8 February, 2011
612 ABC Radio Brisbane
With Madonna King
8 February 2011
8:50am
E & OE
Subjects: AUSCORPS volunteering proposal
MADONNA KING:
This next thing is an idea that has been discussed in Parliament since 2004 a permanent group of volunteers to draw upon in times of disaster. And with recent events highlighting the need for volunteers in our community, the Opposition Spokesman for the Voluntary Sector Senator Mitch Fifield has again brought up the idea of AUSCORPS. Good morning Senator.
MITCH FIFIELD:
Good morning Madonna.
KING:
How would AUSCORPS work?
FIFIELD:
Well, the idea is to harness the volunteer spirit that’s there in the community. We know that in times of crisis and disaster that Australians always step up. But the voluntary sector struggles a little more week in, week out, year in, year out. And we need to find a way to excite and capture the imagination of a new generation of volunteers.
KING:
In practical terms, who would form part of it?
FIFIELD:
The idea is to offer university students a slight relief on their HECS debt – $10 an hour for the volunteer work that they do, up to a maximum of $2000 a year. That would be in return for the voluntary work that they do it’s a small token, but it would provide an incentive.
KING:
What if you aren’t a university student but wanted to join?
FIFIELD:
The concept is to encourage university students, but you could also extend this to TAFE students as well. You get them engaged in voluntary work in the hope that in later life they will continue that. As the scheme is currently conceived, it’s only aimed at university students; to use the mechanism of HECS to provide some debt relief to give them that encouragement to get engaged.
KING:
What kind of work would you see them doing?
FIFIELD:
Well it could be a wide variety of things. It could be coaching a junior footy team. It could be serving as a scout leader, or delivering meals on wheels. Or, it could be doing SES or CFA work and that’s where, in times of disaster, this scheme could lead to a larger pool of SES people to draw upon.
KING:
Would you provide training and correct accreditation – for example, blue cards?
FIFIELD:
It would essentially be up to the voluntary organisations themselves to do the training and to do whatever background checking was required. It’s not intended to create a new government volunteer bureaucracy, but to channel people into existing voluntary and not-for-profit organisations.
KING:
Is it a bit like the State Emergency Services, but for university students, and you’ll pay $10 an hour off your HECS debt?
FIFIELD:
The $10 an hour isn’t intended to be a wage replacement, and it’s not intended to be viewed as a payment for work done. It’s really to provide an incentive. I think a lot of university students think about doing community work, but the possibility of having $2000 a year waived off your HECS debt might be just the incentive they need to tip them in to actually doing it.
KING:
And is $10 an hour off their HECS debt enough, do you think, to encourage this?
FIFIELD:
I think it could be. When we announced the policy in the lead up to the last election we received very strong feedback from university students. It’s not meant to be payment it’s meant to be an acknowledgement of the work and an incentive for them to do it. When they’ve got competing demands on their time, it might just help.
KING:
And is there political will to do this?
FIFIELD:
Well, there should be.
KING:
But is there?
FIFIELD:
Well, you mentioned that this was something that was raised in 2004 I raised it in my first speech to the Senate. And at the 2020 Summit the idea was canvassed and Kevin Rudd said that it was the best idea to come out of the Summit. We didn’t hear of it again Labor didn’t take it as a policy to the last election. But if it was good enough for Kevin Rudd in 2008, and the Opposition support it, there’s every reason Julia Gillard should take a decision and implement it.
KING:
I’ll put it to my listeners this morning and see what they think. Thanks for your time.
FIFIELD:
Terrific. Thanks Madonna.
KING:
That’s Victorian Senator Mitch Fifield.
ENDS