economic value.