Dwindling volunteer numbers causing a serious problem for SA’s regional communities
South Australia has unveiled a new Volunteering Strategy to tackle the decline in volunteer numbers – a problem that’s hitting regional communities particularly hard. Without our dedicated volunteers, many essential services would grind to a halt. From local community groups to emergency services, these selfless individuals are the backbone of regional life. But with fewer people stepping up, the cracks are starting to show.
Nat Cook, Minister for Human Services, expresses the importance of this strategy, saying, “With the changing needs of volunteers and organisations following the COVID-19 pandemic and the current cost of living pressures, this Strategy will be absolutely pivotal to help increase volunteer numbers and encourage people to keep giving back to their communities.”
Under the updated strategy, she said the Government would commit to –
- strengthening expectations for the volunteer sector to embed inclusive practices across all aspects of volunteering
- creating culturally relevant volunteering opportunities that reflect the diverse needs of local communities and link to Closing the Gap priorities
- supporting greater emphasis on celebrating, promoting, recruiting and retaining new and existing volunteers.
It also pushes for better collaboration among volunteer organisations and local governments, ensuring that volunteers are supported and celebrated.
Last year, over 950,000 South Australians volunteered, contributing a whopping 223 million hours of unpaid work – worth over $36 million to the state. Sadly, that’s not enough. The trend in volunteering has been heading downhill for years, and after the COVID-19 pandemic, things got worse. In 2022, only 26.7% of people volunteered formally, a sharp drop from 36% in 2019. And that’s a serious problem for our communities.
While animal welfare organisations were the most popular choice, attracting 29.4% of volunteers, followed by environmental groups (23.0%) and children and youth services (22.7%), the areas with the greatest need are mental health, emergency services, and healthcare.
So should the government be doing more than just launching a long-term volunteer strategy? Perhaps it’s time to explore more paid opportunities, especially in sectors where volunteer demand is highest. The training and commitment required by volunteers in areas like mental health, emergency services, and healthcare are often beyond what many can offer. In today’s climate, with the cost of living crisis including housing affordability and accessibility, people’s capacity to give back is getting tougher. It’s only when our own basic needs are met that we have the ability to give. For some, just making it to the end of another week is a challenge in itself.
While this new strategy is a step in the right direction, focusing on supporting volunteers and ensuring they aren’t treated as “free labour,” it also raises the question of whether relying on unpaid efforts is a viable solution in the long term. Volunteering should remain safe, ethical, and sustainable, but maybe it’s time for a broader approach that includes paid positions to meet the growing demand for services, especially emergency services, in our regional communities.
