Responses
to December 2006 Hot Topic
Keeping
the statisticians honest
Response
posted by Anastasia Magriplis, Manager Volunteers
and Special Employment Projects, Lifeline Community
Care, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
In
response to Andy's article I can't help but think
that at least South Australia continues to lead the
way in terms of recognition of volunteers and recognition
of Volunteer Managers through training (although it
would appear it's attempts do so seem to be less critically
accurate and more vague and convenient!) They are
still engaging in the discussion.
It
seems to me that the questions Andy poses are real
and important and with AAVA, the Volunteer Centres
and various sector associations around Australia and
New Zealand, more professionals and volunteers are
more interested and more committed to coming up with
practical and proactive strategies to identify who's
volunteering, where they're volunteering, why their
volunteering and how are organisations managing their
volunteers contribution. Most of the data I have seen
has been based on anecdotal reports from other professionals
and maybe an organisation like Volunteering Australia
( New Zealand ) or AAVA are in a position where they
can conduct effective surveys nationally. I know this
would be a huge undertaking for any organisation (particularly
if we want to get reliable data) and I recognise the
victory of at least having questions in the Census,
but the possibility of an organisation gaining some
significant funding from the Federal Government is
the solution. The more professionals that lobby and
ensure the government is engaged in the question of
volunteers and their managers, the more likely we
are to succeed.
This
data can then be used for effective National (and
International) lobbying for resources to manage this
sector. Only when we have true, hard data can we effectively
manage the sector, have more continuity and be more
effective.
Its
not too late...
Let's
hear what you think!
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