Perth, Australia: Australian Premier Alan Carpenter seek tax breaks for emergency service volunteers. He said there was no doubt that the work of emergency service volunteers was highly regarded and admired by governments at all levels and the wider Australian community.  Read article

Gingin, Australia: "The ancient building is renovating. Excuse me for bringing trouble to you" read the apologetic sign on a building in the centre of Beijing. For Australian volunteer Faith Whitell it was just yet another example of the gentle manner of the Chinese way.  Read article

Volunteering Australia recently presented the "National Survey of Volunteering Issues 2006".  The report contains  data on many issues relating to volunteering including relationships between paid staff and volunteers, the rate of adoption of best practice volunteer management approaches.   Read article

Corporate employee volunteering might be booming — more corporations and charities are trying to work together. Trouble is, the two sides don't seem to understand each other and, in some cases, they just don't get on. A special report has found frustrations and recriminations spilling over from both sectors.  Read article

Canberra, Australia: Volunteer firefighters, emergency services crews and other Australians who donate hundreds of hours of their time each year could be offered petrol vouchers, tax rebates or cash reimbursements under a new proposal to defray the soaring fuel costs.  Read article

Next week's Australian census will for the first time feature a question on volunteering. Recent research found that one in every three Australians is spending an average of 132 hours a year volunteering.  Read article

Plummeting volunteer numbers are the equivalent of a dead canary down a mine; a timely warning to do something about the circumstances that led to its death. Any data that will help build a true picture of volunteering in Australia and help us plan for a sustainable volunteering future is critical.   Read article

The Australasian Association of Volunteer Administrators (AAVA) is organising an online discussion on 27 and 28 July to discuss issues of mentoring with a focus on mentoring volunteer managers in the sector.  Read article

So, if you want to volunteer, how can you find yourself the right volunteer role? And how can you tell legitimate volunteer roles and the more doubtful ones apart?   Read article

Victoria, Australia: Joy Little began her formal volunteering at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne. Five decades later, she is still going strong as a manager of 285 community volunteers.  Read article