CORPORATES4COMMUNITIES

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:51): My question is to the Minister for Volunteers. Will the minister inform the house on the benefits of the Corporates4Communities initiatives for the South Australian voluntary sector?

The Hon. A. KOUTSANTONIS (West Torrens—Minister for Correctional Services, Minister for Gambling, Minister for Youth, Minister for Volunteers, Minister Assisting the Minister for Multicultural Affairs) (14:51): Yes; I can inform the honourable member and the house of this very important initiative, and I thank her for the question. This is an important, innovative approach to supporting the South Australian voluntary sector. This program helps community organisations and the business which participate to enhance their profile and marketing opportunities, boost morale, increase skills and knowledge and improve service delivery.

The Corporates4Communities concept has seen the development of an 'hours bank', which calculates the number of hours business leaders of South Australian commit to volunteering during paid time. Community organisations access the services of business leaders for tasks such as graphic design, bookkeeping and developing a marketing strategy. In the first half of 2009 the program welcomed many new participating organisations, including the Enfield Community Food Centre Incorporated, the National Heart Foundation and Peninsula Community Broadcasters.

Feedback on the corporate volunteering program has been received from participating organisations. For example, the Edwards Marshall employees were partnered with the Cancer Council to take the Cancer Council health message to members of the public at the Tour Down Under. As a result of their involvement as the Tour Down Under charity partner, the Cancer Council was able to raise close to $800,000. Edwards Marshall employees found that the experience enhanced the profile of their business, assisted with marketing opportunities and increased their skills and knowledge base, and it was great for team building.

Staff from SA Lotteries attended the Hutt Street Centre to cook and serve a barbecue for the homeless and vulnerable residents of Adelaide. The project provided SA Lotteries staff with the opportunity to be more actively involved in the community and make a difference to the lives of needy South Australians.

Corporates4Communities has seen a steady pattern of registration from both business and community organisations, with 85 requests for assistance from 40 different organisations lodged with the program between January and September 2009.

Some 43 registered requests were matched with corporate volunteers, 26 new corporate volunteers were registered with the program, and 15 partnerships have been completed, with a total of 872 hours being donated. The hours given to complete partnerships so far in 2009 are conservatively valued at over $85,000. In total, over 2,850 professional volunteer hours have been contributed through Corporates4Communities to the South Australian community.

In this win-win situation, community organisations benefit by having access to skills they may not normally have had access to, which will ultimately help in their growth and service delivery. It allows businesses to have a convenient mechanism through which they can meet their social responsibilities and obligations and which can also lead to employee development and identification of new products and markets. It is also about being involved in something larger than themselves and larger than making a profit.

The more businesses and community organisations we can encourage to join this initiative, the greater impact we can have in helping our vital community groups build a better South Australia. I am certainly proud of the outcomes realised by this initiative so far, and I look forward to seeing it grow as it helps to bridge the gap within the broader community.