While COVID-19 has significantly disrupted volunteering in Victoria and nationally, there is also evidence that volunteers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities have played a critical role to respond to the adverse impact of the pandemic. Volunteer West is conducting research that aims to better understand the enablers and barriers to volunteering among CALD communities in Melbourne’s West. We seek to learn from the experiences of volunteer involving organisations to identify critical success factors in engaging CALD communities in emergency response.

The research focuses on two volunteer-involving organisations in Brimbank and Melton as case studies. Insights can be applied to increase volunteer engagement and address the underrepresentation of CALD communities in the sector as we move towards COVID-19 recovery. The research is in partnership with the Department of Families, Fairness, and Housing (DFFH). 

Importantly, the research proposes new practice of ‘fluid volunteering’ and ‘role-based volunteering’ to replace ‘informal’ and ‘formal’ volunteering references that can be disenfranchising.

Read more:

Summary Report

Full Report

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