Page 1475 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 May 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
A 2010 study by Volunteering Australia found that one in five Australians provide essential care services to someone with a disability, someone with a long-term illness or someone dealing with the life changes that accompany ageing. Half of all Australians—that is, one in two—provide support services to someone who does not live in the same household: a friend’s child whose parents have to work longer and longer hours but cannot afford child care or a neighbour who cannot navigate the murky waters of domestic childcare services to get the support they need to maintain their house and life.
These carers have a lower workforce participation rate than the national average, and many of the 37 per cent of carers have a disability themselves. There are only so many hours in the day, and it is very hard to balance the high time demands of caring for another person with balancing the ability to earn a living wage and to look after your own health. By far and away, of course, women make up the majority of carers. Women represent 68 per cent of primary carers and 55 per cent of all carers.
More people are volunteering more often, while at the same time some people are working longer and longer hours. Despite many people working longer hours and having multiple jobs and caring for their own families, Australians are contributing more and more time to supporting their communities formally and informally.
One of the things that means is that the government has categorically failed many Australians. They are working more and they are paying more and they are contributing more, but when things go wrong and they need help, our federal government is telling us that social services are being cut and that that is life because they are running out of money. While I do not doubt the sincerity of the Canberra Liberals and all the people sitting here in front of me, it is sometimes unfortunate that people talk about how great it is for other people to volunteer but do not deal with the reasons why we need to do so much volunteering.
People volunteer because they want to live in a society that cares about people; they want the most vulnerable people to be able to eat without begging, to live in a comfortable house that is not falling to pieces, to have some sense of fulfilment in their house and to see that their local park is not full of weeds and rubbish et cetera. We also know that the federal government, unfortunately, is providing less and less for our vulnerable people. While I very much thank Mr Coe for suggesting this matter of public importance—and I totally agree with him that it is important that volunteers deliver community service to Canberra—we need to look more broadly at the reasons for some of the volunteering efforts of our community.
I absolutely support volunteering, but we need to look at building up a community in Australia where everyone is cared for, where communities are supported and uplifted, an Australia where we reward people for the labour they give, and a society where we look after our community and respect our volunteers but where the government provides at least the basics so that we all can have happy, fulfilled, dignified lives without having to relying on the kindness of strangers.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video