Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank volunteers across the country and encourage even more Australians to volunteer and to invest in their communities. I hope that this week's National Volunteering Conference in Canberra will leave attendees feeling valued and reinvigorated. The work you do is so incredibly important. So I rise to speak in support of this motion.

Last year saw the release of the National Strategy for Volunteering, which is due to be finalised and launched this month. We can't afford to take volunteering for granted. We know that, essentially, volunteering underpins the work of our community. The Volunteering Australia 2022 report provides an evidence base for this, with insight into the recent decline in volunteering. We have seen that decline over the last two decades but, in particular, we have seen a dramatic fall since COVID, and it just hasn't recovered. This worries me deeply and I know it worries many people in my community. We need to find ways for volunteers to reengage or to engage in the first place, and also to find ways to retain the volunteers that we currently have.

One thing that really concerns me, and many in my community, is funding for the National Network of Volunteer Resource Centres, known as VRCs. They are a vital part of Australia's existing volunteer ecosystem and they need to be retained. Last October the network reported that over half of the centres in the country were set to close or reduce services after changes to the funding model in mid-2022. That cut $3.4 million from the VRCs' direct budget and, again, we saw inadequate funding in last October's budget. They fill a vital role—effectively being the connector and the support base for volunteers and organisations looking for volunteers. I'm told they're pretty much out of reserves; many are effectively closing now.

I'd like to give a couple of examples of Southern Volunteering in South Australia, one of the volunteer resource centres in my community, which has made volunteering accessible and inclusive for everyone. It worked with a person with cerebral palsy who was unable to communicate through speech and who used a wheelchair. This person had applied online for so many volunteering roles without success, but they were able to gain a meaningful role with a not-for-profit, and this has changed that volunteer's life. Now, that wouldn't have happened if we didn't have the volunteer resource centre.

The VRC helped to identify suitable volunteer roles for a recently unemployed 27-year-old former baker, who was struggling to move into retail without having retail experience. The VRC provided referrals, it provided introductions. It supported a socially isolated person in their 60s who was seeking skills, confidence, and online awareness to re-enter the workforce independently. It identified volunteer roles, contacted organisations and guided them through online requirements and paperwork. It referred a young person with mental health issues by identifying roles aligned with their interests and referral to an organisation it knew would be supportive. That young person is loving their life and is loving the work they're doing.

Southern Volunteering is just one of these VRCs around the country that's facing closure. How shameful would it be that they have to close just because of $3.4 million of funding that they receive annually? That's small change in the federal budget, yet we know these organisations do a power of good and really make every dollar count like it's $10. If we don't provide this support to these organisations, this very small amount of government funding, how can we then say that we really do value volunteering? Money talks, and, really, $3.4 million is such a small amount. I urge the government to reconsider this funding cut in this federal budget, because if we say we support volunteering and we value volunteers, let's put our money where our mouth is. Thank you.

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