VOLUNTEERS, SERVICE CLUBS

Mr PICCOLO (Light) (15:51): On previous occasions in this house I have talked about the enormous contribution that volunteer groups make to our communities. Today I would like to build upon that and reinforce how our communities are enriched by the contribution made by volunteer groups involved in sport (most weekend sport is supported by volunteer groups), the churches, groups who look after the environment and heritage, those who offer welfare support (such as St Vincent de Paul and New Care in my town), those who provide recreation, and those who help seniors.

Today I would like to talk about one particular group of volunteers, that is, the service clubs. In my electorate we are fortunate to have many service clubs. Over the next month or so there will be a changing of the guard in our service clubs, and most members will probably be invited to the various handover dinners. In my electorate, there is the Lions Club of Gawler, of which I am a member, the Rotary Club of Gawler, the Rotary Club of Gawler Light, the Kiwanis Club of Gawler, the Zonta International Gawler District Club, the Apex Club of Gawler, the Apex Club of Gawler Para, the South Australian Country Women's Association, Gawler Branch, and the View Club of Gawler.

One thing that these groups have in common is that at the moment they are struggling to find new membership. Without being impolite, their age profile is moving on as well, and some have concerns about their long-term future. Obviously, changes in the way we work in our communities, and a whole range of things, have meant that it has put pressure on people joining our volunteer groups, particularly the service clubs.

Despite the many challenges facing them, service clubs deliver great work to our local communities. They raise funds for a whole range of community projects; for example, in my own electorate the Rotary clubs support the Gawler Life Foundation. This foundation is set up as a last port of call for those in the community who are experiencing an emergency. The foundation makes some funding available to assist them. The local clubs have also been involved in upgrading the local recreation and community centre, jointly with the town of Gawler. Service clubs also provide a range of breakfast programs in our local schools, and they also support a number of other school projects.

The Kiwanis Club runs a range of programs to support and engage kids in our community. There is also funding available to help the elderly and socially disadvantaged in our community.

The state government has a program to support volunteers through the Office of Volunteers and the volunteer charter. In my own town there is a volunteer charter and these programs are designed to support our volunteer effort. Having said that, it is true that we need to explore ways to better support our service clubs because, once these clubs close, all their works will be lost; not only the works they do but a whole range of social infrastructure in the way they build communities will also be lost.

I think that as a community we need to do some research into assessing why our service clubs are finding it harder to recruit new members and work out ways to encourage people to recruit new members, particularly the younger members of our community. I will give an example. I am a member of the local Lions club and at my age I am the youngest member. It is a bit of a worry that at 48 years of age I am the youngest member. We need to look at ways that we can support our service clubs because we can never duplicate what they do—and they do it extremely well. They raise money for community projects and support a number of community projects, but, as I said, they also provide social infrastructure in our community and help build communities.

With those comments, I wish our incoming 2008-09 presidents the best of luck and I indicate my support and willingness to work with them in my community for the betterment of our community. I acknowledge the great works that presidents do because volunteering is really hard work.

Time expired.