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BUDGET 2001-02
VOLUNTEERS Member for Flinders Liz Penfold said the State Government is again leading the nation, this time in respect to volunteers. She said the State Government will establish a permanent Office for Volunteers with money from this year’s Budget. This recognises the enormous contribution volunteers make in the South Australian community. Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that 250,000 South Australians contribute millions of hours of voluntary service to the community each year. “The State Government’s Volunteer Legislation – the first of its kind in Australia – will indemnify volunteers in the course of their duty from civil liability action. “This is an area that is of deep concern to volunteers because of our increasingly litigious society. “Eyre Peninsula would cease to function without our volunteers. I am very pleased that they are now protected,” she said. Mrs Penfold said the Office for Volunteers will operate in a similar way to the Office for the Ageing and the Office for the Status of Women. The Volunteers Support and Promotions Unit in the Department for Environment and Heritage will transfer to the Office for Volunteers. Other State Government initiatives are: · Support for training to 4000 volunteers throughout South Australia. · A Volunteer Alliance, a formal written agreement between the State Government and the volunteer sector, moves to the next step following the public consultation phase. · Creation of the Volunteer Roundtable which meets directly with the Minister on a regular basis. · Permanent renaming of the Adelaide Cup Day public holiday to Adelaide Cup Carnival and Volunteers Day. “We are the only State in Australia with a Minister responsible for volunteers,” she said. |
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