VALUING OUR NATION’S VOLUNTEERS AND THE ORGANISATIONS THEY SUPPORT

It’s National Volunteer Week and the Albanese Labor Government is continuing its commitment to the volunteering sector with close to $10 million in grant funding to support volunteers to do vital work in their communities.

A strong volunteering sector is a reflection of our combined efforts to foster community connections, promote change, and enrich our society.

Across the nation, close to 4000 local community organisations have received funding through the 2023-24 Volunteer Grants round.

The one-off grants of up to $5000 can be used to buy small equipment for volunteers or for the reimbursement of items such volunteer fuel, transport, or training costs.

Locally, in the Ballarat electorate 24 organisations received a total of $66,035.

These organisations include

The Volunteer Grants Program is an important part of the Government’s commitment to assist volunteers and encourage volunteering, and follows the goals laid out in the National Strategy for Volunteering, which will work to improve support across the volunteering sector in Australia.

The Strategy is a blueprint for the future of the sector, enabling a shared vision and highlights desired outcomes for volunteering in Australia over the next ten years.

More information about Australian Government grants is available on the GrantsConnect website.

Quotes attributable to Member for Ballarat Catherine King

“Congratulations to all the recipients of the 2024 Volunteer Grants. And thank you to the many people who volunteer time and energy to make our community a better and more inclusive place.  

“Whether it’s for training, petrol vouchers, tech equipment, uniforms or first aid training, these grants are empowering our local volunteer organisations to provide support to those who need it.”

Quotes attributable to Sue Jakob, Ballarat Repair Cafe

“We’re really excited to receive this grant of $1200 and will be using the funds to purchase a new laptop for the Ballarat Repair Café.

“It means that our volunteers will have access to the internet while they’re repairing peoples’ items. It also means that we can keep a register of the work we do. Having this data on hand will support our efforts at future advocacy and growing our organisation so that more community members can repair their items instead of throwing them away.”