Many of you have no doubt become aware of the decision regarding the funding of Volunteering ACT by the ACT Government announced in the recent ACT budget. There is a 50% reduction for this and the following financial years. This is to be followed, according to the budget papers, by a zero amount in the 4^th year.

The Board of Governance of Volunteering ACT is currently seeking advice from the Chief Minister and his Department on the reasons behind this decision and which of the VACT services to the community sector and to the large volunteer workforce; it requires Volunteering ACT to reduce.

As soon as possible we will be informing you as to what effect this funding cut will have on our capacity to do just that. Thank you for your understanding and support.

As you would be aware Volunteering ACT was heavily involved in coordinating the huge out pouring of community support in response to the firestorm on January 18^th this year.

Many hundreds of people spontaneously came forward to offer what they could in the form of time, skill and resources.

Unfortunately there was no sub plan in place for dealing with this phenomenon within the ACT Disaster Plan. VACT had to quickly put into place processes and procedures to try to manage this situation. Many of the volunteers who came forward at the time were eventually placed in volunteer positions, however, many were not.

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Additional volunteers might have been placed with organisations had there been a plan in place to facilitate this. This is in no way a criticism of the previous plan as it is not until it is tested thoroughly that lessons can be learnt and gaps identified in the plan.

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January 18^th was certainly a test of the process. Many organisations found themselves without access to their normal infrastructure. Many organisations needed extra volunteer staff, however were without the management capacity to take them on.

Obtaining adequate insurance cover for the unattached volunteers became an urgent issue. Communication was difficult and confused, and personnel highly stressed.

Nevertheless, approximately half of the volunteers who registered with VACT were placed. Discussions are still being held regarding further opportunity for volunteers to be utilised in the longer term recovery period.

VACT has been asked by Emergency Management Australia, EMA, to present a workshop on the lessons learnt, along with ST George Volunteer Resource and Referral Centre in Hurstville NSW, which has undertaken a study into the management of spontaneous volunteers.

VACT wants to hear of your experiences as a not-for-profit organisation working with volunteers during that time and as the recovery period progresses

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• What were your immediate challenges?
• What worked, what didn’t work?
• What could VACT have done to better assist you?
• What is working for you now?
• What are your current challenges regarding the recovery?
• What effect has this had on your organistion’s staff, paid and unpaid, physically and emotionally?
• Have staff needed more time off than usual due to illness, stress related episodes in the workplace?
• Are you experiencing a higher than normal caseload which you can attribute to the recovery period?
• Is there any particular pattern in the type or frequency of new requests for assistance?
• Do you require additional volunteer staff?

A reminder to all to check the ACT Government's Risk Advisory Website for the latest news in Public Liability Insurance (PLI) and risk management.

Everybody needs PLI these days and the best way to get affordable PLI is by having you own Risk Management Plan. A Risk Management Plan lists your organisation's activities and the steps you take to ensure these activities are carried out safely.

The Risk Advisory Website shows you how to create your own Risk Management Plan and the many ways you can use this valuable document. For instance, here are some other ways a Risk Management Plan can be used;

Another valuable function of the Risk Advisory Website is to allow you to gauge how "risky" your activities will be viewed by an insurer. This is done by creating your own Risk Profile. The Risk Profile is very simple to do and only takes a few minutes. When you complete your Risk Profile, you also get a link directly to a PLI insurer and can apply for PLI through their website.

For any further information about PLI for volunteers, Risk Management or how to use the Risk Advisory Website call Kevin Wenman on 620 70318. Kevin is a Policy Officer with the ACT Government and is happy to talk to you about any of the topics above.

It seems a long time ago since I wrote in the autumn addition of the 2001 Newsletter seeking your input into the composition of the COMPACT, the document which sets out the principles under which the Community Sector and Government should work together. Since that time the inaugural COMPACT has been completed and an implementation group, including VACT, has been formed.

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One of the undertakings of the COMPACT is to establish a "Conflict Resolution" process. The implementation group has worked for many months on a model to underpin the document; this part of the work is nearing completion.

The January firestorm has meant a delay in many areas of work as we know. One such is continuation of the COMPACT implementation. However work will commence again shortly.

One of the next tasks is to provide you with an opportunity to re-engage with the COMPACT through an interactive workshop where you can revisit the aims and objectives of the agreement and decide where to from here in terms of making the COMPACT meaningful and active.

Once the various codes of practice are developed to sit under the document, and existing protocols are reviewed the COMPACT will carry more strength.

The recent consultation on the new funding agreements highlighted two things:

1. The purpose of the COMPACT is not well known.
2. The consultation protocol is in need of refocus.

The process has certainly thrown into question the manner in which consultation is carried out in the ACT.

If for whatever reason you are not in possession of a copy of the COMPACT please contact VACT to obtain one.

Since that time Volunteering ACT and the other major Peaks have been involved in working with the ACT Government to ensure this model could function as equitably and effectively as possible

In May 2002 the ACT Government announced that it would conduct a review into service purchasing arrangements in the human services area and meanwhile extend existing service purchasing contracts by one year

Whilst welcoming this review VACT, along with ACTCOSS and other Peaks, has some significant concerns.

Firstly the Government has known since June last year that the process of review and service agreement renegotiation had to be completed before June 2003. We are disappointed that we are only just now in the consultation phase.

Another concern is the amount of time and resources required from the community sector in exploring the complex nature of these funding agreements and the very difficult questions that this consultation has raised.

As a result of the delay the implementation is now planned to occur in two phases leaving many organisations in a state of anxiety and confusion re their future funding. ACTCOSS clearly outlines what the community sector is looking for in its paper when it lists the following:

• Certainty;
• Continuity;
• Improved relationships with Government;
• Continuous improvement in understanding need (by both Government and sector),
• Simplified, plain English policy and agreements; and
• Sound procedures for negotiating necessary funding increases.

VACT would agree that these objectives must be met. VACT also agrees with the ACTCOSS premise that

"The purchaser/provider model emphasises the power of government as the purchaser of services provided by community organisations. In the spirit of the Compact, ACTCOSS believes that the funding relationship needs instead to embody mutual contribution and partnership between autonomous but interdependent agents. Again, this does not preclude accountability. Rather, a more equal relationship could serve to highlight the accountability of community organisations. If government is no longer seen as purchasing services on behalf of the public, but rather as returning public funds to the community, by funding organisations to provide services to the public, then this could imply a more direct accountability of community organisations to the public, as well as to the government."

However community organisations do have a role in setting priorities and identifying need and any funding arrangement needs to value the role community organisations and their peak bodies play in both providing advice and information and being the voice of the community.

Another significant stumbling block for the consultation process and the drafting of the new "agreements" is the use and understanding of the language used by all players. The ACTCOSS paper deals very well with this subject on page 8. VACT supports the call for the use of more appropriate language to reflect the "non Commercial nature" of the community sector.

ACTCOSS states that it "broadly endorses the first set of principles proposed by the Draft Policy, which are based in part on the Compact," although maintains "that these principles could be undermined by an inappropriate policy framework" It highlights the need for trust, clarity , and equity and raises questions regarding the viability and sustainability of the sector. VACT would suggest that post January 18 this is an even more urgent matter. The community sector has been faced with increasing costs, including the SACs Award and insurance costs, for some years as well as rising client numbers with more complex needs.

There has been a trend to reducing paid staff members and a greater reliance on volunteer staff, sometimes carrying out tasks more appropriately undertaken by paid staff. This trend is very disturbing to VACT.

VACT has concerns about the way sub-sectors are defined in the draft policy. VACT along with ACTCOSS supports the concept of planning by sub-sector, there is a concern that this could "artificially divide and isolate sections of the community sector from each other, and also could result in certain organisations or activities falling through the gaps". Could this cause resentment and confusion among some agencies?

VACT agree with ACTCOSS that "it is imperative that the bodies overseeing and implementing service planning endorse and thoroughly understand the special nature of service provision in the community sector. Particular care must be taken to ensure that continuity of service and ongoing client relationships need to be protected by planning and funding systems, so that these systems build in security for service providers and their clients"

"Consumers, service providers and government need to be equal partners in the development of these plans, and the development process must be well-resourced for all parties"

VACT calls on the Government to ensure that data collection and analysis of need is not just based on data collection from funded organisations but also based on sound research. VACT, along with the other Peaks has been calling for this for a long time. How else can the government and the sector understand the need that the sector is supposedly being funded to meet.

VACT agrees with the ACTCOSS position on tendering and funding procedures as expressed in the paper as follows:

"ACTCOSS is opposed to open price tendering for community services in all but the rarest circumstances, because it promotes a "race to the bottom" in terms of price and, ultimately, in terms of quality and sustainability. Furthermore, under tendering regimes there is little protection against wholesale changes of provider, which result in the loss of accumulated experience. Service funding policy must protect continuity of service provision as a high priority, while ensuring quality in service delivery by appropriate evaluation systems, and retaining the capacity for funding bodies (and the public) to hold providers accountable for meeting need.

It is now clear that "the market" in community services is not an adequate mechanism for determining cost or value, so a collaborative approach must be taken to determine these values. Policy needs to promote a balance between price and quality, instead of encouraging a trade-off between them.

Normal practice should be that funding continues to be allocated to existing providers, on the condition that they have met reasonable standards. For ongoing service funding, existing service providers should be re-funded as the default position, as long as providers meet certain standards, such as those suggested by the Government for the renewal of service agreements at 30 June 2003, where organisations are:

• satisfactorily meeting all performance measures and other contractual requirements;
• likely to be able to maintain performance for the next twelve months;
• actively engaged in quality improvement; and
• continuing to meet priority needs.

In considering the issue of tendering, it is worth recalling the report of the Assembly Committee in 1999, which observed:

The Draft Policy appears to operate from the premise that services should be tendered unless criteria exempt them. Accordingly, the Draft Policy includes a number of criteria for not applying a process of tendering or expressions of interest. While many of these criteria make sense, ACTCOSS maintains that the policy should instead treat tendering as the exceptional circumstance, and should lay out the criteria for this. In the Government’s own words, these would be "limited and predictable circumstances" (p. 5). If that is the intention of the policy, then it is, as argued above, inconsistent to define tender/EOI as the default position and then prescribe criteria for diverting from the default."

Pricing versus quality has been in continual debate and "whatever methods are applied to the problem of selecting providers, the Government and the sector need to work together to develop a sound understanding of the costs of providing community services, so that this can inform pricing."

In 1999, the Assembly Committee reported that:

The Committee report recommended that, "in consultation with the community service sector, the government develop and promulgate service purchasing pricing guidelines" (p. 15). VACT and ACTCOSS believe that this still needs to occur. We await clear accounts of these guidelines; including the reasoning behind them (see Committee Inquiry Report p. 8).

VACT couldn’t agree more when ACTCOSS states "in considering costing and pricing, Government and the sector need to explore ways to ensure that organisations are able to cover their ‘core costs’. The cost of complying with contractual obligations is a concern that has been repeatedly expressed by the community sector. Organisations have to comply with a multitude of obligations that are costly to meet, and, as with "core costs" generally; these costs must be considered in the process of costing and pricing of community services."

ACTCOSS notes "the report titled Funding our future: Core costs revisited, which was published by AVECO, the U.K. body that represents the chief executives of voluntary organisations in 2001. This report argues that there are three different funding strategies to consider:

• Full project funding in which all reasonable associated costs are met as part of a funding package…;
• Development funding through which the internal infrastructure costs of an organisation are met for a time in order to enable it to grow and develop; and
• Strategic funding through which the funder recognises the need for an organisation to exist – in order to meet its own objectives – and is prepared to contribute over an agreed period of time.

ACTCOSS believes that these strategies and the report in general, offer useful insights for the ACT context. A particularly useful feature of the strategies noted is that they include explicit recognition of the medium and longer-term role that funding can have in developing community sector organisations, and represent a recognition that funding is not only related to the purchasing of measurable outputs."

VACT also calls on the Government to review the standard service agreement and agrees with ACTCOSS when it says "much of the wording of current contracts is against the spirit, if not the letter, of the Compact"

VACT is aware that many concerns have been expressed by the community sector over the last six years and these must be addressed as part of this review of funding policy.

Further VACT agrees that the review must also address the broader issues of consistency and proportionality in reporting. There is a continual issue around funding outcomes and outputs ACTCOSS correctly states that outcomes, and not outputs, are the ultimate purpose of service funding. "Hence, service agreements need to address outcomes as well as specify measurable outputs. The Government needs to work carefully and in a well-resourced way with the sector to develop meaningful concepts for both."

In conclusion VACT would endorse the ACTCOSS stance on page 18 of its paper regarding the implementation of the Service Purchasing Policy and looks forward to the above matters being addressed.

Please feel free to contact myself or Daniel Stubbs, CEO ACTCOSS; regarding any concerns or comments you have in relation to the Draft Policy.

Mary Porter AM

ACT Council of Social Service (ACTCOSS) (2002), Community Service Planning Protocol: Proposal for a Joint Community/Government Annual Service Planning Process, February, Canberra.

ACT Government (2001), Compact, Canberra.

ACT Government and ACTCOSS (1999), More than the Sum of its Parts: Planning for and assessing quality in ACT Government Services, January, Publishing Services, Canberra.

Ian McAuley for ACTCOSS (1997), Pricing & Costing of Community Services: A guide for community service providers, October, Canberra.

Johnston, Craig (1998), Purchasing Competitively Assessed or Tendered Services: 3 Issues, an issues paper for the Chief Minister’s Department, ACT Government, December, Canberra.

Taking over the Administration and Membership role is Merja Tuomi.  Merja comes to us with extensive experience in the non government sector. She joins VACT after many years with Work Resources Centre which recently amalgamated with CREEDA She has worked in the employment services area, placing jobseekers into employment, dealing with employers and assisted in establishing the new Employment Outreach Centre that provides advice, support and training for people wanting to get back into the workforce. Merja gained her first paid position whilst volunteering for that organization as a mum, returning to the workforce after many years at home. Merja is another success story from volunteering!

Merja manages the small team of volunteers who staff reception and you may hear her dulcet tones when you ring. She is probably the first port of call for your curly questions as well!

Ian De Landelles joins us in the newly created position of Customer Service Manager and as such manages the Referral Service as well as being responsible for marketing and media and customer relations.

Whilst this is the first paid position that Ian has held in the not for profit sector he has extensive experience at board level having served as president of ACTCOSS and currently on the board of People First, TRAHCS and the Labor Club Group.

Ian has an extensive background in the private sector having held senior marketing positions with major corporations and more recently operating his own successful small business.

If you have questions about recruitment and retention of volunteers, the marketing of your organisation or dealings with the media please feel free to give Ian a call on 62514060 

 The usual cry from our member agencies is volunteers wanted, well this time the shoe is on the other foot.

Following the tremendous amount of media coverage generated during the recent National Volunteer Week we have been inundated with prospective volunteers eager to discover the volunteer opportunities that are available.

As a consequence, we are in urgent need of additional volunteer positions to be added to our data base.

This is a great opportunity for your organisation to assess your current workload and give serious consideration to the further assistance that you may need.

Whether you have "short" or "long term" positions we want to know about them.

For many years those of us who live in Canberra have been aware of the great divide that exists between those of us who reside in the north from those who choose to call south home. Accordingly it was determined that a barrier may exist for potential volunteers living in the south, particularly those in Tuggeranong  and without public transport, and that a service should be established that would make it easier for those people to investigate the potential volunteer jobs that exist both specifically in Tuggeranong and the wider ACT as well. Volunteering ACT set out to see how it could address this problem.

Now, thanks to a grant from the Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services, VACT has an office in the Tuggeranong Community Centre where prospective volunteers are able to explore the full range of volunteer opportunities that are available to them. The "Outreach" service was officially opened by Senator Gary Humphries on May 16 at a ceremony at the Hyperdome Shopping Centre.

The launch was conducted to coincide with National Volunteer Week and was held in conjunction with an "Expo" which showcased 18 agencies that utilise the services of volunteers. The agencies represented covered a diverse range and included youth, community services, people with disabilities, counselling, national attractions, sport and conservation.

The Outreach Service is open for business and potential volunteers are now able to have an appointment with our volunteer interviewers on Friday mornings at 9.30, 10.30 or 11.30 and investigate the hundreds of positions that are available. If you are an organisation situated in or providing services the southern suburbs of the ACT please contact VACT to register any additional volunteer positions you may have.

By now most would be familiar with SPICE the Students Participating in Community Enterprise s Program. This is an innovative project which assists young persons from years 7 to 10 of their high schooling who are in danger of not completing year 10. It offers them an opportunity of one day a week in a real live workplace of their choice where a business mentor takes them under their wing and supports them in that workplace. The student continues in the meantime to attend school, usually with improved enthusiasm and results. The 2002 program was 100% successful however as yet VACT has not been able to attract any additional long term funds to continue the program.

Over the past six months submissions have been forward to many Trusts and Foundations across Australia seeking possible funding for the program. To date St George Bank, The Mazda Foundation, the Snow Foundation and Health Pact have not approved financial support for the program. However although the application to the Foundation for Young Australians requesting funding on a two-year basis was unsuccessful, the Foundation members do appear interested in another application from SPICE, in July 2003, for a specific funding for a particular project. This application will seek funding for a Celebration Package. This package could include: a SPICE banner, a yearly award night for program participants and an Internet Site sponsorship

Good news! The SPICE Program received the first sponsorship from the ACTTAB this month. The money will be used to publish the information material for schools, teachers, student, parents and the business community. T-shirts are also in the process of production through the ACTTAB sponsorship.

VACT has decided to give SPICE its own Web address. This will give students the opportunity to access material about the program in a form that is more user friendly to them and it will be linked to other youth sites.

It is an exciting time for the program. It is possible that at long last things are beginning to move forward. The program was recently showcased to 50 teachers and Principals at the Students to Industry information forum. Currently the Students to Industry Program staff are in discussion with VACT regarding a possible partnership. A Business Plan has been forwarded to the Enterprise and Career Education Foundation in Sydney requesting their approval to release funding for the SPICE program. We trust the response from ECEF will be positive and this will allow the program to function once again.

The program still has the strong support of the school communities, parents of young people at risk, the students and participating businesses. The offices of Volunteering and of Youth Affairs in the SA Government are also interested to learn more about this program, with a view to developing a similar scheme in Adelaide. Currently I work 2 days a week as a volunteer in order that the program be given the chance to keep alive.

If you are interested to know more about this program or can offer assistance please contact me on Monday or Tuesday on 6251 4060 BH.

Robyn Pierce

Volunteer Project Officer.

August 2003 and concluding in September 2003.

(Please note: These are consecutive weeks)

Morning Tea will be provided at all sessions.

Volunteer Managers’ Workshops

There has been an increase in the expressions of interest for these workshops especially in relation to Risk Management – and the way in which effective Volunteer Management impacts on this.

Workshop 1: Wed. 9 July (9.00am – 4.30pm) & Thur 10 July (9.00am – 12.30pm)

Workshop 2: Sat 12 July (9.30am – 2.30pm) & Sat 19 July (9.30am – 2.30pm)

(NB: This will be held on 2 consecutive Saturdays)

Workshop 3: Thur 7 Aug (9.00am – 4.30pm) & Fri 8 Aug (9.00am – 12.30pm)

Workshop 4: Thur 14 Aug (9.00am – 4.30pm) & Fri 15 Aug (9.00am – 12.30pm)

Workshop 5: Thur 21 Aug (9.00am – 4.30pm) & Fri 22 Aug (9.00am – 12.30pm)

Coffee/Tea provided. please bring your own lunch.

In a ceremony conducted on Wednesday May 14, during National Volunteer Week, Frank Millburn was presented with the Volunteering ACT/NRMA Volunteer of the Year Award.

The function was held for the first time in the Black Opal Room at the Canberra Racecourse and was attended by over 250 guests almost 100 of whom were themselves nominees for the Awards.

Guests were entertained on their arrival by a trio of very fine "volunteer" musicians from Canberra Grammar, "Hot Strings". ABC personality Rod Quinn MC'd the Awards as only he can!

As has been the case for the last decade the Awards were presented by Margaret Reid. Even though no longer an ACT Senator, Margaret is delighted to retain her very long standing association with Volunteering ACT. Margaret Reid is a life member of Volunteering ACT and we are looking forward to her maintaining this relationship for many years to come, particularly in her new role as a member of VACT's new Council of Advice.

In an emotion filled acceptance speech a dewy eyed Frank, otherwise known as the clown doctor Krankee Frankee, told the audience how, whilst recovering from heart surgery, he got the idea for the group he then helped to establish, Clown Rounds.

Together with his fellow "doctors" Frank routinely visits patients dispensing large doses of humour believing that laughter really is the best medicine.

Frank has been volunteering in the ACT since the early 1970's when he became involved with his children's sporting activities and has been involved in a wide range of activities ever since.

 In addition to being named the Volunteer of the Year, Frank was also recognised for his work in the Health category.

The judges were unable to separate two nominees and consequently awarded joint recipients.

Doreen McEncroe, nominated by the Volunteer Brigades Association, was recognised for her leadership of the executive team that directs the focus and training of all members of the Brigade.

Fellow Emergency Services volunteer James Bodsworth was also recognised for his efforts as the Commander of the Guises Creek Bushfire and Emergency Services Brigade.

The recipient of the Education Award was Angus Gibbons for his service to the ACT Library Home Delivery Service whilst the Arts and Heritage category was awarded to John MacDiarmid for his work as a guide at the Australian War Memorial.

Rosemary Blemings received the Environment Award in recognition of her ongoing work with a wide range of conservation organisations and Jenny Wanless was recognised for her long service with Questacon in receiving the Science and Technology Award.

The Sport and Recreation was a further joint award, this time the life long team of Jean and Ed Carnall (OAM) who were recognised for their work with a wide variety of sporting organisations.

Catherine Passant was the recipient of the Community Award having worked for organisations such as the YMCA and the National Brain Injury Foundation. Catherine is still going strong in her 85th year. Proof yet again of the health benefits that are derived from volunteering.

In addition the judges awarded two Special Commendations. Margo Hodge received an award for her work with the University Partners English Club. Shirley Hughston was recognised posthumously for a life time of caring for people in the community from the very young to the elderly and infirmed.

In recognition of the contribution that the recipients have made to our community Phil Newton, ACT Regional Manager NRMA, announced that in addition to the donation of $100 to the organisation chosen by each of the Category Award recipients, the NRMA would contribute an additional $100 to each recipient themselves, in order that they might do something for themselves to celebrate their award.

Mr Newton said that he was "proud to represent the NRMA at such a prestigious ceremony" and said "the task of selecting the category recipients and the Volunteer of the Year was getting harder every year as the overall standard of nomination are outstanding".

Mary Porter AM, CEO Volunteering ACT, told the audience that VACT was "grateful for the ongoing support that the NRMA provides for the Volunteer of the Year Award, without which these excellent Awards, that give ACT's volunteers the recognition they truly deserve, may not continue".

As part of National Volunteer Week a mini Expo was conducted at the Hyperdome Shopping Centre in Tuggeranong and 18 organisations were showcased.

To coincide with the opening of our "Outreach" service in the Tuggeranong Community Centre, Volunteering ACT formed a partnership with the management of the Hyperdome and a number of our member organisations to demonstrate the breadth and depth of the volunteer opportunities that are available.

The general consensus of those involved was that the Expo was a great success both in raising the profile of individual agencies and of volunteer opportunities in general.

As a consequence of this success we are planning further such events and will be approaching the other major shopping centres in Canberra and seeking to form similar partnerships in order that we are able to assist our members to raise their public profile and demonstrate the volunteer opportunities that exist within individual agencies.

As you are aware the amount of "spare space" that exists in shopping centres these days is significantly restricted and it is unlikely that we will be able to involve all those who may wish to participate.

In order to provide a local focus we will attempt to give preference to the organisations that are located in the geographical areas adjacent to the particular shopping centre and if you wish to be included you may register your expression of interest by contacting Ian De Landelles, our Customer Service Manager, in order that you may be advised when the Expos are being scheduled. 

 Thousands of potential volunteers visit our major shopping centres every week and this is a very cost effective vehicle for our members to promote themselves directly to a wider audience.  

Through its funding agreement with the Commonwealth Department of Family & Community Services VACT has a responsibility for capacity building in the SE region of NSW. During National Volunteers Week VACT brought together 15 people from around our region to participate in a network meeting in the ACT. Representatives came from Wingeecarabee, Yass, Goulburn, Crookwell, Queanbeyan, Moruya, Bega Tumut and Merrimbula. We were fortunate to have Annemeike from Volunteering Australia also join us.

The purpose of the network meeting was to first and foremost offer the participants a chance to share their own experiences in setting up or working towards a Referral and Resource Centre for Volunteering in their region. Secondly, to provide a forum for discussion about the various issues and challenges that they face. It was an opportunity for Volunteering ACT to assess what it can do to assist and possibly resource their processes.

Those who attended decided to meet at least six monthly in Canberra to continue this dialogue, and to meet informally via email and teleconferencing. VACT will also continue to support them individually with their particular issues in their "home" environments.

I would like to thank each one of you who attended and encourage you to keep in touch between meetings.

The Agenda was developed following an extensive consultation process with stakeholders. It is widely supported by the range of stakeholders as a practical and exciting document. Whilst Volunteering ACT will play a leadership role in the implementation of the strategic framework, leadership will be shared with other key stakeholders including the ACT Government, the Commonwealth Government, the business community and organisations with a clear responsibility for progressing key priorities.

Volunteering ACT, in seeking commitment from other stakeholders to support and implement the Agenda, conducted a Summit during National Volunteer Week May 2003. The Summit was asked to identify priorities to be implemented over the next 12 months. These priorities will be overseen by an Implementation Taskforce or Working Group. This will be established and supported by Volunteering ACT, resources allowing, with members drawn from the ACT and Commonwealth Governments, business sector, a wide cross section of community based organisations representing all areas of volunteering, and the unions.

The Implementation Taskforce will meet regularly during 2003/4. It will establish a Work Plan for the implementation, with priorities and timelines, and will set out the designated responsibility for carriage of specific strategies. If you wish to be a member of this group please ring VACT or email on volact@volunteeract.com.au

Information and ideas will continue to be collected through an on-going consultative process. These will be provided to the Implementation Taskforce and will be used to inform the Work Plan. The Work Plan will establish what can be achieved this year.

Specific and detailed action for each of the sectors will be developed to ensure the objectives are implemented and evaluated.

Existing resources for some of the key strategies are yet to be identified; this will be addressed by VACT and the Implementation Taskforce.

Currently VACT is conducting 2 small research projects into the experience of Managers and Volunteers in six agencies involved in providing services to the aged and also that of officers and volunteers in Environment ACT.

These are pilot studies, which will be repeated in the next financial year, funding permitting, across other agencies. Thank you to those who so willingly gave of their time to assist in participating in this research.

Recently VACT undertook a comprehensive research project into volunteer recruitment and retention in HACC agencies, in the SE region of NSW. Whilst this research is still in the process of being collated and submitted to the NSW Government significant trends are emerging that won’t be of any surprise I am sure to those of you who work in this area.

If you are able to respond I ask you to do so before the 2^nd week of July please. I will then publish the results of this survey on the web, in the next newsletter and report the findings of the survey to the ACT Government. I will of course be able to make some comparison between the NSW and the ACT experiences. Thank you in anticipation.