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Volunteering Australia has written to all major parties’ seeking a commitment on the policy proposals laid out in our election platform. See what they have said below.
Part I: Value Volunteering
| A Strong Volunteering Infrastructure | |||
| Federal recognition for volunteering that includes strengthening the national peak body.
The repositioning of volunteering to Prime Minister and Cabinet. The appointment of an Assistant Minister for Volunteering. The establishment of a National Volunteering Strategy. Adoption of Volunteering Australia’s definition of volunteering across Government. |
$275,000 in additional funding for Volunteering Australia.
No policy on the repositioning of volunteering to Prime Minister and Cabinet. No policy on the appointment of an Assistant Minister for Volunteering. No policy on the adoption of Volunteering Australia’s definition. |
Continued and strengthened relationship with Volunteering Australia.
Will formally recognise the benefits of advocacy by charities and not-for-profits and amend the Charities Act and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission Act to clarify the public benefit of advocacy as a charitable purpose. No commitment on repositioning volunteering to Prime Minister and Cabinet. Will appoint a Minister for Charities and Not-For-Profits. No commitment to establish a National Volunteering Strategy. No policy on the adoption of Volunteering Australia’s definition. |
Committed to strengthening Australia’s volunteering infrastructure and support in principle federal recognition for volunteering.
Acknowledge that volunteering extends across all Government portfolios. Want to see a renewed commitment to volunteering and the appointment of an Assistant Minister for Volunteering. In principle support for a National Volunteering Strategy. No policy on the adoption of Volunteering Australia’s definition. |
| Grants and Funding | |||
| Five-year funding contracts for community sector funding (with the application of indexation) to ensure fiscal certainty for volunteer programs.
A commitment to the continuation of the ERO supplementation where affected grants rise to incorporate the supplementation. Ensure volunteering is recognised and resourced in core services (such as mental health and the NDIS). |
No commitment on funding contract duration and indexation of grants.
No commitments on ERO supplementation. Committed to strong economic management to ensure “we can continue to afford to provide the essential services Australians rely on and to continue to support the good work of our volunteers.” |
Will ensure longer contract terms and greater funding certainty for charities.
No commitments on ERO supplementation. However a broader commitment that the funding provided to an organisation reflects the efficient costs of providing the services it is contracted to deliver. Will support, encourage and strategically invest in volunteering. |
“Strongly support” long-term funding contracts for the community sector with the application of indexation.
In principle support of ERO supplementation. Commitment to ensuring that volunteering is recognised and resourced in core services. Catalyse the role of charity and community sector as frontline responders to the increase in community isolation and the growing epidemic of loneliness. |
| Volunteer Rights and responsibilities | |||
| Provide stronger protections for volunteering in Commonwealth legislation.
The establishment of a national service to provide information, advice and referrals on volunteer rights. Harmonised Working with Children Checks (WWCCs) scheme), with a view to expanding the scheme nationally to include all vulnerable people. A review of the stringent National Police Check Identity Proofing Requirements. |
No specific commitment on protections for volunteering in Commonwealth legislation.
No specific commitment to establish a national service. No specific commitment to harmonise WWCC. No specific commitment to review the National Police Check Identity Proofing Requirements. |
No specific commitment on protections for volunteering in Commonwealth legislation. However, there is a commitment to strengthen and reinvigorate the National Compact with the Third Sector which has an agreement to act on paid and unpaid workforce issues.
No specific commitment to establish a national service. No specific commitment to harmonise WWCC. No specific commitment to review the National Police Check Identity Proofing Requirements. |
“Strongly support” stronger protections for volunteers in Commonwealth legislation.
No specific commitment to establish a national service. Support working towards nationally consistent Working with Children Checks scheme, with a view to including all vulnerable people. Support a review of recent changes to National Police Check Identity Proofing Requirements. |
| A Pathway to Employment | |||
| Redesign of the punitive welfare to work system.
Invest in volunteering as a pathway to employment (including digital volunteering platforms). Fund Volunteering Support Services to place participants in volunteer roles. |
No specific commitment.
No commitment on investing in volunteering as a pathway to employment. No commitment on funding Volunteering Support Services for the role they play in employment services. |
No specific commitment.
No commitment on investing in volunteering as a pathway to employment. No commitment on funding Volunteering Support Services for the role they play in employment services. |
“Strongly oppose” the punitive welfare scheme and support abolishing a range of punitive measures including compulsory income management, Work for the dole, Community Development Program and exploitative programs like Youth Jobs PaTH.
No policy on volunteering as a pathway to employment. No policy on the funding of Volunteering Support Services for the role they play in employment services. |
Part II: Invest in Volunteering
| Volunteer Grants | |||
| A restoration of the Volunteer Grants funding to 2010 levels at $21 million p.a. (currently $10 million p.a.) | Morrison Government is providing $20 million in grants between $1,000 and $5,000 in 2018-19. This includes $10 million that was unallocated in 2017-18. | No specific commitment to restore Volunteer Grants to 2010 levels. | Strongly consider supporting the restoration of Volunteer Grants funding to 2010 levels. |
| National Volunteer Week | |||
| Allocation of $250,000 p.a. to support Volunteering Australia to acknowledge and celebrate the contributions of Australia’s volunteers through National Volunteer Week | The Coalition has provided $147,000 to support National Volunteer Week in 2020 and the National Volunteering Conference. (This is part of the $275,000 in additional funding announced for Volunteering Australia.) | No specific commitment to invest in National Volunteer Week. | Strongly consider supporting a Commonwealth allocation of funding to support National Volunteer Week. |
| Volunteer Management | |||
| Commitment to ongoing, designated (indexed) funding for Volunteering Support Services post-2021. Funding to develop an Application Programming Interface or ‘API’ to automatically connect the Volunteer Management Database VIKTOR to the Data Exchange (DEX) and remove duplicative reporting. | Indexation applied to funding from 2019-20 and a commitment to the program’s continuation. No commitment to develop an API. | Will support, encourage and strategically invest in volunteer management. No commitment to develop and API. | In principle support for increased funding for volunteering and volunteer management that is managed in a sustainable, consistent and transparent way. This includes in principle commitment to ongoing, indexed funding for Volunteering Support Services post-2021. No commitment to develop an API. |
| Youth Volunteering | |||
| Invest in Volunteering Support Services to create and manage structured volunteering programs for use by schools and Volunteer Involving Organisations. | No policy on youth volunteering. | No policy on youth volunteering. | Support calls for investment in schools. |
| Disaster Management and Climate Change | |||
| Support community sector organisations to respond to climate change, including training for all workers (including volunteers). Investment in existing volunteering platforms that manage spontaneous volunteers during and after disasters. Updating the National Climate Resilience Adaptation Strategy 2015 to identify the role of volunteers. | No specific commitment to support community sector organisations to respond to climate change. No investment in existing volunteering platforms that manage spontaneous volunteers. No commitment to update the National Climate Disaster Resilience Adaptation Strategy 2015. | No specific commitment to support community sector organisations to respond to climate change. Will ensure that for-profit providers do not receive funding for essential frontline services such as emergency relief. No investment in existing volunteering platforms that manage spontaneous volunteers. No commitment to update the National Climate Disaster Resilience Adaptation Strategy 2015. | Strong support for helping the community sector to better adapt to climate change. No commitment on investment in existing platforms that manage spontaneous volunteers. Support updating the National Climate Resilience Adaptation Strategy 2015 to identify the role of volunteers. |
Part III: Amplify Volunteering
| Advance Volunteering | |||
| A national campaign to support and boost volunteer numbers, particularly in high-demand community services. | No policy on a national campaign. | No policy on a national campaign. | In principle support for a national promotion strategy to boost volunteerism in Australia, especially in high-demand community services. |
| A Blueprint for the Sector | |||
| Work collaboratively with the not-for-profit and charitable sector to develop a blueprint for the sector that includes extensive consultation, economic modelling of future scenarios, strategies to respond to emerging opportunities, risk and limitations. | No specific policy commitment on a sector blueprint. | Will establish a Not-for-profit Sector Expert Reference Panel which would develop a plan to strengthen Australia’s charities and not-for-profits in cooperation with the Department of Treasury, business, and key sector stakeholders. A Building Capacity. Building Community Working Group will also be established to implement the Panel’s recommendations and to support and advocate for organisations that are forging better-connected communities. Volunteering sector peak bodies will be important stakeholders of this working group. | Support to develop a blueprint for the charitable and not-for-profit sector. |
| Charitable Fundraising | |||
| ‘Fix Fundraising’ under Australian Consumer Law to ensure a nationally consistent, fit-for-purpose fundraising regime. | Committed to ‘fix fundraising’. | Will ‘fix fundraising’ by immediately starting work on harmonising Australia’s fundraising laws in consultation with states, territories, the Department of Treasury and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC). | Commitment to ‘fix fundraising’ to ensure a nationally consistent system that removes duplicative regulatory requirements and reduces regulatory burden. |
| Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership | |||
| Restructure the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership to address the current imbalance in representation between philanthropic giving and volunteering, allow the volunteering sector to have greater input, and support the sector on disaggregated data collection in relation to volunteering. | No policy on the PMCBP. | Allocation presently provided to the secretariat for the PMCBP would be discontinued. The Labor Community Sector Partnership will continue to meet regularly to inform and advise on the best approaches to tackling new and emerging community issues. Reinvigorate and strengthen the National Compact with the Third Sector, a key aspect of which is improving information sharing including greater access to publicly funded research and data. | Acknowledge the volunteering sector’s calls for making volunteering a key focus for the Partnership. |
