HOW do you view volunteering and what does the word invoke in your mind?
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The 106-page review was compiled by two organisations after being commissioned by the federal Department of Social Services.
The government body wanted to know how volunteering could aid social cohesion in our time and what measures could be taken to strengthen that compact.
The authors produced eight recommendations, not surprisingly there are calls for greater funding and better plans.
The most striking call is a recommendation to "expand the emphasis, language, and basic orientation of the volunteering support sector from 'volunteering' to 'participation'".
To most people, 'volunteering' would be seen as a noble term, an expression of willingness to help for the wider good.
However, the compilers of the report suggest there are negative connotations and that language can be a barrier.
"The support for volunteering in its current form is highly transactional in nature and based in historical ideals," they state.
"The act of engaging volunteers (those with the privilege and skills) to 'volunteer to' vulnerable groups can have the unintended effect of reinforcing inequity of opportunity and power and is therefore limited in its ability to build social cohesion."
IN OTHER NEWS:
One of the authors, Ross Wyatt, told The Border Mail that if the government reframed the language it would broaden interaction with organisations and encourage more to become involved in the wider community.
"Volunteer is holding us back," Mr Wyatt said.
"We need to reimagine the way we think about volunteering, not just for those in a position to volunteer."
How much of a difference the terminology makes is debatable, what is not is that volunteers do bolster our community.
From Meals on Wheels to embracing our migrant communities, unpaid helpers are vital to a productive society and the federal government should be looking to strengthen their framework.
