In the wake of National Volunteer Week (May 18-24), Volunteering Central Coast says proposed Commonwealth funding changes could dismantle the local volunteer support infrastructure that has enabled volunteering on the Central Coast for more than 40 years.

Established in 1985, Volunteering Central Coast currently supports more than 60 local community organisations and promotes about 170 volunteer roles, many of which require multiple volunteers to meet community need.

In the past year, more than 1,000 volunteer applications have been made for local roles through VCC-supported pathways.

Despite reduced funding over time, VCC continues to provide this support with limited resources.

With adequate and secure funding, this local infrastructure could support many more organisations, particularly small community groups that do not have dedicated volunteer management capacity.

Under the proposed post-2026 Volunteer Management Activity model, dedicated funding for Volunteer Resource Centres will end from June 30, 2027.

“Volunteering does not happen in Canberra,” Volunteering Central Coast Chair Randal Tame said.

“It happens in the aged care facilities, neighbourhood centres and sporting clubs of the Central Coast, and it relies on local infrastructure to function.

“We have been telling volunteers for years that their contribution is valued and essential.

“Stripping the infrastructure that connects and supports them sends exactly the opposite message.”

Mr Tame said the timing of the proposed changes was deeply concerning.

“During National Volunteer Week, we rightly celebrate volunteers and encourage more people to get involved,” he said.

“But at the same time, the Commonwealth is moving away from the local services that help people find meaningful roles and help organisations support them safely and well.”

Volunteering Central Coast Executive Officer Dianne Moy said the issue was not just about one organisation.

“This is about the volunteering system on the Central Coast,” Ms Moy said.

“More than 1,000 volunteer applications in a year tells us people still want to contribute.

“The question is whether government will keep funding the local infrastructure that helps turn that goodwill into practical community support.”

Ms Moy said losing local volunteer support would make volunteering harder for both organisations and residents.

“It takes time, skill and local knowledge to find the right volunteer for the right role,” she said.

“Volunteering has also changed.

“People are looking for flexible, meaningful and well-supported ways to contribute.

“Without VCC, many smaller organisations will carry a greater administrative burden at a time when they are already stretched.

“The risk is that people who want to volunteer find it too hard to connect, and organisations that need volunteers find it harder to keep them.”

Volunteering Central Coast supports the local volunteering system by promoting volunteer opportunities across the Central Coast, connecting residents with suitable roles, and helping community organisations recruit, retain and manage volunteers.

It also provides practical guidance to volunteer managers and co-ordinators, supports safe and inclusive volunteering, and helps maintain local volunteering infrastructure that many small organisations could not sustain on their own.

Ms Moy said the proposed changes appeared inconsistent with the Commonwealth’s own focus on place-based service delivery, social connection and community resilience.

“Volunteer Resource Centres are exactly the kind of place-based infrastructure government says it values,” she said.

“Replacing local infrastructure with short-term competitive grants risks shifting resources away from regional organisations and towards larger metropolitan providers with greater grant-writing capacity.”

Volunteering Central Coast is a member of the National Network of Volunteer Resource Centres, a national coalition of more than 40 Volunteer Resource Centres across Australia.

The network has written to Assistant Minister for Social Services Ged Kearney, raising urgent concerns about the proposed funding model.

Volunteering Central Coast is calling on the Commonwealth Government to maintain dedicated funding for established Volunteer Resource Centres and ensure any 2027 grants framework protects local volunteering infrastructure rather than only short-term projects, and work directly with Volunteer Resource Centres before the new model is finalised.

“The organisations supporting some of our most vulnerable community members depend on volunteers, and those volunteers depend on local support,” Chairman Mr Tame said.

“We are asking the Government not to take that away.”

Volunteering Central Coast is calling on community members to contact their local Federal MP and ask them to advocate for continued funding for local Volunteer Resource Centres which support regional communities across NSW and Australia.

Community members can also sign the petition at www.change.org/VolunteerCentralCoast.

This article appeared in Coast Community News, 28 May 2026.