Volunteers are the lifeblood of our community, they selflessly give up their time for the benefits of others and they do this with no expectation of thanks and rarely any recognition.
Today, I am very pleased to announce that this will be changing. For the first time we will formally recognise Tasmania’s volunteers with the introduction of the Tasmanian Volunteer Awards.
This is long overdue recognition of our volunteers, and brings us in line with most other states.
The inaugural Tasmanian Volunteer Awards will be presented during National Volunteer Week in May next year.
The awards will recognise outstanding Tasmanian volunteers in eight categories, including:
• Lyden Builders Arts and Heritage Category;
• Tasplan Community Care and Health;
• Tasplan Education, Science and Technology;
• Lyden Builders Sport and Recreation;
• Lyden Builders Emergency Services;
• Aon Risk Insurance Environment and Conservation;
• TasPlan Corporate Award for a company that has had a significant impact through its employee volunteering program; and
• Hydro Tasmania Excellence Award for best practice in the management of volunteers.
I am proud to announce that there will also be an overall winner selected from the category winners, who will receive the Premier’s Volunteer of the Year Award.
Tasmania has a very rich volunteer culture, with one in four Tasmanians volunteering, giving up more than seven million hours in a year.
While it’s impossible to put a value on the contribution, the hours alone are concretively estimated to be worth in excess of $2.5 billion.
Volunteers hold our community together, from everyday duties like manning the school canteen to the extraordinary moments of adversity like the Dunalley bushfires, they are there for us.
The Tasmanian Volunteer Awards are great opportunity to say thanks for their incredible work, and I urge Tasmanians to nominate a friend, family member or colleague who volunteers.
Will Hodgman, Premier
