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Welcome to Volunteering Tasmania

Welcome to Volunteering Tasmania

Latest News

Introduction to Volunteering Session next Wednesday

Wednesday 4 August, 10.30am-11.30am
Hobart office: 57D Brisbane Street

Living in Hobart and thinking about volunteering? Not sure where to start? Want to know more? Come to a friendly info session. We will talk about volunteer rights, current vacancies and the benefits to volunteering. We believe that volunteering is a great way to learn new skills, meet new people, have fun and strengthen the community. Please email laurah@volunteeringtas.org.au to register or call Laura on 62315550.

UK Volunteer Rights Inquiry Interim Report

After a series of high profile incidents in the UK in which things relating to volunteers appeared to go badly wrong - resulting in walk-outs, legal proceedings, and very public disputes - Volunteering England decided to engage in a Volunteer Rights Inquiry to begin to understand the nature and scope of the problems experienced by volunteers and identify suitable remedies. A committee was established to conduct this inquiry with members drawn from campaigners for volunteer rights and volunteer welfare, volunteer managers, large volunteer involving organisations, infrastructure organisations and existing regulators. Over the past six months the Inquiry has collected stories about volunteers' experiences and has now released an interim report on its findings, including some proposed solutions. VT sees this as a very important piece of work with a great deal of relevance to the Australian and Tasmanian volunteer sector. Many of the issues raised and stories presented could just as easily be ones that we come across here. We look forward to the Inquiry's final report later in the year. Download the interim report here.

National Volunteering Strategy under discussion

Staff and Board from Volunteering Tasmania were delighted to welcome Senator Ursula Stephens Federal Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector to our organisation on Monday 5 July. The Senator reinforced the Federal Government’s commitment to volunteerism and understanding of the seminal role that volunteering plays in building strong and inclusive communities. One of the items under discussion was the National Volunteering Strategy. The Senator encourages all organisations to have their say by completing the on line survey here.

Message from the CEO

A ‘new look VT’ is on its way...From the 1st July our brand will change to reflect some of the changes that we have been undergoing as an organisation over the last year.

Just as the volunteering environment is changing, so are we. Our new brand is fresher and more positive and will help to drive us into the future. At VT we have increased our operational capacity and grown the capability we have to build stronger and more effective networks in the community. Last year we launched Volunteer Connect, the Volunteer Management Review and our Positioning Paper for the State of Volunteering Report. The new brand plus these 3 flagships reflect our core business which is to:

  • Support and facilitate pathways to volunteering for all members of the community;
  • Provide consultancy, resources and information to volunteer involving organisations and programs;
  • Help to shape the future of volunteering through leadership, research and promotion.
We expect there will be a short transition time while we are phasing the new brand in. In particular the VT website which will not be complete until mid/late July.Regards, Adrienne.

Thank you to the 2,500 or so people who participated in our State of Volunteering survey!

Surveys are now closed: thank you to all for taking part. We received responses from over 1600 volunteers, nearly 600 non-volunteers and almost 350 volunteer-involving organisations. We value your input tremendously and look forward to sharing the results of the survey with you later in the year. Congratulations also to the winners of survey prizes, kindly donated by Dick Smith and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra.

National Volunteer Week 2010 - a success!

Volunteering Tasmania volunteer information session in Kingborough during National Volunteer Week, led by Peter Middleton
Volunteer information session in Kingborough during National Volunteer Week, led by Volunteering Tasmania's Peter Middleton.

This year there were hundreds of volunteer information and 'thank you' events around the state. National Volunteer Week was launched in Tasmania with a breakfast in Launceston on Monday 10 May. Professor David Adams, Social Inclusion Commissioner for Tasmania, spoke on this year's theme 'Now More Than Ever', reminding us that the overall rate of Tasmanian participation in volunteering is one of the highest in the nation, and highlighting several continuing trends including changing patterns in volunteering, increased professionalism and regulation of volunteering and of course a hot topic - ageing demographics of volunteers. To read his full speech click here. Thank you once again to everybody who got involved in this year's National Volunteer Week.

Workplace Bullying Awareness

This workshop provides a comprehensive view of workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination including developing or enhancing effective interpersonal skills to deal with conflict in the workplace. It includes legal and compliance issues, key factors and indicators of a bullying culture, definitions, rights and responsibilities of employees, employers and managers, and creating positive workplace relationships. The emphasis is on honing and acquiring interpersonal skills and practical information, strategies and methods to deal with bullying. For more information click here. Download Registration Form.

 
 
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