Volunteering as a Participation Option for Income Support Recipients: Unconscionable or Underutilised?

Drawing on the results of a mixed methods study conducted in inner Melbourne in 2007, this paper contends that the benefits of volunteering may offset some of the debilitating ill-effects of unemployment and underemployment; and that Work for the Dole, the dominant participation option for the long-term unemployed, is less effective in this regard. On this basis, it argues that volunteering is underutilised in the Government's economic and social...