Tasmania is indebted to our volunteers for the contributions they make which inspire others and can be life-changing for many.
Minister for Community Services, Roger Jaensch, this week paid tribute to the State's thousands of volunteers during a visit to Meals on Wheels.
"For almost 70 years, Meals on Wheels services in Tasmania have played a crucial role in supporting the health and wellbeing of thousands of older Australians across 25 service locations," Minister Jaensch said.
"The Meals on Wheels volunteer workforce does more than deliver nutritious meals to older Tasmanians, these generous volunteers help keep people connected within their communities by conducting wellbeing checks and aiding independence.
"There are nearly 300,000 volunteers that contribute to hundreds of community organisations across Tasmania each year.
"During National Volunteer Week, 20-27 May, we take time to officially thank volunteers who contribute in diverse areas – from sport and arts through to health and community services, aged care, emergency management, education and conservation."
Under our 2030 Strong Plan for Tasmania's Future the Tasmanian Government is working alongside Volunteering Tasmania and providing $150,000 to develop the State's first Volunteering Strategy and a five-year action plan.
"We are working to deliver a whole of government strategy to start the shift from emergency food relief to food resilience, with increased funding, capital investment and support across the State, including our food vans," Minister Jaensch said.
"We will give Volunteering Tasmania $520,000 a year for two years, and this includes the delivery of Volunteer Awards.
"Importantly, we will deliver guaranteed funding indexation at an unprecedented level that's on par with our other essential front-line workers and volunteers who do incredible work helping Tasmanians every day.
"This will help these organisations to deliver the essential work they do without rising costs and high inflation eating away at their capacity to provide the services they do.
"The Tasmanian Government is boosting operational funding for Neighbourhood Houses, including continuing the Community Connector program and investing in a new House upgrade program.
"Another of our terrific volunteer groups, Men's Sheds, will receive new funding for upgrades, a competitive grants program and funding for the peak Association and we're boosting funding for Carers Tasmania and Carers Week.
"We will also deliver a new, practical leadership program for women in the community sector and Meals on Wheels will get $44,250 to support its existing volunteers and help attract new volunteers by providing them with Mental Health First Aid Training, Defensive Driver Training and First Aid Training."
