Welcome to Aged Care Volunteering Australia Inc
Making Life Better With Care
About
We are a not for profit community organisation dedicated to promoting the benefits of volunteering to aged care residents and to supporting the development of volunteering programs at aged care homes.
Aged Care Volunteering Australia was founded in 2020 by Rachelle Seeff, a passionate volunteer with nine years of experience volunteering at one of Sydney’s leading aged care facilities. Over her time as a volunteer Rachelle witnessed first-hand the profound benefits that volunteers can have on the health and wellbeing of aged care residents. She also observed a variety of ways in which the potential of volunteers was not being fully utilised, and further research revealed a low rate of uptake of volunteering programs at homes in the wider community, and a lack of investment in volunteers.
By encouraging and facilitating research and lobbying government, aged care providers and other stakeholders, Aged Care Volunteering Australia aims to increase the uptake of volunteering programs at aged care homes and enhance existing programs to ensure they deliver better outcomes for both residents and volunteers.
Our Vision
While many Australians would agree that our aged care system is failing those that rely on it, most view the responsibility for improving outcomes as resting solely on the government and private aged care providers.
Our vision is to connect communities with aged care residents on a national scale through well-resourced and carefully designed programs that best use the time and energy of those that are willing to volunteer at their local home to improve the health and wellbeing of those that could benefit immensely from their assistance.
Royal Commission Submission
Following a plethora of reports of mistreatment, poor conditions and standards of care and general failures to achieve positive outcomes for residents, the federal government announced a Royal Commission into Aged Care Safety and Quality.
Our submission to the Royal Commission explains the reasons why we believe investing in practical measures to promote volunteering in aged care, including supporting research programs, can yield high value outcomes, especially in comparison with the small initial and ongoing financial investment required. We are seeking the Royal Commission's support for pilot research programs into volunteering in aged care homes, and to explore the potential role that volunteering programs can play in addressing its terms of reference.
Our submission explores in detail our views on the potential benefits of expanding and enhancing volunteering programs at aged care homes in Australia.