Responses
to September 2003 hot topic
Punch,
Judy and volunteerism?
Submitted
on September 10, 2003 by Glynis Szafraniec, Coordinator,
Volunteering Illawarra, Australia
This
does seem a good time to raise the issue of who controls
the
volunteering agenda as a hot topic. As someone who
has been involved in
"formalised" volunteering since the 1980's through
working in volunteer
resource centres, I also have concerns about the gradual
colonisation of
volunteering by external bodies who are eager to capitalise
on the feelgood
factor of volunteering. It seems many are happy for
volunteers to deliver
vital services, but do not see volunteering as so
important that it should
warrant core funding for volunteer involving agencies
to support their
volunteers.
Another
glaring gap in external perceptions of the volunteering
sector is
that legislators often overlook the impact of new
legislation on how this
sector operates. For example, the implications of
the 2000 OH&S legislation
in NSW has unwittingly added additional costs to already
stretched budgets
of many not for profit organisations to ensure compliance
with the
regulations of that act. There were similar problems
with the introduction
of the Child Protection legislation in NSW.
It
seems that on the one hand, volunteering is a good
thing, but on the
other, it doesn't warrant much attention or resources.
The perception that
volunteers are somehow cost neutral seems to still
be prevalent. For
volunteer resource centres, the ongoing dilemma is
between keeping the faith
around volunteers having the right to choose firstly
to participate in
volunteering and then to choose how and when they
participate versus keeping
the funding going so that there is a continued service
to offer to
volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations.
We seem to have gone from
one extreme to another over the past 10 years from
when people seeking work
were actively discouraged from doing volunteer work
as it was seen as a
"distraction" from their job-seeking to the current
situation of requiring
people to undertake an activity or suffer punitive
consequences. If indeed
the agenda has been taken over by larger interests
than those of our sector,
I'd be interested in hearing how others think we can
get it back again.
Submitted
on September 8, 2003 by Andy Fryar, Director and Founder,
OzVPM, Australia
Since
posting this article for my September Hot Topic, a
friend has made me aware of an excellent article that
appeared in the Australian Weekend Financial Review
in August 2003., that explores the dichotomy between
the nurturing of social capital and the reality of
hard nosed politics. It is worth a read and can be
found at
http://www.crikey.com.au/politics/2003/08/26-0002.phpl
Submitted
on September 4, 2003 by Carol Spencer, Volunteer Coordinator,
Sydney,Australia
I
agree with what you have written in your hot topic
article.
It
seems that I constantly hear complaints from other
Volunteer Coordinators about the unreasonable expectations
that many VWI and other Centrelink participants have
on our resources. While I am all for volunteering
being an avenue for people to develop themselves further,
I really think that the government need to be putting
more resources into the organisations that eventually
wind up having this group as members of their volunteer
programs. Thanks for the thought provoking article.
It's
not too late --- let's hear what you think
Return
to current month's
Hot Topic
Visit
this month’s ‘Hot
Topic’ on the Energize web site
The
contents of this Hot Topic are copyright © 2003
OzVPM.
You may reproduce this Hot Topic in part or in full
on the condition that the author, source and website
address (www.ozvpm.com)
are quoted.
|
