It's hard to sum up the role volunteers play in our community. Mainly, because most go about their business without looking for affirmation or praise for their contributions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
But their value is undeniable.
In Tasmania, it's estimated volunteers contribute more than $4 billion to the state each year through their selfless, and often thankless acts.
That's not to say the efforts of our volunteers are underappreciated, but they certainly should never be taken for granted.
From volunteers in emergency services, aged care, Men's sheds, education and awareness campaigns, community fundraisers, sporting clubs - the list is endless.
But like most things, the past 12 months have seen our volunteers grappling with the realities of COVID-19, and many have yet to recover.
Organisational volunteering has been on the decline for some time, from 36 per cent in 2010 to 29 per cent in 2019, according to the ABS. Now, it's been revealed that nearly one in 10 Australians have not returned to volunteering roles in the past year.
Almost three quarters (72 per cent) reported their organisation's volunteer program was not fully operational, while nearly half (42 per cent) were not confident they would achieve pre-COVID levels of volunteering activity in the next six months.
This, all at a time when demand on services has never been greater.
Considering there's an estimated six million people in volunteer roles across Australia, contributing more than 600 million hours to help others a year, the question remains - what will we do without them?
This National Volunteering Week (May 17-23), along with recognising and reconnecting with volunteers within our communities, attention has turned to reimagining how we ensure the roles of volunteers are supported into the future.
Because the reality is, particular in the context of our COVID-19 recovery, we would be lost without our volunteers.
Their absence in our community would leave a hole that perhaps no amount of government or organisational funding would be able to fill.
What do you think? Send us a letter to the editor: