International Volunteer Day
Australia will celebrate International Volunteer Day (IVD) on Wednesday, 5 December.
IVD is a United Nations-auspiced day that commenced in 1985 and is now celebrated around the world as a day to recognise volunteers in their communities.
New Volunteering Australia chief executive officer, Cary Pedicini, said it was a great time to recognise the contribution that volunteers made to their community.
“Many not-for-profits could not operate without the input from their volunteer network. The cost to these organisations if they were to replace their work with paid staff is almost impossible to estimate as more than 6.3 million volunteers contribute more than 836 million hours of voluntary work.
“IVD is a great time to recognise this wonderful commitment and encourage more Australians to volunteer. There are so many opportunities for volunteering and many organisations now offer competency based training that is recognised nationally and can help with future job prospects or personal development,” he said.
“Govolunteer is a website dedicated to listing volunteer opportunities nationally with a search function that enables you to find opportunities in your own area.
“More than 11,000 volunteering opportunities are listed and organisations are checked to ensure they have appropriate volunteer insurance before having their listing placed on the site.”
For more information visit www.govolunteer.com.au and www.volunteeringaustralia.org
