VOLUNTEER services fear their vital work in central Victoria may end, as federal funding shifts leave them without financial support for a large portion of their work.
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Under the new model, federal funding will be directed to the state's volunteer peak body, to support work among three priority groups: people with a disability, people from First Nation backgrounds and newly arrived migrants.
Peak body Volunteering Victoria and central Victoria volunteer management services have called on the state government to fill the funding gap, saying local organisations perform a vital, broader role.
Services say the volunteering sector has already been devastated by the COVID-19 crisis, during which up to a third of volunteers stepped away from their roles.
Bendigo Volunteer Resource Centre manager Helen Yorston said the organisation was unsure of its fate, as it had no guaranteed funding from July 1.
She said the service filled a vital role, matching volunteers with positions and supporting organisations to manage their volunteers.
Mrs Yorston said it was disappointing the funding was limited only to priority groups, as the service currently aimed to support people across the community.
Volunteering Victoria chief executive Scott Miller said the organisation was concerned the broader role of local volunteer management services could be lost with the funding changes.
Mr Miller said Volunteering Victoria would only be able to offer local volunteer management services such as BVRS temporary transitional funding of 60 per cent, while it aligned itself with the new requirements.
He said Volunteering Victoria was strongly advocating for the state government to support local volunteer organisations, to keep them open.
Volunteer Central Vic coordinator Lisa Richards voiced similar concerns to Mrs Yorston's, saying federal consultation had been lacking.
Ms Richards said the change would hugely affect the service run by Sunbury and Cobaw Community Health, likely halving its current staffing of one person three days a week.
She said it was "incredibly stressful" not to know what was happening less than two months out from the change.
A Department of Social Services spokesperson said under the new volunteer management activity model, $33.5 million over five years would be provided to state and territory volunteering peak bodies, to work with local organisations.
This funding would be to deliver online services helping to build the capacity of volunteer involving organisations and improve access to volunteering opportunities for "diverse members of the Australian community".
The spokesperson said the department had consulted extensively with stakeholders across the sector.
A 2018 review of the sector found volunteer management was becoming increasingly critical for organisations that use volunteers.
It found growing demand for services that traditionally relied heavily on volunteers to supplement government funding.
The report said the current focus of volunteer management on matching individuals experiencing disadvantage to volunteer opportunities, was resource intensive, not well-aligned to best practice, or to the way people accessed volunteer opportunities.
It found funding would be better used to support volunteer involving organisations to effectively recruit and manage volunteers.
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