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Volunteering Australia

Submission: 

Volunteering Australia welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Australian Government on the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service.

Please find attached our submission. We would welcome further opportunity to consult or expand on any of the issues raised in this submission.

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Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

Australian Government

July 2018

Volunteering Australia Contacts

Ms Adrienne Picone, Chief Executive Officer

ceo@volunteeringaustralia.org Redacted

Ms Lavanya Kala, Policy Manager

lavanya@volunteeringaustralia.org Redacted
Independent Review of the Australian Public Service

About Volunteering Australia

Volunteering Australia is the national peak body for volunteering. We work to advance volunteering in the

Australian community.
Volunteering Australia’s vision is to promote strong, connected communities through volunteering. Our

mission is to lead, strengthen, promote and celebrate volunteering in Australia.
We work collectively with the seven State and Territory volunteering peak bodies to deliver national,
state/territory and local volunteering programs and initiatives in accordance with the Government’s

priorities.
As the primary link between the volunteering sector and federal government, Volunteering Australia

provides feedback into key decision making. All feedback is informed by research, evidence and consultation

with the volunteering sector.

Introduction

Volunteering Australia welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission to the Australian Government on

the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service.
Volunteering is at the centre of Australia’s national identity, with 5.8 million Australians or 31 per cent of

the population engaging in volunteering activities. Volunteering is an activity with the highest multiplier

effect of any government spending. Research demonstrates that volunteering yields a 450% return for every

dollar invested. Nationally this is an estimated annual economic and social contribution of $290 billion. i

From the arts, education, emergency services, sports, environment, health, aged care, disability, and

community welfare; volunteering is woven across various government portfolios and programs.
Volunteering is also critical to the delivery of the Australian Government’s priorities of building strong and

resilient communities, by encouraging economic participation, mitigating isolation and loneliness, and

increasing social inclusion, community resilience, participation and social cohesion.
In this submission, Volunteering Australia highlights four main areas for improvement for the Australian

Public Service:

  • A strengthened focus on whole of government approaches and cross-sectoral collaboration;
  • Recognition of volunteering by the APS;
  • The adoption of Volunteering Australia’s definition of volunteering across all government
    departments; and
  • Increased transparency in government tender processes.

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Volunteering Australia Response

Whole of Government Approach and Cross-Sectoral Collaboration

The current nature of the public service is not effective for activities such as volunteering, which work and

intersect across multiple portfolios. This was also highlighted in the Australia 2030: Prosperity through

Innovation report, which states that, “…the public sector should be designed to work across portfolios”ii

An example of this was highlighted in Volunteering Australia’s submission on the Sustainable Development

Goals (SDGs), where we emphasised that while primary responsibility for the SDGs sits with the Department

of Foreign Affairs and Trade, there is a fragmented approach to delivering on each of the goals. This is evident

through separate departmental responsibility and accountability allocated for each of the goals. The

intersections of each goal require interventions in thinking to move beyond agency-centric views, and

require a transformation to reduce departmental silos. The allocation of individual departmental

responsibility and accountability for the goals impedes efforts to interpret them in a transformative and

interconnected way. Many federal government departments are working across multiple goals, in the same

way that state government portfolios, and local governments are addressing more than one goal. This

singular view obstructs the process toward implementation, measurement and monitoring.iii

Given that volunteering is a diverse, cross-sector activity, it is vital that there is an integrated approach to

achieving the SDGs. Volunteering Australia outlined that an activity such as volunteering extends across all

17 SDGs, and has therefore found it difficult to find a coordinated approach to achieving the SDGs within

the Australian Public Service. By employing a whole of government approach and transforming to reduce

departmental silos, it will allow for improved communication, resource allocation and better outcomes.

The Australian Public Service also needs to evolve and transform in the way it works with civil society and

the wider community in order to tackle complex, multi-sectoral challenges. In fact, the Australia 2030 report

also stresses that the public sector needs to “have the capability (including skills, culture, technical ability

and collaborative methods) to work effectively as a whole, and in cooperation with other organisations in

the economy, to deliver the innovative services and policy required by business and the public in the 21st

century.”iv While we acknowledge the public sector does have advisory groups within particular portfolios

and activities, there needs to be “much more horizontal and cross-sectoral collaboration.”v

As a national peak body, Volunteering Australia plays a leadership role in the sector by advocating effectively

to support and advance volunteering in Australia. The Australian Public Service needs to proactively work to

consult widely, and harness the networks they have, including with national peak bodies and their

memberships, as well as engage in meaningful and diverse consultation. This includes better coordination,
consultation and collaboration with the community, charities and not-for-profit sector.

Recognition of Volunteering by Australian Public Service

Australian charities are reliant on the efforts of volunteers, encompassing 2.97 million members of the

charitable sector workforce, compared to one million paid staff members.vi The Giving Australia 2016 report

on non-profits and volunteering found that 62.3 per cent of organisations in the not-for-profit sector actively

recruited volunteers.vii

Volunteering provides a crucial entry point into the workforce, and can be valuable in assisting many people,
particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to engage with the workforce and build key employable

skills. Volunteering can increase workforce participation, and connect people to career paths that are better

paid and more stable.viii

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Volunteering is also a form of civic participation that creates ‘bridging networks’, and generates positive

social practices that strengthens communities by fostering positive social norms, spreads information and

innovation, and provides mechanisms for collective problem solving.ix

While volunteers donate their “time willingly”x, the operational cost of delivering innovative and agile

volunteering programs that are responsive to the needs of Australian society is increasing, and requires

investment. Organisations encounter reasonable expenses with the induction, training, management,
resources and ongoing support of volunteers. There are also administrative overheads, such as insurance,
that organisations need to account for. It is essential that the volunteer workforce is accounted for by the

Australian Public Service.

Ongoing Government funding is essential to guarantee that there is recognition of the numerous social,
cultural and economic contributions of volunteering, for identifying priority funding areas and for specifying

need for volunteering. It will also enable an accurate assessment of funding needs with respect to grants for

volunteer programs, including determining infrastructure needs and service delivery strategies.

Definition of Volunteering and Data Collection

There is inconsistency with the definition of volunteering used by each of the government departments, as

well as the consideration of the evolution of volunteering. Volunteering Australia has repeatedly called for

a nationally consistent standard when referring to volunteering, in line with our definition of volunteering.

“Time willingly given, for the common good and without financial gain”xi

The adoption of a single definition is critical to ensuring accurate and consistent data that is comparable

across each government department, and a robust dataset is essential to policy, workforce planning and

service provision.

It is essential we effectively capture data on volunteering, including barriers to volunteering, for robust

reporting, and to assist Volunteer Involving Organisations, Volunteering Support Services, organisations and

businesses who engage volunteers to evolve and to better plan for their workforces.

Government Contracts and Tenders

There needs to be a more transparent and equitable process with government procurement processes

across the board. Community sector organisations are often overlooked in these processes, in favour of

larger private sector companies or consultants, despite having extensive subject-matter expertise,
grassroots knowledge and community linkages.
It is important to acknowledge that community sector organisations continue to provide subject-matter

expertise to these processes, despite often being excluded from the tendering process in various ways. For

example, many community organisations experience a lack of resources, which affects their ability to

complete funding applications that have tight timeframes. A lack of transparency is further exacerbated

where tendering processes exclude community sector organisations from being considered, invited to apply

or “tapped on the shoulder”. Increased transparency within the Australian Public Service should consider

the breadth of organisations who may be able to deliver on government priorities, and who may operate

other services/programs in a community-based setting.

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Recommendations

  • Employ a whole of government approach and move beyond agency-centric views to reduce
    departmental silos
  • Transform the way the Australian Public Service approaches consultation and engages in cross-sectoral
    collaboration
  • Recognise the value of volunteering and that the Australian Public Service needs to account for the
    volunteer workforce as a priority funding area
  • Adopt a nationally consistent, single definition of volunteering across the Australian Public Service
  • Implement a more transparent and equitable process in government tendering that considers the
    breadth of organisations who can deliver on government priorities

Conclusion

Volunteering Australia thanks the Independent Panel for the opportunity to provide a response on this

Review.
Volunteering Australia is committed to growing a culture of giving in Australia. Public policy plays a vital role

in creating and supporting volunteering initiatives. Volunteering can also be adversely affected by public

policy that is indifferent to the concerns of volunteers and Volunteer Involving Organisations. We believe a

strong, diverse, functional and independent Australian Public Service is integral to responding to emerging

challenges, generating public policy and driving innovative programming.
We look forward to working with the Australian Public Service to ensure that the social, economic and

cultural contributions of the volunteering sector is acknowledged and supported, through ongoing funding,
recognising the value of volunteering as a pathway to employment, and the vital role of volunteering in high

quality service delivery.
Volunteering Australia would welcome further opportunity to consult or expand on any of the issues raised

in this submission.

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Authorisation

This submission has been authorised by the Chief Executive Officer of Volunteering Australia.

Ms Adrienne Picone

Chief Executive Officer

Endorsements

This submission has been endorsed by the seven State and Territory volunteering peak bodies.

Glossary

VA Volunteering Australia is the national peak body for volunteering in Australia. It works
collectively with the peaks to deliver national, state and local volunteering programs and
initiatives.

VIO Volunteer Involving Organisations are organisations that engage volunteers as part of
their workforce.

VSS Volunteering Support Services (also known as Volunteer Resource Centres or Volunteer
Support Organisations) provide place-based volunteer support services to volunteers and
VIOs in their locality.

i
Flinders University (31 October 2014) ‘Volunteering worth $290 billion a year’,
http://blogs.flinders.edu.au/flinders-news/2014/10/31/volunteering-worth-290-billion-a-year

ii
Innovation and Science Australia (2017), Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation, Australian

Government, https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/g/files/net3906/f/May%202018/document/pdf/australia-2030-
prosperity-through-innovation-full-report.pdf

iii
Volunteering Australia (2018), Response on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG),
https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-
content/files_mf/1522901880ResponseontheUnitedNationsSustainableDevelopmentGoalsSDG.pdf

iv
Innovation and Science Australia (2017), Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation, Australian

Government, https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/g/files/net3906/f/May%202018/document/pdf/australia-2030-
prosperity-through-innovation-full-report.pdf

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v
Innovation and Science Australia (2017), Australia 2030: Prosperity through Innovation, Australian

Government, https://www.industry.gov.au/sites/g/files/net3906/f/May%202018/document/pdf/australia-2030-
prosperity-through-innovation-full-report.pdf

vi
ACNC (2017), Australian Charities Report 2016,
http://www.acnc.gov.au/ACNC/Publications/Reports/CharityReport2016.aspx

vii
Giving Australia (2016), Giving and volunteering: the non-profit perspective,
https://www.communitybusinesspartnership.gov.au/wp-
content/uploads/2017/12/nonprofit_report_final_4dec17.pdf.
viii
Indicators of Community Strength in Victoria, op. cit., p17.
ix
Victorian Government (2011), Indicators of Community Strength in Victoria: Framework and Evidence,
Department of Planning and Community Development, 2011, p10-11.
x
Volunteering Australia (2015) ‘Definition of Volunteering’, http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/policy-and-
best-practise/definition-of-volunteering/.
xi
Volunteering Australia (2015), Definition of Volunteering, http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/policy-
andbest-practise/definition-of-volunteering/

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