Volunteer Management Plan

As outlined in the Volunteering Strategy for South Australia, volunteering plays a key role in sustaining healthy, resilient communities and contributes significantly to the quality and vibrancy of our society.

As part of creating our Volunteer Management Plan we consulted with the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement which were developed by Volunteering Australia and contain benchmarks specifically designed to help organisations attract, manage, recognise and retain volunteers, and to manage risk and safety with respect to volunteers. In addition, we took onboard the feedback provided through our recent Volunteer Engagement Survey.

Through this survey, you told us that volunteering with City of Mount Gambier gives you personal satisfaction through giving back and making a difference to our community. You feel that volunteering gives you a sense of purpose and opportunity to socialise, network and connect with others in the community.

Some of the other key highlights from the Volunteer Engagement Survey were as follows:

• 90% of those who responded to the survey reported that they were satisfied or very satisfied with their volunteering experience with Council.
• The areas that those who responded to the survey reported liking the most about volunteering at Council included:
  • Friendship/ comradery/ working with like-minded people.
  • Learn a lot (i.e. how to run events, flora and fauna).
  • Helping others in the community and giving back to the community.
  • Social interaction.
• The areas that those who responded to the survey would like to see improved as part of the volunteering experience at Council included:
  • More opportunities for volunteers/ team members to socialise/ network.
  • More information about the role and the contribution my work makes to the organisation/ community.
  • Greater recognition of the contribution volunteers provide.
  • More information about other volunteering opportunities that are available.

The Volunteer Management Plan aims to improve the experience of our volunteers, enhance outcomes and support our community reach a high volunteer participation rate.

The Volunteer Management Plan has been broken down into four key focus areas, with deliverables over a three-year timeframe. The focus areas are a further consolidation of our required actions against the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement, with some additional actions determined necessary by City of Mount Gambier.

The key focus areas are as follows:

• Key focus area 1: Leadership and Governance
• Key focus area 2: Integration and Planning
• Key focus area 3: Support and Development
• Key focus area 4: Quality Management and Continuous Improvement

One of the early actions in our Volunteer Management Plan is the development of a Volunteer Management Policy that articulates Council's commitment and philosophy towards volunteer management. A draft of this policy is also included for your consideration and feedback.

We thank you for your valuable input which has guided the development of the Volunteer Management Plan and Volunteer Management Policy and request you feedback on these important documents. Feedback is to be submitted by 5pm Monday 4 September 2023.