Major Changes for Volunteering Australia
1 May 2012 at 9:01 am
The Board of the nation's peak volunteering organisation, Volunteering Australia has taken the decision to relocate its headquarters to Canberra from the 1st July 2012 as part of a major restructuring move.
VA Board President, Paul Lynch, said in a statement to members that "Volunteering Australia will be presented with the opportunity to make some strategic changes in direction over the next few months and the time is right to make this move.
“The recent release of the Australian Government’s National Volunteering Strategy has re-affirmed the importance of having a strong national body that can represent the interests of volunteers and volunteer involving organisations at a time when there is significant change within the broader Not for Profit sector."
The Board’s statement makes no reference to the future of the current CEO Cary Pedicini.
"Volunteering Australia will be seeking to strengthen its capacity to represent the volunteering community through reform of its current governance structures and has determined that the organisation will be better placed to do this based in Canberra," said Lynch.
"VA is currently holding discussions with its Foundation members, the State and Territory peak bodies, to ensure continuity of services during this transition period. This change will not impact delivery of services such as support for National Volunteer Week and GoVolunteer matching service."
The Federal Government undertook a series of consultations during the development of the National Volunteering Strategy and a review in late 2011 of the Volunteer Management Program (VMP).
In February 2012, an updated funding model was proposed for the VMP to support the implementation of the Strategy.Under the funding arrangements, funding for Volunteering Australia and State and Territory peak bodies were to be amalgamated into a new National Project Fund
After the release of the proposed funding model, stakeholders raised a number of concerns about the impact of the changes.
In response, the Minister for Social Inclusion, Mark Butler, decided to defer the implementation of a new funding model, while the Government consulted further with the volunteering sector and State and Territory governments on new program arrangements.
The Government has agreed that while consultations are underway, organisations currently funded under the Volunteer Management Program will be offered new funding agreements.
- Regional Volunteer Resource Centres will be offered three-year funding agreements, from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2015.
- Metropolitan Volunteer Resource Centres will be offered two-year funding agreements, from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014.
- Volunteering Australia, and state and territory volunteering peak bodies will be offered two-year funding agreements, from 1 July 2012 to 30 June 2014.
- New funding agreements will seek to support the implementation of the National Volunteering Strategy by aligning the outcomes and performance indicators with the Strategy’s priority areas.
