tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/volunteering-australia-3711/articlesVolunteering Australia – The Conversation2023-05-17T02:00:02Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2052182023-05-17T02:00:02Z2023-05-17T02:00:02ZHow can we bolster Australia’s depleted army of volunteers to match the soaring demand for their services?<p>The COVID-19 pandemic <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2020/6/The_experience_of_volunteers_during_the_early_stages_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_0.pdf">hit volunteering very hard</a>. By June 2021, volunteer numbers in Australia had <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/jun-2021#key-statistics">fallen by 37%</a> from the start of the pandemic. </p>
<p>In the first two years of the pandemic, <a href="https://volunteeringstrategy.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Volunteering-in-Australia-2022-The-Volunteer-Perspective.pdf">around 1.86 million people</a> left volunteering, according to Volunteering Australia. Last year, <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">26.7%</a> of the population did formal volunteer work. That’s well down from the pre-COVID level of <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">36%</a> in 2019.</p>
<p>Many depleted volunteer services are now feeling the strain of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-16/food-relief-demand-doubles-melbourne-bayside-suburbs/102347386">increasing demand</a> due to the cost-of-living crisis. They are also facing the <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">compounding effects</a> of an <a href="https://www.headsup.org.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/combining-work-and-care-the-benefits-to-carers-and-the-economy-report.pdf">ageing population</a>, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, <a href="https://theconversation.com/yes-the-1-5-million-australians-getting-rent-assistance-need-an-increase-but-more-public-housing-is-the-lasting-fix-for-the-crisis-200908">unaffordable housing</a> and the <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/mental-health-services/mental-health">mental health epidemic</a>.</p>
<p>To try to rebuild the ranks of volunteers, Volunteering Australia recently released a government-funded <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">national strategy</a>. It outlines 11 strategic objectives for the next ten years to secure the future of volunteering in Australian communities. </p>
<p>The strategy is based on input from across the volunteering sector. Some 83% of organisations reported they need more volunteers. As the strategy observes, volunteering in Australia is facing a sustainability crisis.</p>
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<h2>COVID accelerated a long-term decline</h2>
<p>Australia’s most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, have suffered the biggest declines in volunteering. This is likely linked to the extent of disruptions by COVID lockdowns in those states. </p>
<p>Volunteering rates in rural Australia remain higher than in metropolitan areas. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0743016716304776?via%3Dihub">Research</a> shows this is likely driven by need. Rural areas often have no alternative to the services volunteers provide.</p>
<p>Work and family commitments are the most common reasons for not volunteering. For those who had left volunteering, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00049182.2020.1813949">perceived over-regulation</a> – the “red tape” – had caused many to step away. </p>
<p>Volunteers are also having to re-assess if they can afford to continue. Many have to cover out-of-pocket expenses, such as travel costs, meals, training and, increasingly, specialist software for their volunteering activities. <a href="https://www.volunteeringvictoria.org.au/advocacy-policy-research/stateofvolunteering/">Volunteering Victoria</a> has found the costs per volunteer average <a href="https://www.volunteeringvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/8_Reduce-financial-costs-of-volunteeringFINAL.pdf">$1,500</a> a year.</p>
<p>Those volunteers face a difficult choice. Most of them gain great <a href="https://volunteeringstrategy.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Volunteering-in-Australia-2022-The-Volunteer-Perspective.pdf">personal satisfaction from volunteering and helping others</a>. </p>
<p>It’s also a critical social outlet. Volunteering is a way to engage with people who share common interests and values. </p>
<p>The national strategy also identifies a significant mismatch between the volunteering opportunities being offered and what non‑volunteers are interested in. This applies to both the types of organisations and the types of roles.</p>
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<h2>Informal volunteering is on the rise</h2>
<p>While more and more people are moving away from volunteering in formal organisations, <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2022/5/Volunteers_and_volunteering_during_the_COVID-era_in_Australia.pdf">research</a> has shown informal volunteering is increasing. The strategy reports just under half the population (46.5%) took part in informal volunteering in 2022.</p>
<p>This form of volunteering is not associated with a volunteer organisation. <a href="https://www.volunteeringsa-nt.org.au/assets/resources/sa/Informal-Volunteering.pdf">Informal volunteering</a> can include anything from organising local garden clean-ups and running a street library to helping out neighbours, updating Wikipedia pages and running community “buy nothing” pages on Facebook.</p>
<p>Informal volunteering may take as much time as formal volunteering. However, its informal nature allows people to be more flexible about when they offer their time. They are also able to pick and choose activities that best suit their interests and skills. </p>
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<p>Informal and local-scale volunteering is not new, of course. But the COVID pandemic did result in an increase in informal volunteering. <a href="https://csrm.cass.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/docs/2022/5/Volunteers_and_volunteering_during_the_COVID-era_in_Australia.pdf">Up to half of all Australians</a> did it in some form. </p>
<p>Throughout the pandemic stories emerged of local communities rallying together to support each other. There were ad-hoc social events, community choirs, food drives and other local initiatives. <a href="https://www.macquarie.com/au/en/about/community/our-stories/the-pivotal-role-of-place-based-giving-during-the-covid19-pandemic.html">Philanthropic funding</a> helped support these informal local efforts. </p>
<p>The growth of informal volunteering is a “good news” story. More people are getting involved in a more diverse range of activities, in ways that fit with their busy lives. </p>
<p>However, the need to curb the decline in formal volunteering remains pressing. Formal volunteering underpins essential services such as emergency work and social care and support. Sporting and cultural events also rely on regular, volunteer-provided services. </p>
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<h2>So what can volunteer organisations do?</h2>
<p>It is not a lack of goodwill that is driving the decline in formal volunteering; the growth of informal volunteering clearly attests to this. </p>
<p>To reverse the decline, <a href="https://lens.monash.edu/@business-economy/2022/10/18/1385173/what-happened-to-australias-volunteer-army">researchers argue</a> the sector has to innovate to improve its diversity and inclusiveness. </p>
<p>More flexible models of volunteerism are needed too. Organisations should make greater use of remote engagement via the internet and hybrid collaboration. For example, having meetings online enables participation by volunteers who are not necessarily located in the same place. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/National-Strategy-for-Volunteering-2023-2033.pdf">National Strategy for Volunteering 2023-2033</a> makes clear the quality of volunteers’ experience of this work is critical to attracting and retaining more volunteers. To improve this experience, volunteering organisations need to develop avenues for engaging diverse cohorts and provide opportunities for ad-hoc and alternative modes of volunteering. </p>
<p>Volunteering Australia also highlights that volunteers are not looking to replicate the experience of paid work. While they might draw on knowledge and skills from their workplace, volunteering is about more than simply the labour they are providing. </p>
<p>To sustain volunteering in Australia, it is essential to recognise and value the intrinsic desire that volunteers have to make a difference. It’s equally essential to make it easier for people to undertake diverse forms of volunteering. These options will better enable them to balance family, work and volunteering commitments. </p>
<p>The growth of informal volunteering shows Australians are still willing to volunteer, if volunteering can fit in with the other demands of their busy lives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/205218/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Davies receives funding from The Australian Research Council, Volunteering Australia, Cooperative Research Centre for the Transition of Mining Economies, The Australian Government, The Western Australian Government. </span></em></p>With a surge in people seeking help amid a cost-of-living crisis, volunteer groups urgently need to rebuild their numbers to meet the demand for their services.Amanda Davies, Professor of Human Geography, The University of Western AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1593272021-04-25T20:07:17Z2021-04-25T20:07:17ZLoss of two-thirds of volunteers delivers another COVID blow to communities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396676/original/file-20210423-13-lktpxa.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C25%2C5568%2C3675&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-volunteers-community-charity-donation-center-1841077372">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In a year of lockdowns, social distancing and working from home, Australia’s volunteering rate plunged. In 2020, <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">two out of every three volunteers</a> stopped volunteering. This equates to a loss of <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2020/12/now-is-the-time-to-invest-in-the-strategic-adaptation-of-volunteering/">12.2 million hours per week</a> of community-focused work. </p>
<p>In 2021, volunteering has yet to fully recover. <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">Only one in five people</a> are now volunteering. </p>
<p>This plunge in volunteering comes off the back of <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2020/12/now-is-the-time-to-invest-in-the-strategic-adaptation-of-volunteering/">significant declines</a> in the national rate of volunteering. The rate had already fallen from <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2021/02/the-struggle-to-reinvigorate-volunteering-in-a-covid-19-world/">36% in 2010 to 29% in 2019</a>. </p>
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<p>This decline is happening at a time when demand for volunteer services has increased. In a <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">national survey</a> of volunteering organisations in December 2020 and January 2021, 43% reported an increase in demand for their services. And 56% reported needing more volunteers. </p>
<p>To sustain and rebuild their volunteer workforces, volunteering organisations have had to adapt their operations to enable more online and episodic volunteering. While COVID has accelerated these adaptations, we argue that for some they are long overdue.</p>
<p>Australia now faces a critical shortage of volunteers. Over the longer term the increased flexibility in volunteering work arrangements might be just the thing to turn around the decline in volunteering. </p>
<h2>Why are we volunteering less?</h2>
<p>In March 2021, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021">surveyed</a> Australians to understand the impacts of the pandemic. Among those who normally volunteer, the ABS found COVID-19 restrictions presented a barrier for 14% of women and 11% of men. For these committed volunteers, short-term lockdowns and restrictions on gatherings curbed their ability to volunteer. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="chart showing reasons of former volunteers for not volunteering in previous four weeks" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=668&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396668/original/file-20210422-21-1ngjmkl.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=839&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Note: Includes unpaid volunteering for an organisation or group. More than one response may have been reported. Components are not able to be added together to produce a total.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/latest-release#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">Data: ABS Household Impacts of COVID-19 Survey</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>Some were unable to volunteer because their regular volunteering activities had been reduced or cancelled. Women were disproportionately affected, with 20% of women who normally volunteer, compared to 11% of men, not currently volunteering because their activities have been cancelled. This disparity reflects the highly <a href="http://www.womenaustralia.info/leaders/biogs/WLE0623b.htm">gendered nature of volunteering</a> in Australia. </p>
<p>There are many examples of cancelled <a href="https://www.theland.com.au/story/7073943/shows-cancel-or-change-plans-due-to-covid-19-again/">community events</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-event-cancellations-communication-is-key-to-retaining-public-trust-133594">festivals</a>. The volunteering sector’s own National Volunteering Conference was <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/national-volunteering-conference-2020-cancelled-due-to-covid-19/">cancelled</a> due to COVID-19. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">Volunteering Australia reported</a> that by February 2021 only 28% of volunteering organisations had returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity and 12% were still not operational. </p>
<p>COVID-19 has also caused uncertainty about how to volunteer. The ABS survey found <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">7% of regular volunteers</a> are no longer sure how to engage in volunteering due to COVID restrictions, in spite of peak bodies offering <a href="https://www.volunteeringwa.org.au/resources/fact-sheets-and-guides">advice</a> to both volunteers and volunteering organisations. </p>
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<h2>Informal volunteering has also decreased</h2>
<p>COVID-19 has also had impacts on informal volunteering. Informal volunteering is when people provide unpaid help to someone living outside their household. This can be, for example, running errands, helping with childcare, or lending a hand with household cleaning and gardening. </p>
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<img alt="Grandmother with granddaughter and grandson" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/396673/original/file-20210422-21-1hbft45.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Australians rely heavily on informal volunteering to help them, for example, with caring for their children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/grandmother-looking-after-grandchildren-112690193">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>The decline in informal volunteering is perhaps surprising given the emergence of <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-17/volunteer-army-responds-to-coronavirus-covid-19-crisis/12064018">neighbourhood support groups</a> organised via social media and new <a href="https://theconversation.com/coronavirus-has-revealed-the-power-of-social-networks-in-a-crisis-136431">online community activities</a>.</p>
<p>The ABS survey asked people why they had not provided informal volunteering over a four-week period. Of this group, 17% of men and 13% of women did not informally volunteer as they <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">wanted to protect their or others’ health</a> by minimising exposure to other people. About 5% of people could not help out friends, family or neighbours because of COVID restrictions. </p>
<h2>What are the impacts for communities?</h2>
<p>Volunteers are ever-present in all aspects of community life. Volunteers provide health and emergency services. They run sporting activities, environment and building conservation efforts. And many are the stalwarts of membership associations and local committees. </p>
<p>As Australians venture back to “normal” work and social lives, the absence of volunteers and the variety of community activities they make possible will become increasingly obvious. Without volunteers, some community services and activities we have become used to will be diminished, or will no longer exist at all. </p>
<p>For regular volunteers, the loss of participation in volunteering could reduce their personal well-being, skill development and social networks. </p>
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<h2>Re-engaging volunteers</h2>
<p>As many workplaces shifted activities online, so too did some volunteering organisations. As with workplaces, this transition enabled volunteers to “work from home”. An <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021.02.08-Re-engaging-Volunteers-and-COVID-19-Report.pdf">estimated 50%</a> of volunteer organisations moved volunteer roles and activities online to comply with COVID-19 restrictions.</p>
<p>The ABS survey found online volunteering is now available to about <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/household-impacts-covid-19-survey/mar-2021#voluntary-work-and-unpaid-help">one in five volunteers</a>. Of those who had the option to volunteer online, 76% had done so. </p>
<p>Undoubtedly, COVID-19 has <a href="https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2020/04/is-coronavirus-reshaping-volunteering/">accelerated the rate of adaptation</a> of organisations. Many more now provide diverse opportunities for volunteers to engage in episodic forms of virtual and face-to-face volunteering. </p>
<p>People’s <a href="https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/State-of-Volunteering-in-Australia-full-report.pdf">preference for diverse forms of volunteering</a> was already increasing. Many volunteers have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/where-have-all-the-volunteers-gone-47192">calling for more flexible ways</a> to volunteer for years. The COVID-forced adaptation might just be what the sector needs for longer-term sustainability. </p>
<p>The challenge now will be for volunteer organisations to continue to adjust to changing volunteering practices and preferences. They also need to convince volunteers it is safe to do so.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159327/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Holmes has received funding from the Australian Government, the Australian Research Council, the International Olympic Committee, the WA Government and Men's Sheds WA. Kirsten is a member of Volunteering WA's research committee.
</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonie Lockstone-Binney has received funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Amanda Davies does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>At one time more than one in three Australians did volunteer work. Only one in five are now doing so, but there are some positive signs as volunteering organisations adapt to changing times.Amanda Davies, Professor of Human Geography, The University of Western AustraliaKirsten Holmes, Professor, School of Marketing, Curtin UniversityLeonie Lockstone-Binney, Associate Professor, Griffith UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/471922015-09-24T00:52:02Z2015-09-24T00:52:02ZWhere have all the volunteers gone?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94120/original/image-20150908-4358-18ctb4f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Volunteering is a way to get involved in your community as this man, who has a refugee background, is doing in his work with older vision-impaired people.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Volunteering Western Australia (VWA)</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4159.0">2014 General Social Survey</a> (GSS) findings by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), released in June this year, reveal some challenges for volunteering in Australia.</p>
<p>On face value, the statistics are extremely positive. The figures suggest that 5.8 million Australians, or 31% of the population aged 18 and over, volunteered in 2014. They devoted an impressive <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4159.0Media%20Release102014?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4159.0&issue=2014&num=&view=">743 million hours</a> to community organisations and causes. </p>
<p>In spite of this positive snapshot, trend data reveal a different, not-so-bright picture. With close to two-thirds of Australia’s population not volunteering in 2014, the volunteering rate has slipped five percentage points from a high of 36% in 2010 (when equivalent data was last collected). That decrease reversed a 20-year trend of increasing participation.</p>
<p>Examining hours devoted to volunteering reveals a parallel story of slowing growth and decline. As an indicator, total hours volunteered has shown incremental, slow growth. This has been mainly fuelled by Australia’s <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/3101.0Main%20Features2Dec%202014?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=3101.0&issue=Dec%202014&num=&view=">growing population</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=701&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94328/original/image-20150909-18662-u6q0kl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=881&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Busy lifestyles could be a factor in the decline in volunteering rates.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-309403253/stock-photo-woman-working-at-the-wheel-in-the-car.html?src=n8wFu99KDGBZ_EIvU9l_0w-1-68">perfectlab/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Viewing the statistics at an individual level, however, the median annual hours contributed by volunteers <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/4441.0Main%20Features22006">has fallen</a> from 74 hours in 1995, to 72 hours in 2000, and to 56 hours in 2006.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the two subsequent GSS exercises have not reported on this important indicator of the health of Australian volunteering. Given the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4159.0#Anchor4">increasingly busy</a> lifestyles of Australians, it is not difficult to imagine that this long-term trend has continued.</p>
<h2>What could be causing a decline?</h2>
<p>Collectively, this snapshot suggests that volunteering in Australia, if not already in long-term decline, may be in danger of being so. This raises a number of related questions for which the evidence base is poorly supported. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Are increasingly busy Australians finding it harder to prioritise volunteering as part of their lives? Are we becoming more selfish as a nation and less inclined to help others?</p></li>
<li><p>Is volunteering “on the nose” with young people, the next generation of volunteers?</p></li>
<li><p>Do mum and dad recognise (and therefore account for) doing canteen duty for their kids’ footy club as volunteering?</p></li>
<li><p>Does the decline in volunteering reflect the long, slow decline of rural Australia, where volunteering rates have always outstripped those of their city cousins?</p></li>
<li><p>Has population decline and an ageing population in these areas reduced the supply of willing and able-bodied volunteers?</p></li>
<li><p>What can be done to convert non-volunteers into volunteering with all its immense benefits to the volunteers, the community and society? </p></li>
</ul>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94329/original/image-20150909-18622-1xwy5ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/94329/original/image-20150909-18622-1xwy5ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94329/original/image-20150909-18622-1xwy5ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94329/original/image-20150909-18622-1xwy5ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=857&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94329/original/image-20150909-18622-1xwy5ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94329/original/image-20150909-18622-1xwy5ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/94329/original/image-20150909-18622-1xwy5ve.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1077&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Parents may not see their role in children’s sport as volunteering.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-274439543/stock-photo-den-haag-the-netherlands-may-kids-from-the-soccer-club-haagse-voetbal-vereniging-ras.html?src=G_lAcfCOyAECi9yjy0FkFg-1-46">Nieuwland/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Or is the ABS’s rather prescriptive <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/4159.0Main%20Features152014?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=4159.0&issue=2014&num=&view=">definition of volunteering</a> as “someone who, in the previous 12 months, willingly gave unpaid help, in the form of time, service or skills, through an organisation or group” failing to capture the full gamut of formal and informal volunteering efforts across Australia, as well as newer forms such as spontaneous and online volunteering? </p>
<p>In addition, examining the ABS glossary of volunteering reveals that these measures exclude online volunteering, corporate volunteering and international volunteering. It is possible that people are not volunteering less, but rather volunteer in different ways to their parents. The census may be yet to catch up with recent trends. </p>
<h2>Finding ways to attract volunteers</h2>
<p>These questions, and more, are being explored by researchers from Curtin, Flinders, Macquarie and Erasmus (Netherlands) Universities and William Angliss Institute in partnership with <a href="http://volunteeringvictoria.org.au/">Volunteering Victoria</a>, <a href="http://www.volunteeringsa.org.au/VSA_HOME">Volunteering SA&NT</a>, <a href="http://volunteeringwa.org.au/">Volunteering WA</a> and the WA Department of Local Government and Communities. In a world first, the <a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/why-dont-aussies-volunteer">ARC-funded project</a> is examining the conceptual, practical and policy levers that may be applied to convert non-volunteers to the benefits of volunteering.</p>
<p>The three-year project is in its early stages but already 12 exploratory focus groups have been conducted in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. The focus groups include current volunteers, lapsed volunteers (volunteered in the past five years but not in the past 12 months) and non-volunteers (not volunteered in the past five years).</p>
<p>The groups explore issues relating to people’s willingness, availability and capacity to volunteer now and in the future. These have revealed differential awareness of volunteering and access to volunteering opportunities across the groups. </p>
<p>Promisingly, most non-volunteers express some willingness to volunteer in given circumstances. Overall, all participants highlighted that they are extremely busy people. However, compared to their volunteer counterparts, the lapsed and non-volunteers were sceptical about finding time to volunteer.</p>
<p>These exploratory findings suggest that Australian volunteer-involving organisations wishing to bolster their numbers need to be clear about the benefits they can offer to potential volunteers. They also need to offer a variety of flexible volunteering opportunities. This will allow people the option of multi-tasking their volunteering together with other life commitments.</p>
<p>These and other proactive solutions aim to address the societal implications of declining volunteering rates across Australia. A broad range of community services and causes depend in part or in full on volunteers. With this in mind, it must be hoped the decline can be reversed.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47192/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Oppenheimer receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kirsten Holmes receives funding from the Office for Learning and Teaching, Australian Research Council and Advanced Olympic Research Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Leonie Lockstone-Binney receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Advanced Olympic Research Fund.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Debbie Haski-Leventhal and Lucas Meijs do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The rate of volunteering among Australians and the hours individuals contribute appear to be falling. So how do people see volunteering and what can be done to restore this vital community activity?Melanie Oppenheimer, Chair of History, Flinders UniversityDebbie Haski-Leventhal, Associate Professor in Management (Organisational Behaviour), Macquarie Graduate School of ManagementKirsten Holmes, Associate Professor, School of Marketing , Curtin UniversityLeonie Lockstone-Binney, Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Higher Education, William Angliss InstituteLucas Meijs, Professor of Volunteering, Civil Society and Businesses and Professor of Strategic Philanthropy, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University RotterdamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/411692015-05-11T01:54:34Z2015-05-11T01:54:34ZTen things you should know about volunteering’s immeasurable value<p>So, what is the most important event this coming week? No, not the federal budget. Rather, I believe it’s <a href="http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/national-volunteer-week-2015/">National Volunteer Week</a> (11-17 May), which celebrates the contributions of one in four Australians. There are 10 core features of volunteering that should be considered to understand this integral, yet generally overlooked, part of our society. </p>
<p>For over 25 years, I have been writing on volunteering from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Since 2000, the volunteering field has undergone enormous shifts, not only in how volunteering is perceived and practised in Australia but also in the roles played by governments at local, state and federal levels. </p>
<p>This increasingly dynamic and diverse practice contributes around $14.6 billion per year to our economy and involves over <a href="http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/fun-facts/">six million Australians</a> over the age of 18. Volunteering is no longer in the “shadowlands” as such, but it remains on the periphery of mainstream policy and decision-making. </p>
<p>I’ve created a countdown of my top ten issues concerning volunteering. I use the ABS definition of a volunteer as “someone who willingly gives unpaid help, in the form of time, service or skills, through an organisation or group”.</p>
<p><strong>10 Volunteering has a history.</strong>
Australia’s volunteering tradition is based on our British origins as a penal colony. This provided a unique relationship between the state, the voluntary sector and volunteering. Volunteering has also been influenced over time by our first peoples, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, and their complex concepts of kinship, reciprocity and family obligations. Throw more recent waves of migration into the mix and we have a distinctive “Australian way of volunteering”.</p>
<p><strong>9 Is there a ‘volunteer gene’?</strong>
Why do some people volunteer and others do not? Why do some feel the need to donate their time – are they wired for it or is it learnt behaviour? Is there a genetic base for altruism and other pro-social behaviours like empathy and cooperativeness? The concept of a “volunteer gene” focuses our attention on the role, impact and influence of families and friendship groups in growing volunteering – learning by example.</p>
<p><strong>8 Volunteering is cyclical.</strong> There is a life cycle of volunteering. Those in the 35-44 age group with dependent children undertake the most volunteer hours and volunteering is most common among parents in couple relationships with dependent children aged 5-17 years. With the ageing population, older volunteers will become increasingly important and valuable – not a burden, rather an asset.</p>
<p><strong>7 Volunteering is evolving.</strong> As volunteering evolves, there are now two types of volunteer: the “professional” volunteer and the “traditional” volunteer. The traditional volunteer is often to be found in member-based organisations. Professional volunteers are, on the other hand, highly trained and indistinguishable from paid employees.</p>
<p><strong>6 Government interest in volunteering is new.</strong> In the last 15 years, there have been significant changes in government involvement. Propelled by the Sydney Olympics (2000), where 45,000 volunteered, and the 2001 UN International Year of the Volunteer, there has been an increase in the range of government policies and practices concerning volunteers and volunteering in Australia. </p>
<p>The sector within which volunteering sits – the not-for-profit, voluntary or third sector – is increasingly subject to a raft of government regulation such as governance, risk management and workplace controls. It remains a contested and fluid space for volunteers and their organisations.</p>
<p><strong>5 Volunteers are the bedrock of the not-for-profit sector.</strong> The not-for-profit sector relies on its volunteer workforce. In <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Latestproducts/5256.0Media%20Release12012-13?opendocument&tabname=Summary&prodno=5256.0&issue=2012-13&num=&view=">ABS statistics</a> released in June 2014, not-for-profits contributed almost $55 billion to the Australian economy and employed more than a million people in 2012-13. </p>
<p><strong>4 By any other name, would volunteering be so sweet?</strong> One of the problems with volunteering today is the language we use to describe the activity. Volunteering is culturally constructed and culturally specific.</p>
<p>Some of the words used to describe volunteering include “honorary” and “amateur”. Lawyers like to do pro bono work and political activists and environmentalists prefer to see themselves not as volunteers at all but rather as lobbyists, agitators or advocates. And where does informal volunteering sit?</p>
<p><strong>3 Volunteers should have same rights as paid workers.</strong> Issues are arising concerning the role and responsibility of volunteers, and the adequate protection of volunteers in the workplace. Volunteers are not employees and there is no employment contract – yet in many workplaces today, volunteers and paid workers sit side by side, doing exactly the same job. </p>
<p>In 2015, there are legal jurisdictions where volunteers are treated the same as paid workers. The <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2011A00137">Work Health and Safety Act</a> includes volunteers and has been adopted in all states with the exception of Victoria and Western Australia. As of January 1 2014, in a world first, Australia introduced substantial provisions to address workplace bullying and harassment. The <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/num_act/fwa2009114/">Fair Work Act 2009</a> (Cth) was amended to allow any worker who reasonably believes he or she has been bullied at work to apply to the Fair Work Commission – this covers volunteers.</p>
<p><strong>2 Volunteering should be properly measured and counted.</strong> Volunteering is “work” that is not paid (that is no financial remuneration) and thus falls outside the rubric of our current economic policies. This helps explain its invisibility as our social and economic structures focus almost exclusively on paid work. </p>
<p>Unpaid work, domestic work, child rearing or “informal volunteering” is excluded from standard statistical models operating in Australia and elsewhere. This invisibility undermines the importance of volunteering as contributing to the economic productivity and welfare of Australia, and the enormous social and civic contributions of volunteering. </p>
<p><strong>1 Volunteers are not ‘free’.</strong> This is a critical point to make in budget week. Volunteers are increasingly being called on to plug the gaps and are often willing to do so, but their rights must be maintained. They must not be used simply as a cheap “human resource”. </p>
<p>There are costs associated with people volunteering their time. Out-of-pocket expenses, for example, include costs of petrol, transport, telephone calls, uniforms, training, working with children checks, police checks and medical checks.</p>
<p>Volunteers must be properly trained and managed. These costs must be factored into budgets and tender processes. We need policy initiatives that properly input volunteer labour as we do paid labour.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The author has written books on volunteering (<a href="http://riverbendbooks.com.au/product/605386-VOLUNTEERINGWHYWECANTSURVIVEWITHOUTIT-9780868409863">Volunteering. Why we can’t survive without it</a>, UNSW Press, 2008); edited volumes (with Jeni Warburton, <a href="https://www.federationpress.com.au/bookstore/book.asp?isbn=9781862879836">Volunteering in Australia</a>, The Federation Press, 2014); and presented radio programs (<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/vita-activa-discovering-the-third-sector/3219558">Vita Activa</a>, ABC Radio National Life Matters).</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/41169/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Oppenheimer has received ARC funding for a variety of projects in recent years. She is currently Chair of Working Group Four, Volunteering Strategy for SA; and an Australian Red Cross Ambassador.</span></em></p>It’s National Volunteer Week, which celebrates the contributions of one in four Australians. Vounteering has 10 core features that should be considered to understand this integral part of our society.Melanie Oppenheimer, Chair of History, Flinders UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.