Beginnings
Role of the unit
Objectives
Volunteering rates
The Community Participation unit is part of the Department for Communities. The Minister for Volunteering is Sue Ellery MLC.
The role of the Community Participation unit is to implement the Western Australian Government’s Valuing Volunteers policy initiatives and to ensure the across government and across community coordination for the volunteering sector.
The unit’s objectives are to:
- develop and implement Government policy for volunteering and provide Ministerial support;
- monitor issues and coordinate ongoing research and evaluation of volunteering initiatives to inform policy and program development;
- develop program initiatives that support and extend volunteering now and into the future; and
- establish mechanisms of communication within the public sector and the wider community to develop partnerships through consultation.
Volunteering rates in Western Australia are slightly higher than the national rate according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics 'Voluntary Work Survey 2006'.
The survey found that Australia-wide 5.2 million people (34%), aged 18 years or more took part in voluntary work with an organisation or group in 2006. Almost one in four Western Australians (36%) aged 18 years and over, took part in volunteering activities. This is above the national rate of 34 per cent.
The majority of volunteers (47%) in WA in 2006 were in the 35-44 age group; of these 52% were female.
In 2006, 542 000 people contributed 70.7 million hours of unpaid work for the benefit of the community.
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