Reviving Community Spirit – KAP Calls for Lifeline to Volunteers and Community Groups

5 September 2024

Katter’s Australian Party (KAP) is urging the State Government to back a new policy designed to increase volunteer participation and alleviate financial strain on local community groups and not-for-profit organisations across Queensland.

Hinchinbrook MP and KAP Deputy Leader Nick Dametto alongside KAP candidate for Townsville Margie Ryder are leading the charge, emphasising the critical role volunteers play in North Queensland communities and the growing difficulty in finding people with the time to contribute.

“Volunteers are the backbone of our communities, particularly in North Queensland, but they’re becoming harder to find,” Mr Dametto said.

“The State of Volunteering Report (the Report) showed an 11.5 per cent drop-in volunteer rates over the last three years. That’s a clear sign we need to step up and do something before it’s too late.

“Without volunteers there is simply too much to lose. All of our amazing community events, associations and clubs are run largely by volunteers, and those would be at risk. I don’t ever want to see that happen!”

KAP’s proposal calls for the creation of a dedicated Infrastructure and Equipment Fund, administered through local councils, to support not-for-profits. This would reduce the constant pressure on volunteers to fundraise and allow them to focus on the work that directly benefits their communities.

Margie Ryder said not-for-profits were greatly undervalued by the government.

“The Report shows that volunteers delivered a value of $117 billion in the 2022-23 financial year, and if volunteers were better supported, this could be boosted by a further $10 billion in benefits to Queensland over the next three years.[1]

“The State Government got it right with the Works for Queensland Funding Program. What the KAP is calling for is to replicate this and deliver the same sort of program to local governments to govern and administer.

“Despite the financial strain, many councils strongly support local community events, but they can’t afford to bear this responsibility alone.

“Having a dedicated Infrastructure and Equipment Fund just for smaller Community groups will take the pressure off volunteers, who are becoming increasingly hard to attract and retain.

“A lot of government departments also rely on volunteers – Environment, Health, Arts, Sport, Immigration, First Nations, Justice and of course, Community. It’s about time the Government stepped up and returned the favour by supporting these not-for-profit groups as well.

“We are yet to see a government delivered volunteering strategy for Queensland. We deserve more.”

President of the Cutheringa Bowls Club for the past 12 years, Mr. Glen (Muddy) Atfield said the truth of the matter was that without volunteers, small community run businesses, such as the Cutheringa Bowls Club, would not survive.

“Volunteers play a critical role, whether it is selling raffle tickets or tackling some of the bigger jobs for ongoing maintenance. It could be any type of job, big or small, but as an individual there is only so much you can do before you have to get an expert in, or invest in better infrastructure, and that of course costs money,” Mr. Atfield said.

“A fund dedicated solely to not-for-profit sporting clubs and community run businesses would definitely help us. It’s the smaller grass root clubs and not-for-profits that struggle the most, and they would stand to gain the biggest benefit from an initiative like this.

“However, the benefit would extend well beyond just individual clubs and their members. With the right financial investment, many clubs just like ours could create multi-purpose facilities to be utilised by the broader community at different times and even be utilised in emergencies as community or evacuation centres.”

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[1] State of Volunteering in Queensland 2024 Report, https://volunteeringqld.org.au/state-of-volunteering-in-queensland/