"Highly Skilled with Insufficient English" Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Volunteers Utilisation Research Report

Published by The Centre for Volunteering, June 2008

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Executive Summary

This project was initiated by The Centre for Volunteering (The Centre) as a result of its research department becoming aware from various sources that the number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) people wanting to volunteer was increasing and that a substantial number of people from CALD backgrounds were found to have difficulties communicating in English.

At the same time, it was identified that CALD volunteers who were highly skilled in managerial, technical or other professional areas were using volunteering to improve their English, maintain their skills and learn about the Australian workplace. This is a way they can make a valuable contribution to the not-for-profit (NFP) sector, which is in need of their valuable skills. It also improves the volunteers' employment prospects, a win/win situation.

The take-up and potential contribution by skilled CALD volunteers into the NFP sector is limited. This presents challenges for both the volunteers and organisations wanting access to them. Therefore, The Centre's research project was designed to investigate if not-for-profit organisations currently using highly skilled CALD volunteers had developed strategies that were able to utilise the volunteers' expertise and capability.

This study is titled "Highly Skilled with Insufficient English" CALD Volunteers Utilisation Research Project. The results of this study are intended to suggest strategies, which will assist organisations in using HSIE CALD volunteers by overcoming the communication challenges.

This is clearly an issue that needs to be addressed, as it is frequently referenced in the literature as a matter of importance to both not-for-profit organisations and volunteers. To identify if there are currently any specific strategies in place by organisations in NSW and the ACT to deal with this matter and to determine how it can be successfully resolved, a survey was conducted and analysed.

Communication problems were reported as the most relevant difficulty in working with HSIE CALD volunteers, but cultural differences were noted as another major difficulty. Some recorded high turnover rates as being a great concern. A number of the participants advised that they had a strategy in place to use simple/plain English and avoid abstract language/jargon/slang.

Only two organisations reported an identified strategy to retain these volunteers. Good support from the team, recognition of efforts and flexibility at workplace was noted as important by one of them. The other advised that it seemed to be "an organisational culture thing" and they had managers who could see the benefits of working with HSIE volunteers and were willing to spend extra time.

None of the respondents reported having specific policies directed at HSIE CALD volunteers. Almost half of the respondents made training available to their staff to make them more sensitive to "culturally diverse" issues. Some considered themselves to be a culturally diverse organisation and expected their staff to comply with this ethos.

Regarding the issue of policies or programs that should be introduced or improved by the government (or other organisations), 35% of the respondents favoured more English language development programs. Two of them recommended some kind of assimilation program to introduce the HSIE CALD volunteers to Australian culture.

The original sample population was quite modest in size and further investigations into Highly Skilled volunteers with Insufficient English from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse backgrounds will be required before more targeted strategies can be formulated. Therefore it is recommended that a further and expanded study be conducted into the current contribution by HSIE CALD volunteers and their potential participation in the volunteering field. With more information available from the NFP sector, strategies can be formulated to relieve the problems currently encountered.

To assist in a better study of this area it is also recommended that not-for-profit organisations maintain detailed records pertaining to their individual volunteers' skills, tasks performed and hours worked. By obtaining the required data from the NFP sector's records, via a broader survey, The Centre will be in a better position to recommend suitable strategies directed at HSIE CALD volunteers.