Government to Develop National Volunteering Strategy

 The Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Volunteer Sector, Senator Ursula Stephens has held the first meetings with the National Volunteering Strategy Advisory Group made up of leaders in the Not for Profit volunteer sector as well as with State and Federal Ministers to outline the Government's commitment to supporting and encouraging Australia's diverse volunteers.
 
Sen. Stephens says the Advisory Group is a key source of expertise and advice to guide Australia's vision for volunteering to 2021.
 
She says the National Volunteering Strategy will be released to coincide with the tenth anniversary of the United National Year of Volunteering in 2011.
 
She says the strategy will articulate a shared vision for volunteering in Australia and outline the Government's commitment to encouraging volunteering.
 
Sen. Stephens says State and Territory Ministers are strongly committed to working in collaboration to promote and celebrate volunteers
 
She says that to be effective, the strategy must be informed by practitioners, volunteers, volunteer organisations and current research and to provide the opportunity to work together to find fresh approaches to promoting Australia’s strong volunteering movement.
 
She says all levels of government recognise and support their volunteers in a variety of ways and the purpose of working together on the strategy is to better align these efforts and to share best practice. 
 
Volunteering delivers a number of key social and economic benefits including creating social cohesion, contributing to community resilience and supporting services that meet the needs of communities.
 
Sen. Stephens says they also play a significant economic role, with voluntary work contributing approximately 713 million hours to the community worth approximately $42 billion to the economy.
 
The members of the Volunteering Policy Advisory Group are: 
 
Senator the Hon Ursula Stephens (Chair) - Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector         
Mr Doug Taylor - Chief Executive Officer, United Way,
Ms Melanie Oppenheimer - Associate Professor School of Humanities, University of New England        
Ms Catherine Hunter - Director of Corporate Citizenship, KPMG
Mr Jelenko Dragisic - Chief Executive Officer, Volunteering Queensland
Ms Margaret Bell - President, Chain Reaction Foundation
Major General Hori Howard - Chair, Australian Emergency Management Volunteer Forum
Mr Cary Pedicini - Chief Executive Officer, Volunteering Australia
Mr Gregory Andrews - Chief Executive Officer, Indigenous Community Volunteers