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Literature Review: Government Support for Volunteering – March 2012 PurposeThe purpose of this document is to review the literature regarding government support for volunteering to provide an informed context for future community development directions.

BackgroundThis review has surveyed available reports about issues confronting volunteers and volunteer-reliant organisations and the concerns arising for government. It also summarises approaches taken in the literature to supporting volunteering from across Australia and the world. It briefly looks at future directions and emerging challenges for the Victorian government’s continuing support of volunteering.

The review considered government surveys, reports, policy documents and websites from the governments of Victoria, the Commonwealth, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the United Kingdom. These public sector sources were supplemented by publications from the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria, Volunteering Australia and the United Nations Volunteers Programme. This review is predominantly focused on public sector information sources. It is not a comprehensive review of all current academic or community literature on the subject.

There is an emerging realisation across much of the literature reviewed that the traditional model of volunteering as a means of supporting community organisations to deliver services is becoming progressively less viable. A complex system of economic, social and political forces is creating both increasing community organisation reliance upon the support of volunteers and decreasing capacity and willingness among individuals to volunteer significant and sustained portions of their time.

Key Challenges for GovernmentAcross the literature review the major issues identified for governments in relation to volunteering are:

pressures upon the existing supply of volunteers caused by increasing and changing demand for community services

difficulties surrounding engagement of potential volunteers

ongoing dependence upon limited numbers of volunteers for the effective functioning of communities

concerning demographic and sectoral patterns of volunteering

uncertainties regarding government investment in the community sector

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Demand for Community ServicesThe literature consistently identifies two key issues relating to volunteers, as increasing the demand for services. They are:

1. population is ageing

2. population is growing.

The Commonwealth Department of the Treasury’s Intergenerational Report 2010 supports the literature’s assertions that Australia’s population is ageing, which is attributed to sustained low fertility and increasing life expectancy. According to the report the average median age for Australians rose between 1991 and 2011 from 32.4 years to 37.1 years, with the average for Victorians closely following the national average. This general trend is projected to continue over the next several decades with serious implications for government in many spheres, including health, labour force participation, housing and demand for skilled labour.

The ABS reports that in 2010 more than 500,000 of Victoria’s 1.5 million volunteers were at least 55 years old, with volunteers from this age group having an above average involvement with health and community/welfare organisations. A profound impact is expected as a growing proportion of the population becomes progressively more reliant upon these health and other services while also becoming less able to continue to act as volunteers themselves.

These pressures associated with a naturally ageing population are being felt even more acutely in some rural communities where economic restructuring away from traditional industrial sectors, extreme weather and bushfire events have accelerated the relocation of large numbers of potential volunteers including skilled people, young people and families to larger centres.

Rapid population growth, in the outer metropolitan growth areas in particular, is also creating a major challenge for the volunteer reliant community sector and government. The Growth Areas Authority reports that Melbourne’s population is currently growing at a rate of 1,200 persons per week. Cardinia Shire is growing by an average of five new families per day and with the neighbouring City of Casey is projected to have a combined population of approximately 560,000 people by 2031. The seven urban fringe growth areas are projected to have a total population in excess of one million people in 2031.

The literature agrees that health and community organisations are already struggling to meet the growing and changing demand for services in these growth areas. A shortage of suitable infrastructure, prohibitive start up costs for new ventures and traditionally low volunteering rates among the demographics of the new populations are restricting the capacity of community organisations to satisfy the demand for their services which is creating a need for government support and assistance.

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Volunteer EngagementThe literature identifies a clear pattern away from the traditional model of volunteering where individuals would remain committed to a particular organisation for large portions of their lives, donating consistent hours and accepting all assigned tasks. This model is being replaced by one where prospective volunteers are increasingly time poor, are being much more selective about the organisations they are willing to donate their time to, and are preferring to make episodic contributions to projects of personal interest and in response to particular events.

The movement away from the traditional model places more pressure on volunteer reliant community organisations to recruit, train, manage and attempt to retain an expanded workforce of less regular volunteers to assist with delivering services, running community boards, generating funding, and providing specialised and general support. Compounding this issue is the retention by many organisations of the traditional preference for recruitment through their established networks and social contacts. This can have two consequences with a core of reliable volunteers in danger of becoming overwhelmed by increasing demands on their time and also a large number of willing volunteers remaining largely unutilised because they are unable to locate suitable volunteering opportunities.

The literature indicates that volunteer expectations and requirements are changing away from the traditional model in a variety of ways, with distinct trends being identified across society. In 2010 the Commonwealth Productivity Commission identified a general preference among the Baby Boomer generation for fulfilling roles relating to their skills and interests, more flexibility, greater challenges, better management, better jobs and more opportunities for project volunteering. Highlighting the complexity of these changes, in 2011 the Youth Affairs Council of Victoria found that young people generally want their volunteering to be meaningful, of benefit to the community, fun and to improve their employment opportunities.

Governments around Australia have expressed concern that the volunteer reliant community sector has generally been slow to adapt to the changing volunteer landscape and may struggle to deliver vital services into the future without government support to address the issues surrounding volunteer engagement.

Community Dependence on Volunteering The literature accepts that volunteering delivers substantial economic and social benefits to the people of Victoria. While it is impossible to definitively measure the social benefits in dollar terms, a report prepared for the Department of Human Services in 2002 estimated the economic value of volunteering in Victoria to be 7.6% of annual Gross State Product, which at the time was approximately $10 billion. If this percentage has been maintained, the equivalent figure for 2010-11 would be in excess of $23 billion.

Statements of Value and BenefitIn 2003 the Australian Productivity Commission conducted a review into the concept of social capital and its policy implications which found evidence confirming that social capital generally brings economic as well as social benefits. The review indicated that high levels of

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trust and social engagement can generate wide ranging benefits, such as reduced need for personal security and policing, improved workplace efficiency and lower costs of doing business. The Australian Bureau of Statistics 2010 General Social Survey further indicates that volunteering contributes to social capital by influencing future generations to volunteer, encouraging broader community involvement, and by contributing to a trusting and satisfied personal outlook.

While the Commonwealth Government’s National Volunteering Strategy does not directly address the benefits of supporting volunteers, in her forward the Minister for Social Inclusion and Minister for Human Services observes that ‘volunteering is an essential part of an inclusive society in which all Australians have the opportunity for meaningful participation.’

Queensland’s Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland policy (introduced by the previous government) identifies two distinct types of benefit derived from volunteering:

outcome benefits are economic in nature and are the basis of the policy’s assertion that increasing the volunteering rate is likely to have a positive impact on achieving public policy objectives

process benefits are less tangible and are widely accepted as contributing to the development of social capital, social connectedness, and social wellbeing and strength.

Volunteering Australia’s National Survey of Volunteering Issues 2010 supports the common assertion that volunteering makes a clear contribution to social inclusion with 83% of surveyed volunteers reporting that ‘their work as a volunteer has increased their sense of belonging to their community.’

The Western Australian Government’s Vital Volunteering 2011-2016 policy document begins with the statement that ‘The value, importance and contribution of volunteering to the social, cultural, economic and environmental well being of Western Australia is of immense significance.’

South Australia’s Advancing the Community Together partnership outlines a commitment between the government and the volunteer community to continue to build robust and meaningful relationships that promote and expand volunteer participation in the State’s communities. The partnership describes itself in the following terms:

With an understanding that volunteering is born from within the community the Advancing the Community Together partnership is a springboard to encourage both parties to look at values, policies and practices, creating a flexible, adaptive and innovative environment for volunteers which ultimately benefits all South Australians.

An important characteristic of the beneficial nature volunteering was identified by the United Nations 2011 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report which expresses the value of volunteerism as ‘benefitting both the society at large and the individual volunteer by strengthening trust, solidarity and reciprocity among citizens, and by purposefully creating opportunities for participation.’

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Government Savings and Civil StrengtheningThe literature identifies direct savings for government from the contributions of volunteers reducing the need for government expenditure to support a variety of valuable and often iconic community assets, including:

community organisations social enterprises community facilities local community boards schools sporting clubs and activities festivals and events local parks reserves and waterways

The literature also identifies social benefits to communities from the contribution volunteering makes towards civil strengthening, including:

establishment of networks of care and support creation of shared values an enhanced sense of belonging and safety reduced feelings of isolation skill development capacity building resource mobilisation encouraging others, including future generations, to also volunteer

These social benefits that communities derive from having a vibrant volunteering culture can further benefit the state economy through significant reductions in the risk of future costs to government associated with dysfunctional communities.

Demographic and Sectoral PatternsThe ABS has conducted a series of General Social Surveys measuring rates and patterns of volunteering among Australian adults in 1995, 2000, 2006 and 2010. The data from these surveys indicates that while volunteering numbers and rates are generally growing that there has been a marked slowing in this growth since the surveys began. In spite of the growth in overall volunteering rates, much of the literature reports stagnation or reductions in total hours volunteered over recent years. Further research would be required to continue this analysis as the ABS no longer measures the amount of time volunteered.

In 2010 there were over 6 million volunteers in Australia representing 36.2% of the adult population, more than 1.5 million of which were Victorians. Essentially reflecting the national trends, the Victorian volunteering rate rose sharply between 1995 and 2000 from 24.8% to 32.8%, while in 2006 it effectively stabilised rising to only 33.3%, before again rising slightly to 35.6% in 2010. The data indicates a number of trends for 2010, including:

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Melbourne’s volunteering rate was 32.6%, which was the lowest of all state or territory capital cities, while Victoria’s volunteering rate for the balance of the state was 45.1% which was the second highest for the balance of any state or territory

Victoria’s volunteering rate for males was 33.2%, while the rate for females was 38.0%.

Throughout Australia the overall age demographic for volunteers is rising markedly, which the data clearly indicated in several ways:

the age groups with the highest volunteering rates (and their movements since 2006):

o 45-54 years – 43.7%, (up from 39.3%)

o 55-64 years – 42.5%, (up from 32.4%)

o 35-44 years – 41.6%, (down from 42.7%)

the age group recording the highest male volunteering rate, female volunteering rate and total volunteering rate has shifted from 35-44 years age group in 2006 to the 45-54 years age group in 2010

there were significant movements between the volunteering rates for 2006 and 2010 in three gender / age group categories:

o males / 55-64 years rose from 27.2% to 46.1%

o females / 45-54 years rose from 39.3% to 48.1%

o males / 18-24 years fell from 29.7% to 21.3% with an actual reduction in numbers from 293.9 thousand to 238.7 thousand.

Combined with low volunteering rates among young people, very old people, males and those who live in the capital cities, there was a pattern across Australia of low volunteering rates among several demographics of potential economic or social disadvantage, including people who:

were born overseas (28.3%, compared to 39.7% for those born in Australia)

indicated a language other than English was spoken at home (25.2%, compared to 39.0% for people who only spoke English at home)

live within areas in the lowest of five categories of socio-economic status (27.6%, compared to 43.1% for people living within areas in the highest category)

are unemployed (19.6%, compared to 37.9% for full-time employed people)

had not attained a non school qualification (27.8%, compared to 45.0% for people who had attained a bachelor degree or above).

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The proportional distribution of Victoria’s volunteers among organisational sectors is largely similar to the national distributions with one major exception. The proportion of all Victorian volunteers who are involved with emergency services organisations is recorded as being 4.1%, compared to the national proportion of 6.9%. It should be noted that the ABS advises that this (Victorian) statistic has a standard error between 25% and 50% and should be used with caution.

The ABS data supports the literature’s concerns surrounding the age distribution across Australia of volunteers in the community/welfare and health sectors. 21.5% of volunteers from all age groups are involved with community/welfare organisations and 8.5% of volunteers from all age groups are involved with health organisations. The proportion of volunteers involved with these sectors from the 55-64 years (27.4% & 10.9% respectively), 65-74 years (37.4% & 12.1%) and 75+ years (36.7% & 16.4%) age groups are significantly higher than the proportions from all age groups. This imbalance towards older workers in these sectors may become an issue into the future as these volunteers become less able to contribute in the way they are currently and have in the past.

Government Investment in the Community SectorThe literature identifies a growing awareness around the world of the mutually compounding relationship between the economic and social benefits to communities derived from volunteering as well as the potential cost to government of a decline in volunteering and the impact on service delivery. Faced with the challenge of deciding precisely what role they should play, the literature outlines a variety of initiatives governments are introducing to increase the capacity of the community sector to deliver services. The contributions of volunteers are also becoming more widely acknowledged as being essential to the provision of community sector services.

Other Australian JurisdictionsThe Australian Commonwealth and (the previous) Queensland Governments have each released strategic volunteering policies which seek to raise the profile and community appreciation of the value of volunteering.

The Commonwealth’s National Volunteering Strategy outlines a ten year vision which aims to ensure that by 2021 volunteering is encouraged, supported and recognised by all Australians. The strategy sets out six focus areas for action:

respond to trends in volunteering harness technology better regulation and risk management strengthen management and training strengthen relationships and advocacy recognise and value volunteering.

The Toward Q2: Tomorrow’s Queensland policy (introduced by the previous government) identifies a need for a new and strategic approach to dealing with 21st century volunteering

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issues, announces an ambitious plan to increase the state’s volunteering rate by 50% (from the 2008 rate of 38% to 57%) by 2020 and proposes the following broad approaches:

to engage in a cultural rethink on the role and value of volunteering in society to raise the profile of volunteering itself.

The Western Australian and South Australian Governments each support volunteering in their states through the development of cross sectoral partnerships. Western Australia used an extensive community consultation to inform its volunteering partnership between government and the corporate and community sectors, and South Australia recently renewed a formalised volunteering agreement with 26 signatories from government and the community.

The Western Australian Government released Vital Volunteering 2011-2016, a five year commitment to supporting and promoting volunteering, with two main aims:

to encourage and assist Western Australians from a range of backgrounds and age groups to be engaged in volunteering and be enriched by their experiences

to assist communities and organisations across the state to effectively involve volunteers for their mutual benefit.

In 2011 the South Australian Government renewed its Advancing the Community Together partnership with the volunteer community, which formalises two fundamental recognitions:

the enormous roles that volunteers play in building strong, supportive and inclusive communities

the government’s important social responsibility to invest in and support volunteers and their organisations to enable their significant work in the community to continue.

Possible DirectionsThe literature contains the following five consistent themes relating to government involvement in volunteering:

1. community organisations require government support to relieve and manage a variety of pressures which increase their reliance on volunteers, including:

a. increased demand for services due to population ageing, population growth, economic pressures and emergency events

b. increasing need for improved financial efficiency due to rising costs and constraints in government funding

c. recent changes to industrial relations arrangements for community sector employees

d. administrative burden from meeting government requirements

2. community organisations require government assistance to adapt to the changing volunteer environment, including:

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a. movement away from the traditional model of regular, long term volunteering towards special interest and episodic volunteering

b. a broad spectrum of individual volunteer expectations and requirements, which are largely unknown and unfamiliar to community organisations

c. difficulty engaging those who are willing to volunteer but don’t know how to arrange it, young people and potentially disadvantaged sections of the population to become volunteers

d. ageing of existing volunteers

3. government has a role creating links between a variety of stakeholders, including:

a. matching potential volunteers with suitable community organisations

b. engaging the entrepreneurial and philanthropic sectors to become more involved with community organisations

c. encouraging communication and collaborative ventures between community organisations

d. ensuring coordination between government agencies in dealing with the community sector

4. a strong culture of volunteering is an essential component of communities that are self reliant and resilient, with a variety of benefits, including:

a. enhanced skills, opportunities and wellbeing for individual community members

b. the provision of services valuable to the community becomes possible without external intervention

c. increased social capital and civil strengthening

d. economic benefits associated with the above

5. governments benefit from self reliant and resilient communities and should accept responsibility for encouraging a strong culture of volunteering in their jurisdictions by:

a. providing support and encouragement for individual volunteers including those from traditionally low participation demographics

b. assisting community organisations to address a variety of governance issues, including engagement and management of volunteers

c. encouraging corporate and philanthropic support for volunteering

d. ensuring consistency in government approaches to supporting volunteering.

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Throughout the literature there is some uncertainty surrounding government’s ongoing approach to supporting the community sector. In an environment of increasing recognition of the value of community networks and social capital, governments are taking a variety of approaches to supporting volunteering and the community sector in general. As these approaches are developed and strategic outcomes are evaluated governments will face further challenges in a number of finely focussed policy areas, including:

maintenance of required service levels within funding constraints

problem definition and establishing scope of involvement and division of responsibilities

demonstration and quantification of the economic benefits arising from government investments

translation of social benefits arising from government investments into economic terms.

The growing government reliance upon the community sector for service delivery has provided both a need and an opportunity for innovative approaches to community empowerment and devolution of overly bureaucratic government control. The broad policy directions outlined within this review are indicative of a new and expanded role for government in helping to establish the long-term economic and social viability of the community sector. The literature reviewed here affirms that this end will only be achieved through government providing effective support for both individual volunteers and for volunteering collectively.

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Reference Materials

Australia to 2050: Future Challenges, January 2010 (Intergenerational Report 2010), Department of the Treasury

Australian Bureau of Statistics General Social Survey 2010, results on Voluntary Work in Australia

Commonwealth Government report: National Volunteering Strategy Consultation (2010)

DPCD discussion paper: Building Stronger Communities – the Next Steps in Community Development, August 2011

Government of South Australia Office for Volunteers website (www.ofv.sa.gov.au)

Growth Areas Authority website (www.gaa.vic.gov.au)

National Volunteering Strategy – Australia Volunteer, Inspiring the Volunteer in You (2011)

Productivity Commission 2003, Social Capital: Reviewing the Concept and its Policy Implications, Research Paper AusInfo, Canberra

Productivity Commission 2010, Contribution of the Not-for-Profit Sector, Research Paper, Canberra

Queensland Parliamentary report: Increasing the Volunteering Rate in Queensland – the Q2 Target 2009

United Kingdom Government websites (www.number10.gov.uk) (www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk)

United Nations Volunteers Programme 2011 State of the World’s Volunteerism Report

Victoria’s Volunteering Strategy 2009

Victorian Department of Treasury and Finance website (www.dtf.vic.gov.au)

Vital Volunteering 2011-2016 the State Government’s commitment to supporting and promoting volunteering in Western Australia

Volunteering Australia: DRAFT Report on the State of Volunteering in Australia 2012

Youth Affairs Council of Victoria report: Volunteering is Catching: A study into young people’s volunteering in Victoria 2011

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