Life Matters

Vita Activa translates as 'active life', it neatly sums up the volunteer effort in Australia.

More than a third of us give up our time for others, and life as we know it would collapse if volunteers withdrew their labour.

But with changes to work patterns, later retirement and busier lives many organisations are struggling to get volunteeers.

Dr Melanie Oppenheimer has been looking at the past, present and future of Australia's volunteers and volunteer organisations and she's noticing some interesting trends.

Over the next few weeks at this time she'll be highlighting different aspects of contemporary volunteering.

Guests

Dr Melanie Oppenheimer
Dr Oppenheimer is an Associate Professor within the School of Humanities & Languages at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) where she has taught Australian history since 1995. She has written extensively on aspects of volunteering, women and war from both an historical and contemporary perspective. She is currently researching and writing a book on the history of Australian volunteering post-1945 to be published by UNSW Press. Over the years, Melanie has volunteered for a range of organisations including Before and After School Care, the Australian Red Cross and professional associations such as the Australian Historical Association and the Australian Society for the Study of Labour History. In September this year she joined the Balmain Little Athletics Club as her 7 year old just loves to run so for the next six months Melanie will spend her Saturday mornings as a parent volunteer in the Girls Under 8s!

Publications

Title: Volunteers and Volunteering
Author: Melanie Oppenheimer and Jenny Warburton
Publisher: Federation Press

Title: Oceans of Love: Narelle: An Australian Nurse in World War I
Author: Melanie Oppenheimer
Publisher: ABC Books

Presenter

Richard Aedy

Story Researcher and Producer

Amanda Armstrong