VolunteerFest: Valuing Diversity in Volunteering

I Can Do That - www.volunteer.vic.gov.au

VolunteerFest is an event hosted by the Department of Planning and Community Development to celebrate the diversity of volunteers and volunteering across Victoria. It provides an opportunity for volunteer organisations to share ideas and build new networks.

The inaugural VolunteerFest was held on Thursday 6 October at LifeSaving Victoria in Port Melbourne.

This first session provided an opportunity for volunteering organisations to interact, exchange ideas and discuss the issues relevant to them. It was also a chance to recognise the contribution of Victoria's volunteers and the groups that support them.

The Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional and Rural Development, Peter Ryan, attended the event to launch of the Victorian Government's Valuing Diversity in Volunteering program. The program will fund a series of volunteering events around Victoria over the next four years, to promote volunteering opportunities, and increase awareness of volunteering among people from diverse backgrounds, ages and abilities.

'I would like to take this opportunity to thank the more than 1.2 million Victorians who volunteer, contributing more than 170 million hours of work each year, which is worth around $4.5 billion in labour costs alone,' Mr Ryan said.

'The real theme of this is that volunteers do an absolutely magnificent job in the state of Victoria, in a variety of ways, in a vast array of arenas. Where would we be, as a state, without them?'

VolunteerFest focused on key issues such as emergency volunteering, regulations and compliance, and creating an inclusive community. A number of innovative local initiatives from across Victoria were also highlighted.

Other key speakers on the day were:

Dianne Embry, Volunteering Victoria
Laura Buchanan, AMES
Clare Wynne, Youth Affairs Council Victoria
Leonie Morgan, Office for the Community Sector

Presentations from the sessions:

Youth volunteering

VolunteerFest presentation by Clare Wynne from Youth Affairs Council of Victoria (YACVic), including the launch of a new report, Volunteering is catching: A study into young people's volunteering in Victoria 2011.

Volunteering and diverse communities

VolunteerFest presentation by Laura Buchanan from AMES, looking at ways to celebrate and encourage cultural diversity in volunteering.

I can do that * DPCD Volunteer Portal

VolunteerFest: Valuing Diversity in Volunteering

Youth volunteering

Volunteering and diverse communities