It is worth noting that the debate about the new shape of society is taking place at a time of unprecedented mistrust in institutions and organisations generally. Surveys in the UK, US, Europe and Australia continue to illustrate this lack of trust. Cynicism about politics and politicians is widespread, business is largely blamed for massive retrenchments, rationalisation of services and self-interest when it comes to social and environmental responsibility. Even the voluntary sector is not immune from this mistrust, especially given some widely reported scandals involving misappropriation of funds, in-fighting and plain inefficiency. All three sectors need to find ways to rebuild public trust, and a proper consultative and participatory approach is a necessary first step.
NGOs in Australia
The organised non-government sector in Australia came into being right along with the earliest institutions of white settlement. The first benevolent societies were established in New South Wales in 1813 within the first 25 years of British colonisation.
The sector now encompasses a broad range of activities and levels of organisations. It includes major national charities such as the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and overseas aid agencies. Then there are the national and state-based services including drug rehabilitation, organisations working with disabled people, with youth and with elderly people, as well as peak, umbrella and advocacy bodies. There are the general service organisations such as Rotary, the Lions Club, Apex. There are neighbourhood tennis clubs, nursing mothers" groups, children"s athletics clubs. Also included are the environmental movement through its various groups, medical research teams and institutes, education institutes such as private schools and private universities, and social research think tanks. And of course, there is the philanthropic sector. In short, the not for profit sector is very pervasive in Australian society, and it encompasses more citizens than most people realise.
Despite being so pervasive, the sector does not really have a recognised name in Australian. There is no one commonly accepted term―just a range of interchangeable terms―not-for-profit, community sector, third sector, independent sector, voluntary sector, non-government sector, civil society. The problem is, when there's no name, there's no sense of identity.
The Canadians have agreed on a term―the voluntary sector. This is now the name of the recently established "Round Table" that negotiates with government on behalf of the sector.
Because there is no identity, very little research has been done into the sector. The first piece of Australian research was that undertaken by the Federal Government's Industry Commission in 1995. The report, "Charitable Organisations in Australia," produced by the Industry Commission for the first time sketched this sector. The report gave us a picture of 11,000 "Community Social Welfare Organisations" (yet another term!) with a combined total expenditure of $4.4 billion (1992/93), of which Government funded $2.5 billion.
In 1998, Professor Mark Lyons did more research as part of the Johns Hopkins University comparative study. It was only three years later, but he provided a very different picture. It included the following:
