Kay Elson (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to spend the time I have in the Main Committee today to acknowledge the enormous contribution volunteers make, not only to the communities in my electorate of Forde. They are out there everywhere donating their time, effort, money and experience to the wellbeing of Australians.

The Costs of volunteering taskforce report chaired by Professor Myles McGregor-Lowndes that was released last month really brought home to us the major role that volunteers play in our communities. They are the backbone of our nation. They are also the heart and soul that jell our communities together. The report stated that average out-of-pocket expense for volunteers is approximately $600 per year. The report highlighted the fact that 6.3 million adults that volunteer in Australia did not want to be paid for their work because it would breach the spirit of volunteering. But there is a growing problem for some volunteers, the majority being pensioners. With the increased cost of fuel, phone calls and uniforms et cetera, they are being forced to give up their volunteering and the important role that they play in their communities.

I congratulate the Howard government on introducing the volunteer small equipment grant to assist the not-for-profit groups in the electorates with equipment to ease their workload. I have witnessed firsthand how beneficial and welcome these grants are in the electorate, but I believe we should change the guidelines and allow the funds to be used to reimburse volunteers for their out-of-pocket expenses. This would stop the mass exit of volunteers, who are being forced to give up what they like doing the most and what gives them real purpose in life.

We must take into serious consideration that the volunteers save all governments in Australia tens of billions of dollars a year. Professor Ironmonger recently estimated the figure to be at least $42 billion, which is 24 per cent of our budget. I believe we must act swiftly to sustain this wealth of expertise because, if we do not, 700,000 not-for-profit organisations in Australia who only employ 35,000 paid staff will experience major difficulties. We will see many of our vital community support groups disappear from our communities.

We must seriously take a good, long, hard look at the figures in the Volunteering Australia task force report. Their figures indicate that volunteering in Australia has doubled in the last decade from 3.2 million to 6.3 million. This is great news. But numbers in the US, Britain and Canada are dropping. This is a worry, because I believe that, if we do not assist our volunteers, we could follow this overseas trend. As I stated previously, this will spell disaster to our vital community support groups.

I personally acknowledge the volunteers in my electorate of Forde annually with a Forde community contribution award ceremony. The dedication of these special people never ceases to amaze me. Just as a quick example, Josephine Ferguson from Beaudesert has for the past 20 years worked doing emergency relief work and she has also worked for 20 years with Meals on Wheels. She helps voluntarily at our local Wongaburra Nursing Home. It is an amazing contribution.

There is also Murray Willem from Beenleigh. He has done 16 years of dedicated service to the Beenleigh touch football club for our juniors and he has encouraged young people off our streets and into sports. That is another major contribution. Kenneth Baker from North Tamborine has done some amazing work for 21 years at the Tamborine Mountain historical society village and also the Tamborine Mountain Garden Club, which converts our parks into beautiful gardens in the Tamborine Mountain area. That is something that visitors come from miles around to have a look at. Tom Ferguson has donated an amazing 25 years of work to the Beaudesert tennis club doing coaching and secretarial work and as the president. Elaine Gilmore and her family and a group of friends at Boonah have for many years bought and collected hundreds of toys all year around and they give them away at Christmas time to people in my electorate. Carol Caswell has done 15 years of voluntary work at Rural Options giving service to the disabled.

I take the remaining time to sincerely thank many hundreds of people in my electorate who give their time so freely. I would also like to place on record the wonderful work that Senator Guy Barnett does in advocating the importance of maintaining the support of volunteers and highlighting the enormous contribution that they make to the wellbeing of every Australian.

Question agreed to.