How can community leadership and volunteering be further supported in rural areas?
The quality of community leadership and levels of volunteering are functions of organisational capacity. Professional employees are required to enable the strategic directions established by leaders to be translated into action and set up the frameworks and systems within which volunteers can operate. Management by volunteers who add this responsibility onto their “day jobs” usually falls short of the mark, and the people involved are prone to burn-out because of the “willing horse” syndrome. Strategies to support community leadership and volunteering could include: 1. All of the strategies in 1. above 2. Government support for programs such as the Australian Rural Leadership Program 3. Training in leadership and volunteering 4.
