The goals and actions presented here will help guide us in our collective effort to continue to build and strengthen volunteering in Victoria.
We want to support our volunteering community to be inclusive, strong and one that offers pathways to jobs and provides purpose and meaning to volunteers across our state.
Over the past two years, the Andrews Labor Government has focused on responding to the COVID-19 pandemic to protect the health and wellbeing of Victorians. We could not have done this without you. Volunteers have been vital to delivering essential services, both on the ground and virtually, during this time. For this sizeable contribution, we are indebted to you.
This strategy outlines the changes needed to maintain our strong and vibrant culture of volunteering. We have built on feedback from engagement surveys, the voice of workshop participants and the advice of the Volunteer Strategy Taskforce to guide us.
The strategy also offers a roadmap of practical improvements we can make to respond to recent challenges. This includes:
- ensuring volunteering is accessible and inclusive for all
- supporting more flexible and one-off volunteering options to suit people at different stages in their lives
- a continued focus on the volunteer experience – quality, safety and satisfaction
- sharing and promoting best practice and building on successful approaches
- joined-up and easy approaches to take part in volunteering, to reduce the burden on volunteers and community organisations
- discussion about how to measure, value and recognise the impact of volunteering, including informal and community volunteering.
Our government wants to support and strengthen the volunteer community so it can do what it does best. This is to lend a helping hand to those who need it. This volunteer strategy will guide future policy and investments to make good on this commitment.
Thank you to every person who contributed to developing this strategy. I look forward to continuing to work with communities and the volunteer community in its implementation.
Josh Bull MP
Parliamentary Secretary for Carers and Volunteers
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