Restoring the lost ethic of volunteerism

By Freya Leach

First published in the MRC’s Watercooler newsletter. Sign up to our mailing list to receive Watercooler directly in your inbox.

A compelling force that has long shaped Australia’s national identity is the spirit of volunteerism. 

As Peter Costello said in a 2001 speech,

“Our economic policy is crucial but we should remember that life consists of other things beyond the economic dimension and beyond government. To realise those many other aspirations of a fulfilling life we need to recover the spirit of the volunteer.”

This week’s Watercooler outlines the need to incorporate volunteer hours into Australia’s tertiary admissions ranking system. Incorporating a mandatory volunteerism component into such a system would help lay the groundwork for enduring engagement by young people with civil society and support Australian values of self-sacrifice and mateship. 

The Liberal Foundation of Volunteerism

Since the inception of the Liberal Party, the spirit of volunteerism has been central to the Party’s values. The fifth article of Sir Robert Menzies 1954 ‘We Believe’ statement declares: 

“We believe in the spirit of the volunteer… that the greatest community efforts can be made only when voluntary cooperation and self-sacrifice come in aid of and lend character to the performance of legal duties.”

Volunteerism is the thread that weaves individuals into communities and communities into a nation. Menzies understood that the Australian spirit is based on self-sacrifice in service of others. Volunteers benefit entire communities, enhancing social cohesion while curbing state overreach.

The Indispensable Value of Volunteers

Volunteers create economic and social prosperity for all Australians. 

The NSW State of Volunteering report found 4.3 million NSW residents collectively dedicated 893 million hours to volunteering last year. Their efforts generated a staggering $178 billion in benefits. 

The report found 57% of volunteers believe their charitable activities have made them more productive at work, which translates into an added economic value of $30.4 billion to the NSW economy. 

The replacement cost of volunteering in NSW alone is $39.7 billion — twice that of the entire NSW public service. 

A Concerning Decline 

The 2021 census revealed a 19% drop in volunteering rates since 2016, a trend since sharply accelerated by the pandemic. In 2019, 36% of adults had volunteered in the last year. Now that rate is down by more than a quarter to just 26.7%. Volunteering Australia estimates there are 1.86 million fewer volunteers compared to pre-Covid levels. 

As rates of volunteering fall, the state will expand to fill the gaps. The sphere of matters lying outside the government’s control will shrink further, creating a less cohesive and more self-interested culture while imposing a huge financial burden on taxpayers. 

Incorporating Volunteerism into the Tertiary Admissions System 

For those who care about Australia’s fiscal and social future, fostering a commitment to volunteerism in young people should be top of the agenda. 

What's the solution? We need to fundamentally rethink our educational priorities, starting with the tertiary admissions system. 

Our education system has long been myopically focused on academic output. True education is more than churning out test-takers; it's about cultivating well-rounded, civic-minded people who embody our Australian values of mateship, courage, bravery, and self-sacrifice. 

We should revamp the national tertiary admissions ranking system to include a volunteerism component. Specifically, adjust academic scoring to a 95-point scale, with the remaining 5 points awarded for volunteer activities. 

Every 30 hours of volunteer work completed during Years 11 and 12 would earn students a point towards their tertiary admission rank, up to a total of 5 points for 150 hours of service. Activities would be recorded online and verified by a supervisor. 

Crucially, students could also substitute volunteer hours for participation in the Australian Army Cadets. Cadets instill a sense of discipline and commitment, while also serving as a pipeline to higher rates of enlistment and retention in the Defence Forces. Army Cadets are free allowing students from any background to participate. Significant investment would be required to incorporate potentially hundreds of thousands of extra participants. The long-term benefits of young Australians having positive exposure to the ADF and higher enlistment rates would likely justify the investment. 

Students from low-income backgrounds would also have the option to substitute volunteer hours for at least 150 hours of paid part-time work, or some mix of the two. 

In conclusion, by integrating a structured volunteerism requirement into the tertiary admissions system, we can build a foundation for lifelong civic engagement and nurture a generation ready to uphold Australian values. At a time of deep division, this policy will foster a renewed sense of shared identity among Australia's young people and re-focus our education system on holistic student outcomes.