EV Strengthening Communities

National Volunteer Week 2026
18–24 May
Your Year to Volunteer

Volunteers play a vital role in building stronger, more connected communities. Across every sector, volunteers contribute their time, skills, and passion to support others and create positive change.
This National Volunteer Week, EV Strengthening Communities proudly recognises and thanks the volunteers who make a meaningful difference in communities every day.

To celebrate, we are offering FREE access from 18–24 May to two online learning suites designed to support community organisations, boards, and inclusive workplaces.

Board Member Introduction
Governance, risk, chairing, and financial literacy modules for community boards and committees.
Access code: GOV_NVW26
https://learning.ev.org.au/courses/?tab=lead

Strengthen your Workplace: Inclusion
Diversity and disability inclusion modules for organisations serving the community.
Access code: INC_NVW26
https://learning.ev.org.au/courses/?tab=lead #

Visit learning.ev.org.au to register and get started.

EV is offering all community and human service organisations in the eastern region of Melbourne free access to our Learning Modules on how to work towards being an inclusive volunteering organisation and our modules for Management Committees and Boards to help them with their governance and responsibilities. These can be accessed free during National Volunteer Week. Please share this post to your networks.

Today is the International Day Against LGBTQIA+ Discrimination! 🌈

Why May 17? It was on this day in 1990 that homosexuality was removed from the WHO Classification of Diseases - a historic step towards inclusion. Three decades later, despite how far we’ve come, the LGBTQIA+ community unfortunately still faces discrimination.

Days like today offer all of us the opportunity to visibly stand against discrimination. LGBTQIA+ community and allies alike, today we take action to make the world more inclusive.

This year, we couldn’t be prouder of the massive wave of allyship, pride, and visibility we’ve seen across workplaces, schools, and communities.

To every single person who’s gone rainbow: you have sent SUCH a vital message of hope, support, and safety to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Whether you wore a rainbow ribbon, started a conversation, hosted a fundraiser, shared IDAHOBIT online, or hung up a poster, thank you. Each action contributes to building a more inclusive future.

Thank you for showing up proudly with us!

The Community Home Support Program CHSP which funds our community transport services and social support for people over 65 remains a critical entry level aged care service.

The Commonwealth budget has no additional funding for CHSP - so no growth funding. Given people are on waiting lists for Support at Home services for over 8 months and up to 347 days in 2024! they rely on our entry level services to support them. As their needs become more complex it is often our entry level services who are supporting them to live at home and remain as mobile and as healthy as possible.

Aged care and provision for it remains a huge problem which the Commonwealth budget has not addressed to sufficient scale. Lets hope our work with the CHSP Alliance brings sense to the Commonwealth that amalgamating it in 2027with this existing mess of a new system would be disastrous for our older communities.

https://communitycarereview.com.au/2026/05/13/1-year-wait-for-sah-up-to-14-months-for-resi/?utm_campaign=120355263-Media%20Bulletin&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9bWB4Kz3wHZajRE3n5kCe2gEavLZU3b72JZ8Rv3Puh1sxjwjNyy9X-ckr16MvyLB8Qnmz1VksoEUNwUGbhYAAi7RoYxlw1GKxJK1raxJ7M6rWUx2Xzj_-aNr7FxvHJLf6fEK_R&_hsmi=26660758&utm_content=26660758&utm_source=hs_email

SaH services have longest wait time under the new Act - Community Care Review Older people are waiting 12 months for Support at Home and 3-4 months for home mods and assistive tech services, the first wait times report for the new Act shows.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-14/aged-care-average-wait-times-blow-out/106665162?utm_campaign=120355263-Media%20Bulletin&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_ESn8rM9GNvGExrfKgD4N8pDaPhHslZvo3b3h60BQYrYpOxz9QsPUhf32ybVXkBgaEaKck8ZqpLTtyWHfYWSCIJaNGjAo0g2jLYZb0sQI_g2SI3ip56pU5lcukn85GDxtofPu7&_hsmi=26660758&utm_content=26660758&utm_source=hs_email

Prime minister concedes aged care wait times 'not good enough' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has conceded the state of aged care in Australia "is not good enough" after a new report revealed people are waiting an average of a year for services.

National Volunteer Week 2026
18–24 May
“Your Year to Volunteer”

EV Strengthening Communities is proud to celebrate the volunteers who make a meaningful difference in communities every day.
To support National Volunteer Week 2026, we are offering FREE access from 18–24 May to two online learning suites designed to strengthen community organisations and workplaces.

Board Member Introduction
For Committees of Management and Boards of Community Services.
Modules include:
• What is my governance role?
• Governing risk: a practical guide
• Being an effective chair
• Understanding financial reports for non-accountants
Access code: GOV_NVW26

Strengthen your Workplace: Inclusion
For organisations serving the community.
Modules include:
• Understanding Diversity and Inclusion
• Disability Inclusion: Context and Concepts
• Disability Inclusion: Preparation
• Disability Inclusion: Implementation
Access code: INC_NVW26

Visit learning.ev.org.au to register and get started.

As part of EV’s 50-year celebration, May focuses on volunteering, contribution and participation, recognising the people who help strengthen communities every day.
Volunteering has been at the heart of EV since 1976, when the organisation first began connecting volunteers with local organisations and community members across Melbourne’s east.

What started as Volunteers Unlimited has grown into a multi-service organisation, but the importance of volunteering has remained constant.

Today, volunteers continue to play a vital role across EV, supporting community transport, building social connection, contributing professional skills, and helping people stay engaged with their communities. Through initiatives such as EV’s Virtual Volunteer Resource Service (VRS), volunteering pathways now extend beyond local communities, helping connect people and organisations across Australia.

May also includes National Volunteer Week 2026 (18–24 May), providing an opportunity to celebrate and thank the volunteers who contribute so much to our communities.

Thank you to everyone who attended yesterday’s Volunteer Information Session at the Whitehorse Civic Centre.

It was fantastic to see such a strong turnout of both prospective volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations, with so many great conversations, connections, and opportunities shared throughout the morning.

We hope attendees left feeling inspired and more confident about the many ways volunteering can support personal growth, community connection, and future opportunities.

A big thank you as well to all participating organisations for helping make the event such a valuable and welcoming experience for our community.

We look forward to continuing to support volunteering across Whitehorse and beyond.

Thinking about volunteering? Looking to see what opportunities are out there, or explore something new?
Our Volunteer Information Session is on this Wednesday, and it’s the perfect chance to discover what’s available and connect with organisations in your community.

Come along to:
• Discover how volunteering can build skills, confidence, and connections
• Find roles that match your interests and availability
• Learn what to expect when getting started
• Speak directly with organisations actively recruiting volunteers
Whether you’re new to volunteering, returning after a break, or already volunteering and looking for your next opportunity, this session is for you.

This Wednesday (6 May)
9:30 AM – 11:30 AM
Whitehorse Civic Centre, Nunawading

RSVP now to secure your spot:
https://cop.ev.org.au/events/9994