Overview

The National Strategy for Volunteering (2023–2033) is a ten-year blueprint for a reimagined future for volunteering in Australia. 

It is the first National Strategy for Volunteering in a decade, providing a strategic framework for enabling safe, supported, and sustainable volunteering.

The purpose of the National Strategy for Volunteering is to guide the actions needed to achieve a better future for volunteering. It sets out the desired outcomes for volunteering in Australia over the next ten years. It provides a clear and compelling case, underpinned by robust data and evidence, for targeted and sufficient investment in volunteering and celebration of the role it plays in creating thriving communities.

The National Strategy for Volunteering identifies an ambitious yet achievable future state for volunteering where individual and collective potential is harnessed for the common good.

The National Strategy for Volunteering includes the following:

1. A vision for volunteering to be achieved over the National Strategy for Volunteering’s ten‑year timeframe.
2. Three focus areas, which include the aims of the National Strategy for Volunteering.
3. Eleven strategic objectives, which detail the work required to achieve the vision and aims.
4. A timeline for phased implementation.

Learn more at the National Strategy for Volunteering Website

Download the National Strategy for Volunteering 2023-2033

National Strategy for Volunteering Action Plan

Action Plan 2024-2027 is the first three-year Action Plan of the National Strategy for Volunteering. It outlines a set of co-designed actions designed to address priorities for National Strategy implementation.

The Action Plan identifies lead stakeholders who bear responsibility to progress their actions. It also details dozens of supporting actions: opportunities for others in the volunteering ecosystem to flexibly contribute to Action Plan 2024-2027 and the implementation of the National Strategy.

The first three-year Action Plan will see 22 actions led by stakeholders and networks, collectively making progress towards each of the National Strategy for Volunteering’s Strategic Objectives. Actions include:

• New volunteering data collection, including a survey to measure the volunteer experience
• Greater consistency and alignment of volunteering funding, policies and strategic initiatives
• Establishing forums and communities of practice to share knowledge
• Campaigns to raise awareness of volunteering and share volunteering stories
• Sharing research insights and identifying future topics to explore
• Development and sharing of resources to support volunteer management

The Action Plan brings together state and territory volunteering peak bodies, federal government departments, federal government agencies, non-government organisations, researchers, the National Strategy for Volunteering Coalition of Support and the wider volunteering ecosystem.

Learn more about the Action Plan

Download the Nationa Strategy for Volunteering Action Plan 2024-2027