General News
14 October, 2025
Ways to help vollies thrive
A COMMUNITY leader hopes the government will adopt a key recommendation from an inquiry into volunteering to give more groups better support and operating conditions.
FNQ Volunteers president Annette Sheppard said the Far North would benefit from recommendations to Parliament putting the spotlight on local, place-based volunteering.
“Major changes are in the pipeline for volunteering in Queensland following recommendations by the inquiry committee in the inquiry report released last month,” she said.
“The recommendations are a starting point for the government to support volunteering in ways that recognise the importance of volunteering in the wider community and the value of volunteer contributions, both in money terms and social wellbeing.”
The eight recommendations cover key areas:
Adopting a whole-of-government approach to recognising, investing in and supporting volunteers
Reducing barriers to volunteering
Changes to the Rural Fire Service Queensland to address cultural and organisational issues
Improving the volunteer experience for State Emergency Service volunteers
Improving operating conditions for existing Queensland Volunteer Resource centres
Furthering engagement with government organisations and stakeholders
Reviewing volunteer onboarding requirements
Investigating policy approaches for First Nations and multicultural communities.
“Recommendation five is particularly encouraging and acknowledges the work of volunteer resource centres in the recruitment and placement of volunteers and their support of volunteer involving organisations over many years,” Ms Sheppard said.
She said the report recommended the provision of emergency funding to each of the four existing regional volunteer resource centres as appropriate in order to best ensure their ongoing operations, while appropriate corporate and industry support is established.
Ms Sheppard said it was also recommended that a new volunteer resource centre be developed and funded to establish a network of volunteering hubs across Queensland, ideally in major regional centres.
“The focus on place-based support for volunteering demonstrates a commitment to community-driven solutions to local issues and is a welcome diversion from centralised models of support,” she said.
“The bipartisan committee has done an excellent job of filtering through the submissions and distilling the relevant information into a coherent overview of the volunteering landscape in Queensland. The test will now be for the government to review the report and deliver adequate funding for its implementation.”
Ms Sheppard said volunteering was not free of costs and organisations struggled to meet statutory obligations.
