Leaders of Health Volunteer Engagement - Volunteer Sector Benchmarking Study (AUS 2019)
08/10/2020
Date of Publication: August 2019
Authors: Leaders of Health Volunteer Engagement (LOHVE) Network
Published by: Bendigo Health
The Leaders in Health Volunteer Engagement (LOHVE) Network was established in 2011. Its purpose was to support health volunteer managers and coordinators with the provision of well structured, integrated volunteer programmes. Its objectives were to promote leaders within health volunteer programmes, to provide a reference point for services, and provide information back to health services, peak bodies, and government to ensure that volunteer programmes are understood and supported into the future. This longitudinal study of health service volunteer programmes has been undertaken for the past eight years based on the previous calendar year.
The report provided an overview and understanding of the annual benchmarking exercise that has been carried out by health services. 60 agencies from Australia (44 Vic, 8 QLD, 3 WA, 3 NT, 2 SA and 1 NSW) and one from USA participated in the survey. 17% were rural; 35% regional, and 48% metropolitan. The main areas where volunteers worked was “community service” at 35% and “mental health” at 23%.
The average age of volunteers was 56, they were primarily female, and contributed 29,384 hours to volunteering. All volunteer orientation programmes were structured rather than ad hoc and most (95%) of participants received ongoing education and training.
With regard to the average Full Time Equivalent (FTE) staff allocated to volunteer programmes, it was found that the figure was substantially higher in the metropolitan areas with an average 2.10FTE. This level of staff was almost double (1.15FTE) that of the regional cohort and approximately four times the level compared with the rural (.53FTE) cohort.
100% of participants reported that they thought the Network had been beneficial; reasons included the sharing of ideas; providing support; sharing inspiration; recognition of role; promoting leadership; and engaging government.
The full report is available here and infographic here.