Action Plan Co-Design Workshops

The National Strategy for Volunteering will be delivered through a series of Three-Year Action Plans, with the first to commence in 2024. Volunteering Australia is delighted to announce that consultations for the first action plan will begin later this month. These consultations will build on the work undertaken in 2022, which captured hundreds of ideas to advance volunteering.

The National Strategy for Volunteering is for everyone. Whatever your role in the volunteering ecosystem, we want to hear from you. You are invited to share your perspective in a guided workshop that will contribute to the design of the first Three-Year Action Plan.

National Strategy Anniversary

This week marks one year since the launch of Australia’s National Strategy for Volunteering. Built through a 12-month co-design process, the National Strategy charts a 10-year roadmap for volunteering in Australia.

To celebrate this milestone we have put together an Anniversary Showcase on our website including highlights from the past year.

Read Volunteering Australia CEO, Mark Pearce’s contribution to The Community Advocate, Australia’s National Strategy for Volunteering turns one.

Individual Potential and the Volunteer Experience

Our first event of 2024 explored Focus Area 1 of the National Strategy for Volunteering: Individual Potential and the Volunteer Experience. Attendees gained valuable insights into making volunteering more meaningful and responsive to the needs of your volunteers.

Research Working Group

We are pleased to share the membership of the next iteration of the Research Working Group. This group ensures that the implementation of the National Strategy for Volunteering is well informed by research, as the development of the Strategy was. Volunteering research, data and best practice are all essential to the success of the National Strategy and we thank all members for their participation.

Research Working Group members include:

• Dr Toby Newstead University of Tasmania
• Calista Castles Griffith University
• Dr Darja Kragt University of Western Australia
• Dr Rachel Winterton La Trobe University
• Professor Bingqin Li University of New South Wales
• Professor Kirsten Holmes Curtin University
• Heba Al-Adawy Volunteering Australia
• Samuel Delamoir Volunteering Queensland
• Clare Sutton Charles Sturt University
• Dr Rong Zhu Flinders University
• Dr Ben Hillier The Centre for Volunteering
• Dr Lewis Whales University of Technology Sydney
• Dr Eunjung Kim Edith Cowan University

National Strategy for Volunteering Council

During the development of the National Strategy for Volunteering, an independent Council was established for governance and to ensure the project met its objectives.

Now, with the Strategy launched and progressing through its first-year Establishment Phase, the next iteration of the Council has been convened to provide strategic oversight and develop long-term governance frameworks for the ten-year span of the National Strategy for Volunteering.

The National Strategy for Volunteering Council membership includes a variety of experiences and perspectives from across the volunteering ecosystem. We thank all Council members for their participation which collectively demonstrates the breadth and diversity of volunteering in Australia.

Council members include:

• Doug Taylor (Chair) CEO, The Smith Family
• Grainne O’Loughlin CEO, Karitane
• Craig Spencer Regional Manager – Wheatbelt, St John Ambulance
• Dr Pam Kappelides Senior Lecturer, La Trobe University
• Tina Williams CEO, Volunteering WA
• Darryl Ebenezer Executive Officer, Queensland Water and Land Carers
• Jo Watson Group Executive Director of Supporter Engagement, Save the Children
• Kelly Howlett AM Board Director, Western Australian Waste Authority
• Mark Pearce CEO, Volunteering Australia
• Madeline Townsend OAM People and Culture Manager, Beyond Zero Emissions
• Matthew Calf Senior Manager – Industry Projects, Australian Sports Commission
• Darcy W-R LGBTIQA+ advocacy

Volunteer Management and the National Strategy

We recently hosted an engaging webinar on how the National Strategy can help Volunteer Managers strengthen their volunteering outcomes, drawing on practical examples of the National Strategy in action.In this session, we heard from May Bowden, Manager of Volunteer Services at Vinnies WA, presenting her experience of applying the National Strategy to her volunteer management.

Andrew Richards, Project Manager at Volunteering Australia also provided an update on the latest developments of the Volunteer Management Online Project.

The recording is available on the Volunteering Australia YouTube Channel. Thank you to all who attended and May for giving her time.

New factsheet: Ongoing trends in volunteering in Australia

The National Strategy for Volunteering Team has released a new factsheet summarising the key findings from the latest data on volunteering in Australia in 2023 collected by the Australian National University Centre for Social Research and Methods.

Trends in Volunteering: Insights from 2023

We recently hosted a webinar exploring the latest data and trends, shedding light on changes in volunteering and the invaluable contributions of volunteers across the nation during the first year of the National Strategy for Volunteering.

Volunteering Australia and the Australian National University Centre for Social Research and Methods launched the report ‘Ongoing trends in volunteering in Australia’. Professor Nicholas Biddle presented the new data collected on volunteering in Australia in 2023 to the almost 400 people in attendance. Access the event recording on the Volunteering Australia YouTube Channel.

Survey Insights

Through a survey and at online events, we have been asking people across the volunteering ecosystem two key questions:

• How familiar are you with the National Strategy for Volunteering?
• What would help you the most to learn about the National Strategy for Volunteering and how to achieve its goals?

Having collected around 300 responses, we have learned that two-thirds of Volunteering Australia’s network are somewhat or very familiar with the National Strategy. One-third of respondents are less familiar and we are working to support their awareness and engagement.We have heard from you that events, workshops, online tools and written guides are the best way to support your engagement with the National Strategy for Volunteering. These are part of our plan for ongoing rollout of the first-year Establishment Phase and we hope you can join us for future events and workshops.

Establishing the National Strategy for Volunteering

We recently hosted a webinar giving an overview of the Establishment Phase of the National Strategy for Volunteering. In this session, we heard from DJ Cronin from UnitingCare Queensland who shared how the National Strategy has been used to improve their volunteer engagement and set strategic goals.During the event, 18 more volunteer involving organisations shared examples of how they are using the National Strategy for Volunteering in their work. This included volunteer recruitment, measuring volunteer impact and enhancing the experience of volunteers in their team.

The event recording is available on Volunteering Australia’s YouTube Channel. Thank you to all who attended and DJ for giving his time.