Hot
Topic Archive
July
2007
Have
we got it wrong?
 
By
OzVPM Director Andy
Fryar and CEO of People First Total Solutions
Martin J Cowling
After
years of surveys showing a clear growth in the number
of volunteers in Australia , the census results appear
to bring all of that crashing down.
Or
do they?
How
do we reconcile the latest ABS census figures, which
indicate that only 18 percent of Australians volunteer,
with other recent data that has been released? If
it is to be believed, volunteering rates have actually
halved since 2001.
For
instance, a survey conducted in South Australia during
2006 told us that a massive 51 % of people undertake
'formal' volunteering in that state - a 13% increase
of volunteer participation in six years. Yet the latest
census statistics show a fall in national volunteer
participation of 17%.
Even
more puzzling is the fact that both of these recent
surveys were compiled by the same body - the Australian
Bureau of Statistics who are the official Australian
body responsible for the census collection and publication.
So
which one is correct?
Why
is there such a variation?
How
can two surveys by the one organisation from the same
period of time be so different?
The
other interesting matter is that one in ten Australians
appeared to have left the question blank. In the older
age groups, those who have traditionally been the
stalwarts of many organisations, almost one in five
left the question unanswered.
There
are some key questions that we must immediately consider:
- Have we really lost half
of our volunteer numbers in five years?
- How can more than five million
adult volunteers in the 2001 survey be reduced to
less than three?
- Did people misunderstand
the census question?
- Did those who participate
in church activities not see themselves as volunteers
and leave the question unanswered ?
- Did those who simply 'help
out in the community' respond with a 'no' to the
census question?
- Have we been double counting
in the past?
For
a country that prides itself on its volunteering ethos,
the fact that our national census appears to say that
more than four fifths do not help their communities
in a formal manner is of grave concern.
Some
answers
A
solution to these questions, lies in examining the
census question that was asked.
On
census night, Australians were asked in 2006:
"In
the last 12 months did the person spend any time doing
voluntary work through an organisation or group?
* Exclude anything you do as part of your paid employment
or to qualify for a government benefit
* Exclude working in a family business"
There
are five major issues with this question.
Firstly,
one of the most significant areas of volunteer participation
and growth has been excluded! That is corporate volunteering
which has emerged within the last decade as an area
of significant growth. In this model, employees are
"released" by their employers to attend volunteering
activities. This can take on one of three forms:
- Attending an activity within
a team from the same workplace usually for a full
day of activity
- Individuals released to
undertake volunteering activities for up to two
days per year
- Individuals who use their
existing volunteering activities as part of their
corporate time
Asking
Australians to say "no" if they spent any time doing
voluntary work as part of their employment misses
out on these groups or could have led to confusion
where people said "no' or left the question blank.
Secondly,
Australians who are engaged in mandated volunteering
are not included. There do not appear to be clear
figures on how many Australian citizens have undertaken
volunteer work through government participation programs
such as the volunteer work initiative or mutual obligation
type programs.
The
third concern we have in asking the question in this
way, is that we fear it will create confusion about
true volunteer rates, as other surveys indicate much
higher levels of volunteering. This will no doubt
lead many to publish papers about the declining rates
of volunteering in Australia .
Fourthly,
this raises again the need for the sector to create
and utilise standard questions that need to be asked
whenever a survey about participation in volunteering
is conducted ( see our December
2006 Hot Topic )
Finally,
the census figures only capture those volunteers undertaking
'formal' volunteering. That is, volunteer work done
through an established volunteer agency. It does not
include any notion of "informal" volunteering - which
includes acts such as helping an elderly neighbour
mow their lawns of do their shopping.
So
what are the 'real' numbers?
This
exclusion of both corporate and mandated volunteers
may have led to misreporting. The fact that so many
people did not respond at all to the census question
may well be because of confusion caused by these excluded
parties. Previous volunteering surveys allowed for
the inclusion of these groups - and showed much higher
rates of volunteer participation.
To
arrive at something like what we might consider a
'true' figure of volunteering in Australia we now
need to take into account a number of factors that
begins with those collected by the census.
In
addition to the 18% identified via that route we need
to add:
- Corporate volunteers - those
involved through employee volunteer programs
- Captured volunteers - those
who have been caught in the process of volunteering
as a part of receiving government benefits
- Confused volunteers - those
people who didn't respond to the question at all
in the census
The
inclusion of these groups may lead to a further ten
to twenty per cent in the statistic for formal volunteering.
The
positive news in all of this is that nearly one fifth
of all Australians over 15 participate in formal volunteering
purely because they want to . This helps us to understand
the level of volunteering that occurs without undue
interference from the numbers of people participating
in employee volunteer programs and though govt participation
initiatives. We believe that as this question is repeated
in future census' it will prove an important benchmark
in gauging volunteer rates in Australia .
Unfortunately
we also know that this one fifth is not the complete
picture of volunteering in Australia.
So
what do you think about the way the census data has
been collected?
Good
or bad?
Useful
or not useful?
How
can we start to collect better and more consistent
data?
Have
we missed an opportunity with the way the census question
was asked or did the ABS get it right?
Share
YOUR thoughts
It's
not too late to...
Respond
to this month's Hot Topic
(Be
sure to add your name, title and organisation to your
message)
Should
this link not open your regular email browser, simply
send your reply to response@ozvpm.com
Read
other people's responses
Print
version
The
contents of this Hot Topic are copyright © 2003
- 2007 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. OzVPM copyright
policy
Visit
this month’s ‘Hot
Topic’ on the Energize web site.
|
