Voluntary+and+unpaid+work+-+Group+3

=**__Voluntary and Unpaid Work__**=

**Define voluntary work.** Volunteering is the practice of people working on behalf of others without being motivated by financial or material gain, but rather to promote good or improve human quality of life.

Deakin ACT 2006 || (02) 6202 1200 || [|www.vinnies.org.au] || St Vincent de Paul address issues in the local community. They provide assistance and clothing to the homeless. ||
 * Construct an address book of agencies and/or organisations that require volunteers.**
 * Title || Address || Telephone Number || Website Address || Assitance Provided ||
 * Landcare Australia || PO Box 5666 West Chatswood NSW 1515 || 1800 151 105 || [|www.landcareonline.com] || "Landcare is setup to 'do something practical' about the enironment" ||
 * Coastcare || (no address found) || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">9412 1040 || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[|www.coastcare.com.au] || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Provide nourishment and tend to the needs of the coastal regions of Australia. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Red Cross || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(no address found) || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(03) 9345 1800 || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[|www.redcross.org.au] || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Red Cross volunteers help in times of need and of natural disasters in order to replicate what was lost. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">St Vincent De Pauls || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Units 4-5, 22 Thesiger Court
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">RSPCA || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">201 Rookwood Road, Yagoona NSW, 2199 || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(02) 9770 7555 || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[|www.rspca.org.au] || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Provide assistance to animals that have been treated incorrectly according to animal law. ||
 * <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surf Life Saving Australia || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surf House, Level 1, 1 Notts Ave, Bondi Beach, NSW, Australia || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(02) 9300 4000 || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">[|www.slsa.asn.au/] || <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">They provide a great service to the coastal areas for recreation. They monitor and constantly save lives of those who otherwise do not know how to swim. ||

<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Identify the essential requirements and the desirable qualities of volunteers** Some of the essential requirements that must be presen t in volunteers include helping others, having initiative to achieve a goal, giving up own time, be willing to work for a good cause, not to become selfish and lazy but put other before yourself in order to give back to the community. Desirable qualities that are required of volunteers include good work ethic. Good work ethic includes presentation of oneself and approachable manners when working with others. This makes the volunteer much easier to work with and mor e accepted in the community, <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 90%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 80%;"> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">**Explain the importance of volunteers in Australian society.** Volunteers play a vital role in the co-existence of different peoples in our society. They are the mediators between the government and there initiatives to the people who they effect the most. In saying that, volunteers also pick up the slack of the government when they do not perform and keep to their promises. Volunteers perform work to benefit the community and the lives of others without any financial or material gain. They benefit our society in numerous ways including providing services for the community for free; helping those who are less fortunate and they are a benefit to the economy and the Australian government. <span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Although many may not know it, volunteers play a major role in the construction of the very community they live in. Some of the commonly known volunteers include those who help at homeless shelters, the State Emergency Service, rural fire fighters, life savers and even the ladies who help out at the canteen. These people play a key role in keeping our society structured and ordered, providing services that often go unnoticed and unappreciated. Without these volunteers our community and lives as we know it wouldn’t be the same, with many programs and services that we take for granted, being taken away. A renowned example of the importance of volunteers in our society are the numerous charities, such as Red Cross, who played an immense role in caring for the welfare of those Australians who had lost family and homes to the Victorian Bush Fires. The country united as one to fund these volunteers in order to ensure that those who had lost family and homes were comforted and were provided with the basics to survive. Without these volunteers, thousands of Australian citizens would have gone homeless, with nowhere to go and with no food to eat. Therefore it is obvious that volunteers are important in Australian society, providing free and in certain cases, vital services to communities nationwide. <span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When many think of the word volunteer, the stereotypical view of people working in homeless shelters come to mind. Although this isn’t always the case, many volunteers do work in the field of helping those who are less fortunate. There are several charities that are known nationwide such as the Red Cross, St Vincent de Paul, World Vision and Caritas renowned for their work with the homeless and those less fortunate. These charities act as a third party who in their efforts, try to equalise opportunities among all, provide people with requirements such as clothing and food, and teach these people to become self sufficient in our society. In doing so, these charities also benefit those who are already fortunate enough to be self sufficient, as charities provide comfort and a place for many to go to in times of need. As a result, those less fortunate do not have to result in drastic measures to assure their safety and comfort, such as crime, and therefore the level of safety and comfort of those who are fortunate are maintained. Continuing on with the example of the Victorian Bushfires, the charities and volunteers provided those who lost family and homes with temporary housing and essentials for those people to survive. If it weren’t for the volunteers, many of these people would have resulted to other measures; endangering the lifestyles of many in our society and reducing their living standards. Therefore it is evident that not only do volunteers help those who are less fortunate, but they also help those who can sustain themselves. <span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In addition, volunteers have on many occasions saved the Australian economy thousands and at times millions of dollars, due to the services that they provide for free. Such services like providing temporary shelter and serving food to the homeless would have cost the Australian government millions of dollars to fund. Not to mention the rapid decrease in goods and services available to the Australian citizens who are fortunate enough to sustain themselves and who keep the Australian economy and way of life going. Continuing with the theme of the Victorian Bushfires, volunteers saved the economy and the government millions of dollars. Despite the fact that the government did contribute thousands of dollars and labour to rebuilding the lost communities, there was even more contributed by volunteers. Volunteers are still continuing to develop projects schemes to rebuild these homes in the fastest time possible, free of charge. If it weren’t for these volunteers, many would be worse off than what they are now due to the help of volunteers, hence proving the importance of volunteers in Australian society. <span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <span style="font-family: 'Arial', 'sans-serif';"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In conclusion, volunteers play an imperative role in the co-existence of the Australian people. They are the heart of our society, whom without we cannot function properly, and in time, cannot function at all. Therefore it is crucial that volunteer work continues, otherwise Australian society with cease to exist as we know it.