Hot
Topic Archive
October
2004
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Volunteers
are voters too!
by
Andy Fryar
With
Australia in the throes of a federal election campaign
at present, I've been keeping a particularly keen
eye out to see what policies and promises the various
political parties are making to improve volunteering
within Australia. Sadly, at the time of posting this
Hot Topic, I've not as much as even heard the word
'volunteer' muttered by any of the major or minor
parties.
A
search of the ALP website reveals that the only use
of the term volunteer in any policy to date refers
to volunteers only in a military context. The Australian
Liberal Party website also lists no election policies
aimed specifically at the enhancement of volunteers
or volunteering - nor do those of the Australian Democrats,
the Greens or Family First.
Now
that's not to say that volunteers and volunteering
are not seen to be important elements within other
broader and more established social policies. However
the fact that none of our major national political
parties see volunteering as an important enough 'stand
alone' issue to campaign against staggers me.
Consider
the following:
. A
third of all Australians are volunteers (and presumably
the majority of these are also voters)
. In
spite of the above, major parties ARE campaigning
on policies that include tools for apprentices, indigenous
Australians and problem gambling. All are important
issues in their own right, but all affect far less
Australians (proportionally) than volunteering.
. The
economic value of volunteering in Australia has been
estimated to be worth as much as $42 billion per annum.
According to Liberal party campaign ads, this equates
to around 1/16 th of our annual national economy -
a substantial enough amount that you would imagine
warrants attention
. Political
parties themselves rely on the goodwill of many volunteers
to help run their electoral campaigns (not to mention
donors to help fund them)
Through
all of this thinking, two things have become apparent.
Firstly,
it appears that most state and territory governments
in Australia are taking volunteering (as a political
tool) much more seriously than their national
counterparts.
Secondly,
I am wondering if volunteering at a national level
is seen a little like 'eye candy'. That is, while
it is great to resource the sector to assist with
service delivery, there appears little strategic thought
has been given to the true long term impact that volunteerism
does and can play within our country.
So
what are your thoughts ?
. Do
you agree that Australian Federal political parties
are dragging their tail in regards to properly acknowledging
volunteering as a part of its political armory?
. Are
you surprised by the lack of volunteering policy coming
out of Canberra ?
. What
can we do about it?
. If
you're an overseas reader - how does this situation
compare with politics in your own country? (especially
as the US are also in election mode at present)
Let's
have your vote!
It's
not too late to...
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