Hot
Topic Archive
April
2005
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Australian
Observations:
An
interview with Steve McCurley
Steve
McCurley with Andy
Fryar
This
month we have decided to present another of our occassional
interviews with prominent volunteerism leaders from
around the world. Steve McCurley visited Australia
for the first time in November 2004, so we thought
we would chase him down to share his thoughts about
his visit and volunteerism in this country
OzVPM: How
did you enjoy your time in Australia?
SM:
I was in Australia for three weeks, quite a long time
to be working away from home, and during the main
part of it I either worked or traveled or worked and
traveled on 14 out of 15 weekdays. And during most
of it I had an obnoxious cold that resulted in my
voice almost disappearing.
So
basically I had an amazingly enjoyable experience
and I'll come back instantly if anyone even suggests
I'd be welcome.
Highlights
for me were:
.
The incredibly nice and cheerful people . At one point
I realized that literally Everyone I had met - workshop
participants, airline staff, people I bumped into
on the street - was unbelievably polite, friendly,
helpful and happy. Clearly there's something in the
water - the level of civility and politeness is way
above the global norm.
.
The scenery . Australia has great livable cities,
with a mix of old and new architecture, and the best
selection of city parks and recreational spaces in
the world. Compared to most large cities, everything
is clean and well-maintained, and most of it still
has a sense of personality that is often lost in other
countries.
And
I won't go into the wine and food, except to append
the following photo of the visit to Two Hands winery
in the Barossa that Andy was kind enough to organize:
OzVPM: What
were your general impressions of the Australian volunteerism
scene?
SM:
Australia - as I've mentioned elsewhere - is dangerously
close to being a model in volunteerism for the rest
of the world. It's got a great mix of:
.
Size - large enough to have a good range of different
types of volunteer programs and volunteer environments,
as well as a considerable history of volunteer involvement
and a sizable proportion of the population actively
involved
.
Diversity - wide variation of program types: government
and charitable, urban/rural, highly structured versus
loose all-volunteer settings
.
Imagination - ability to try anything to see if it
works, including new technology, new ways of doing
volunteer management, etc.
I
find myself frequently referring people to Australian
resources and programs as I'm asked for examples of
interesting approaches.And volunteer program managers
bring to volunteering the same enthusiasm that Australians
seem to bring to everything in their lives, and this
might be the most critical element for success.
OzVPM:
How does the Australian scene vary from other places
you have visited?
SM:
Visiting Australia further convinced me that the volunteering
environments in the UK, US, Canada and Australia are
remarkably alike. This is probably caused by somewhat
similar cultural histories, but even more - in my
opinion - by the fact that we have evolved relatively
congruent systems of social service provision; we
all have both a tradition of small, grassroots neighborhood
volunteering which has developed some varieties of
volunteer efforts and a growing tradition of highly
organized and structured charitable service organizations
and government programs that involve large numbers
of volunteers.
So,
similarities strike me more than differences, especially
with regard to the challenges we are facing, with
the major ones being:
.
Coping with the "professionalization" of volunteering,
particularly in areas such as EMS and firefighting,
where the training requirements are making it questionable
whether these activities can continue to be done on
a volunteer basis.
.
Finding reasonable solutions to the perceived liability
and insurance crises that don't result in destroying
the spirit of volunteering in a quest to solve what
appear in fact to be relatively infrequent lawsuits
.
Developing an organized system for making it easy
for new volunteers to become involved and then finding
ways for them to "grow" into higher and deeper levels
of participation. I think the real crisis for volunteering
in the next two decades will be convincing volunteers
to accept the burdens and responsibilities of being
leaders, not just casual helpers. The sports volunteering
community will be especially interesting to watch.
What
is most encouraging in all the countries is the high
general level of support from all societal institutions
- media, government, education - for the concept and
practice of volunteering.
OzVPM:
Are there specific areas that you think require more
development?
SM:
Two that come to mind:
.
Training of volunteer program managers.
Australia,
like the rest of the world, tends to have volunteer
program managers who begin their positions with relatively
little formal training and relies on those people
to very creatively figure out how to run a program
under rapidly changing societal conditions and a very
small budget. The good news is that we actually know
a lot about good volunteer management practices and
most experienced program managers are willing to share
everything they've learned with others - the trick
is getting the information to the new practitioner,
especially those from the smallest organizations with
the most limited training budgets.
.
Involvement of volunteers in government programs.
Two
of the most interesting conversations I had in Australia
were with government representatives in Brisbane and
Canberra who were trying to think through how volunteers
could be involved in and supported by government initiatives.
I was impressed with the thought and concern they
had for this complicated issue, which is nice to compare
with the government approach in the US of "blunder
first, correct course later." Government has an immense
amount to offer to volunteerism, both in direct involvement
of volunteers and in providing support for the infrastructure
that supports volunteerism, and I hope Australian
governments continue the policies of the last decade
which have done both of these.
OzVPM:
Any other thoughts you'd like to share?
SM:
Only thing I missed in Australia was not having the
opportunity to get outside the large cities and see
how things are done in the more rural areas where
volunteering is a bit more difficult to arrange because
of the smaller population base and the wider geographic
area.
And
if any of you are ever in the Pacific Northwest, let
me know and I'll return the hospitality and show you
the only other comparable wine region in the world.
OzVPM:
Thanks Steve. We will certainly be arranging a return
visit at some point in the near future.
If
any reader had the chance to hear any of Steve's workshops
while he was in our country, why not share your thoughts
of the experience below
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