Volunteering in Australia Research Early Findings Launch – The Organisation Perspective

Date: Monday 15 August
Time: 11:00am - 12:00pm (AEST)
Location: Zoom (online)
Cost: Free

The Volunteering in Australia Research Early Findings Launch

Volunteering Australia, in collaboration with researchers from Curtin University, Griffith University, and the University of Western Australia, are launching an Early Findings report on new data collected on volunteer involving organisations in Australia.

This Early Insights Report is the second release of data from the Volunteering in Australia research, a robust, new evidence-base that will inform the development of the National Strategy for Volunteering. The Report includes new data on:

Modes of volunteer engagement
Volunteer recruitment and support
The contributions of and demand for volunteers
Employee volunteering
Diversity and inclusion in volunteer involving organisations
Challenges and drivers of change for volunteer involving organisations

The launch event will include a presentation by two of the lead researchers, Professor Kirsten Holmes and Associate Professor Patrick Dunlop from Curtin University. It will also include an overview of how the research fits into the National Strategy for Volunteering project by Volunteering Australia’s National Strategy Director Sarah Wilson, and a Q&A session facilitated by Volunteering Australia’s Policy Director and Deputy CEO, Dr Sue Regan.

If you need support to access this event or have a suggestion for how it could be more inclusive, please contact us at nationalstrategy@volunteeringaustralia.org

About the Speakers

Professor Kirsten Holmes

Professor Kirsten Holmes is an internationally-recognised expert in the study of volunteering, particularly in events, leisure, sport and tourism contexts. Her most recent book is the Routledge Handbook of Volunteering in Events, Sport and Tourism (2021).

Kirsten is an elected Fellow and the Immediate Past Chair of CAUTHE - the Australasian Council for Tourism and Hospitality Education, Co-Chair of Volunteering Australia's National Volunteering Research Network, and Chair of Volunteering WA's research committee.

Associate Professor Patrick Dunlop

Patrick Dunlop is an Associate Professor at the Curtin University Future of Work Institute, Faculty of Business and Law. Patrick’s research areas are focused on personnel (work and volunteer) attraction and recruitment, assessment, and selection, and how these processes are undertaken occur in the context of rapid technological change. Patrick also has three years’ professional experience working in the recruitment sector as a psychological assessment consultant and is a Registered Psychologist with endorsement in Organisational Psychology.

Patrick has undertaken research projects funded by the ARC, the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, and directly by industry, with a total funding of over $2.3 million. His recent ARC and CRC-funded projects in collaboration with the Scouts and the Emergency Services drew from principles learned from organisational psychology to identify ways of improving volunteer attraction and retention. Both projects have led to the introduction of new volunteer recruitment and retention practices, and a translation project that delivered accessible online training to volunteer leaders on volunteer management.

Sarah Wilson

Sarah Wilson is the National Strategy Director at Volunteering Australia. She is an alumna of the Australian National University, holding a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws, and recently completed a Bachelor of Psychological Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology.

Sarah is an expert in volunteer involvement and volunteer management, formerly serving as Policy Manager for VolunteeringACT for nearly a decade. Throughout her time with VolunteeringACT Sarah played an instrumental role in delivering projects of local and national significance. Sarah is a passionate volunteer, as the President of the Youth Coalition of the ACT, a Board Director for Animals Australia, a Telephone Crisis Supporter for Lifeline Canberra, and as a Research and Policy Volunteer for the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds.

Dr Sue Regan

Sue is Volunteering Australia’s Deputy CEO and Policy Director as well as a Visiting Fellow at the Crawford School of Public Policy, at the Australian National University. Sue is Vice President of the Australian Social Policy Association.

Formerly, Sue was Program Director at the Institute of Public Administration Australia and Program Lead (Social Policy) at the HC Coombs Policy Forum. Prior to her move to Australia in 2010, Sue undertook roles in the non-profit, thinktank and government sectors in the UK, specialising in social policy. This included as Chief Executive Officer of the Resolution Foundation, Associate Director of the Institute for Public Policy Research and Policy Director of Shelter.

Sue has an MA in Economics and a PhD in Public Policy.