Developing indicators of rural volunteering supply and demand in Australia

• In Event: Understanding Volunteering and Civil Society in Communities

Abstract

This paper reports on the development of indicators of rural volunteering supply and demand in Australia using a Delphi study of expert informants. Volunteers in Australian rural communities are experiencing unprecedented pressures. They underpin the viability of Australian rural communities (Davies et al., 2018), and are ever-present in all aspects of community life from community health and emergency service provision, to sporting activities, land and building conservation efforts and, as the stalwarts of membership associations and local committees (Oppenheimer et al., 2014). Yet fragmented sector-wide evidence suggests that rural volunteers are being exposed to burnout like never before (Holmes et al., 2019). As Australia’s rural population is ageing, demand for volunteer-run community services is increasing while the pool of available volunteers is shrinking. Successive periods of prolonged drought and extended bushfire seasons has also increased the demand for essential volunteer services (McLennan et al., 2016).
Based on a systematic literature review and a three-round qualitative Delphi study with expert informants (volunteers, volunteer-involving organisations, VRCs, volunteering peak bodies and government representatives), the paper identifies factors contributing to vulnerabilities around volunteer supply and demand in Australia. Delphi studies seek to obtain expert rather than representative perspectives, with sample sizes ranging from 6 to 900. They are a useful method for promoting stakeholder participation in research and in the qualitative form, they enable a flexible approach grounded in pragmatism (Dalkey & Helmer, 1963).
The Delphi method used a mix of unstructured open-ended prompts in round 1 to uncover the enablers and barriers to volunteering in rural communities. The results were compared to the literature and used to develop a set of measurable factors which were indicative of volunteering supply (of volunteers) and demand (for their services by volunteer-involving organisations). Two subsequent Delphi survey rounds used quantitative closed-item questions to refine the indicators and their representative variables in terms of importance, relevance and measurability. The sampling frame for the Delphi study was constructed in consultation with the national and state peak bodies for volunteering in Australia as well as desk research. A stratified sample across each sector of volunteering and each state was used to ensure a breadth of experience within the sample. A panel of 111 experts were identified for and surveyed in in each survey round. 33 full responses were received to the Round 1 survey with some respondent attrition noted between rounds, which is typically of Delphi studies.
The findings revealed considerable alignment with the literature on enablers and barriers affecting volunteering supply and demand for rural volunteers. These enablers and barriers were discerned as including structural (macro level), demographic, organisational and personal level indicators. Over the three rounds of surveying, these indicators were refined to arrive at the final set of measurable and manageable indicators. Next steps for this project will see the indicators used to develop a volunteering vulnerability index, which will allow for gaps in rural volunteering supply and demand to be spatially mapped across the diverse geography of rural Australia.

References

Dalkey, N. & Helmer, O. (1963). An experimental application of the Delphi method to the use of experts. Management Science, 9(3), 458-467.
Davies, A., Lockstone-Binney, L., & Holmes, K. (2018). Who are the future volunteers in rural places? Understanding the demographic and background characteristics of non-retired rural volunteers, why they volunteer and their future migration intentions. Journal of Rural Studies, 60, 167-175.
Holmes, K., Davies, A., & Lockstone-Binney, L. (2019). The social and economic sustainability of WA’s rural volunteer workforce. Perth: Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre.
Lockstone-Binney, L., Whitelaw, P. A., & Binney, W. (2016). Crown land management from a volunteer perspective: The Victorian example. Australasian Journal of Environmental Management, 23, 130-140.
McLennan, B., Whittaker, J., & Handmer, J. (2016). The changing landscape of disaster volunteering: Opportunities, responses and gaps in Australia. Natural Hazards, 84, 2031-2048.

Authors

• Kirsten Holmes, Curtin University

• Leonie Lockstone-Binney, Griffith University

• Amanda Davies, University of Western Australia

• Melanie Oppenheimer, Flinders University of South Australia