A helping hand

Australia is currently in the midst of a volunteering crisis. The Weekly chats with six community champions about the challenge charities around the country are facing and the joy they find in giving up their time for others

- ALLEY PASCOE

Giving back is in Aqua Robins’ DNA. She’s worked in human services all her life – first as a social worker, then in management – and upon her retirement a year ago, she wanted to keep helping people in a volunteer capacity. “For the last 25 years of my career I was attempting to change the system from within, which became very frustrating,” admits Aqua, 67. “When I retired, I wanted to get back to interacting with people one-on-one so I could see the difference I was making.”

While Aqua knew she wanted to volunteer, she didn’t realise just how in demand she would be. After initially not hearing back from the first place she applied to, Aqua reached out to another organisation. And another. Then they all got back to her at once!

“That’s how I found myself taking my dog, Hugo, to visit residents at my local nursing home. It’s also how I started taking asylum seekers to healthcare appointments, and how I began styling disadvantaged women who’ve been out of the workforce to help improve their employability,” she explains.

Aqua’s busy volunteering schedule (with Delta Therapy Dogs, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, and Dress for Success) is a sign of the labour shortage affecting volunteer organisations. Between 2019 and 2022, the number of formal volunteers declined by 1.86 million, according to research published by Volunteering Australia.