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Valuing volunteers

By Josephine Reader

Luamanuvao Winnie Laban put her hand up for the Minister for the Community and Voluntary Sector job following Labour’s 2005 General Election win.

Describing why she volunteered for this portfolio and Associate Minister portfolios for Economic Development, Social Development, and Employment and Pacific Aff airs, she says “they encapsulate the values that drive me”.

Mrs Laban credits being brought up in a Presbyterian family for her values system and her “huge commitment to people who are marginalised”. Ordained as an elder at 19 years old, she pays tribute to those within the Church who taught her a lot as a young person and says the church has been an integral part of her life.

Mrs Laban describes the voluntary sector – or civil society as she calls it – as the “guilty conscience” of the state and private sectors. “It’s about a relationship that is interconnected. And I think it’s a very important one because it keeps everyone honest. No one [sector] can exist without the other,” says Mrs Laban. With about one million New Zealanders estimated to be involved in volunteering in some way, the positive impact on social development, the economy and the environment is significant, she says. “Imagine life without ambulance drivers, surf lifesavers, or sports coaches. New Zealand would be a very diff erent place.”

While a lack of information makes it difficult to quantify the exact contribution of the sector in economic terms, the Department of Conservation estimates that it uses around $1.8 million of voluntary labour annually. Similarly, a report commissioned by the New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations surveyed 10 major social service organisations and estimated that the workers, managers and board members contributed around 7.5 million hours to those organisations in 2002. This work had an estimated value of $126 million.

According to the briefing received by Mrs Laban when she took office last year, the lack of comprehensive data about the sector makes it difficult to make effective decisions and to allocate resources where they would be most useful. Addressing this lack of information is one of Mrs Laban's first priorities. She has commissioned some work to identify the grants to community organisations from government and private sources. “We’re trying to get a picture of what is in place at this time. Secondly, whether the grants are really meeting the targets in a co-ordinated way so that the groups that really need it, and are working effectively, are actually receiving it.”

A 2002 Philanthropy New Zealand report conservatively estimates that community and voluntary organisations receive $1.7 billion per annum from private funders, central and local government and trusts. Ensuring that these funds are meeting community needs is a priority for Mrs Laban during her term as Minister.

Supporting the strengthening of the sector, so that it starts working more collaboratively, including building relationships between government and the civil society sector, will also be important, she says. Advocacy and resource development are other priorities.

In partnership with New Zealand Federation of Voluntary Welfare Organisations and community law centres, Mrs Laban recently launched a legal resource that will assist community organisations to understand their legal rights and responsibilities. One of the strengths of the resource is that organisations worked in collaboration to produce it, she explains. “It’s getting all the different groups to start working with each other on outcomes like this.”

Mrs Laban says the sector is about “citizens and their participation in decisionsmaking. It’s about what makes good communities and looks after the well-being of communities.”