Page 3173 - Week 10 - Wednesday, 24 September 2014

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(a) valuable role played by over one-third of ACT residents who volunteer;

(b) opportunities volunteering brings for greater community participation;

(d) strategic role played by Volunteering ACT in co-ordinating opportunities for volunteers;

(e) inclusion of three days per year of Community Service Leave in ACT Government Enterprise Bargaining Agreements; and

(f) developing trends to more ad hoc, project based volunteering; and

(2) calls on the ACT Government to review and update the ACT Volunteering Statement to take account of developing trends and challenges.

I am pleased to bring this motion to the Assembly today, on the role of government in supporting volunteering. As you know, volunteering is something that has always been close to my heart. As a child in the UK, I was a volunteer for the Red Cross, and that experience has stayed with me, translating into a lifelong advocacy for and involvement in volunteering.

Last week I had the pleasure of representing the ACT government at the International Association for Volunteer Effort 2014 world conference, the 23rd world conference, on the Gold Coast. The theme of the conference was “volunteering: today’s imperative”. As you can imagine, there was a wide range of new information that emerged, and concerns were raised over the developing trends and challenges.

By raising this motion today, I hope to highlight the volunteering opportunities and challenges in the ACT. The ACT is faced with challenges similar to the rest of the nation; in fact, throughout the world. As you are all aware, the ACT has a population of nearly 390,000, but it services a far greater population if you consider the role it plays as a regional hub. Even though we have a highly educated community with a relatively high standard of living compared to other jurisdictions, there is no doubt that, like other jurisdictions, we also face a high cost of living, with about 40,000 people experiencing considerable disadvantage. One in nine households relies on government allowances and pensions as the main source of household income.

We are also faced with a growing ageing population which, as you know, reduces the level of workforce participation and increases the level of income inequality. And we are faced with the current federal government’s policies which we all know have the potential to further entrench disadvantage.

At 6 pm, in accordance with standing order 34, the debate was interrupted. The motion for the adjournment of the Assembly having been put and negatived, the debate was resumed.

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