Position
The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries
recognises that sport and recreation volunteers are the backbone of the
industry and an enormous source of social capital. Organisations must
support and recognise volunteers so they feel valued and are able to
fulfill the position they have been given.
Purpose
Nationally, community sport and recreation relies on 2.3 million
volunteers who contribute more than 180 million hours to running sport
and recreation. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in Western Australia during 2010 there were 235,000 sport and recreation volunteers.
Volunteers that create and sustain these organisations make a vital
contribution to the needs of the community and without them the sport
and recreation industry will simply not be able to exist.
Key factors
The following
factors are considered key to assist in the recruitment and retention of
volunteers within the sport and recreation industry. These are:
- Volunteers
who are offered some form of development opportunity are more capable
of fulfilling their duties successfully, confidently and more
efficiently, which will in turn benefit their organisations
- Engaging
and up-skilling new and young volunteers is important to work towards
creating a sustainable community sport and recreation environments.
Learning and development are vital components of a good volunteer
management program.
- Providing learning and development opportunities for volunteers is a part of good risk management practices.
- Recognition plays a vital role in the retention of volunteers.
Implementation
The Department supports the recruitment, retention and recognition of volunteers within the sport and recreation industry by:
- Supporting community sport and active recreation clubs across WA to develop and implement volunteer management practices.
- Promoting a focus on sport and recreation organisations delivering learning and development opportunities to their volunteers.
- Delivering necessary learning and development opportunities to the sport and recreation industry.
- Hosting annual opportunities to recognise the significant contribution volunteers make to the Western Australian community.