Page 1468 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
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an opportunity for volunteering issues to be discussed and, hopefully, for solutions to be found.
Volunteering touches every aspect of Australian society, including education, emergency services, sport and recreation, arts and heritage, as well as social services. The wide-ranging contribution that volunteers make helps to build strong and resilient communities. As a nation we have a strong commitment to volunteering as a way of life, but indeed here in Canberra, in the capital, I believe our commitment to volunteering across a whole range of areas sets an example for the rest of the nation. Quite frankly, Madam Assistant Speaker, I believe Canberra punches above its weight when it comes to volunteering.
It is difficult to formally value the contribution that volunteers make, but there are figures available—they are about a decade old now—that suggest that volunteers provided $14.6 billion in unpaid labour across Australia. In 2010 the formal value of volunteering to the economy was more than $25 billion. That certainly gives an idea of the enormity of the contribution that volunteers make across Australia.
Canberra is a city of volunteers. In every suburb, every age group and every ethnic group we have dedicated volunteers. These are volunteers who give their time not for themselves but for the pursuit of helping others. Volunteers and Contact ACT have a membership of more than 200 organisations that are in some way involved in volunteering in Canberra. They range from organisations like the ACT Equestrian Association and the ACT Fencing Association to the Young Neighbourhood Centre and St John Ambulance.
In Canberra we have volunteering organisations that can accommodate just about every skill put forward, every interest and every cause that needs assistance. We are a volunteering rich community. I also note that the political parties also operate on volunteer labour, by and large, whether it be election campaigns or the organisations and their administration. So much work is done by volunteers and so much of our democracy is due to the work that volunteers put in.
Being National Volunteer Week, the annual volunteering awards were held last night. I know Ms Lawder will be saying a little bit more about this event shortly, but I want to especially congratulate and thank the volunteer of the year, Jayanti Gupta, for her wonderful contribution to Canberra. I would like to recognise all the winners and nominees that won awards last night and were recognised.
I also want to thank the many people that are not recognised, the many people that fly under the radar. In many instances they have been volunteering for decades and have never received any recognition whatsoever. Of course, they volunteer not for the recognition, not for awards or for accolades, but for the noble pursuit of helping their community.
In my electorate of Yerrabi there are numerous organisations that help our community, especially through volunteering. There are, of course, several Rotary clubs based in the region, including Aurora Gungahlin, Gungahlin and Hall. There is also the
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