VET and the work of volunteers: A report on work in progress

The work of volunteers has significant worth for themselves, their organisations and the community. We are researching the place of training in their work, and possible implications for the VET sector. Drawing on a preliminary investigation of the literature and an exploratory seminar, directions for further research were identified. The voluntary sector is diverse. Volunteering is not consistent by age, sex or between industries. It appears that, in many organisations, all workers are expected to exhibit high capability, irrespective of whether they are volunteers or paid staff. Enterprises that rely on volunteers to provide outputs, both recruit for knowledge, skills and attributes and train for them. Managing a workforce that brings together paid staff and volunteers presents particular challenges. The paper discusses the extent of volunteering in Australia, its diversity, similarities and differences in the training requirements of volunteers and paid staff, and the applicability of the National Strategy for VET and Training Packages to the training of volunteers.