As Queensland’s peak body for NRM volunteers, QWaLC fulfills the following roles on behalf of its membership of over 35,000 people.
Advocacy
No other body exists in Queensland to advocate specifically on behalf of NRM volunteers. The volunteer NRM sector is vital to the Queensland economy, producing vast amounts of work with no labour costs. QWaLC works hard to ensure that this contribution is an important consideration in any decisions made regarding the sector.
- Advocating to the Australian Government of the needs of volunteer NRM groups in regards to the development of NHT 3. This is a vital issue for all NRM volunteers, as it will determine how funding is distributed in the future.
- Advocating on behalf of all volunteer NRM groups regarding their insurance coverage. This includes keeping excesses to a minimum (in the past QWaLC negotiated a reduction from a $10,000 excess to a $1,000) and maintaining coverage for up to 90yrs old.
Representation
QWaLC represents the Queensland volunteer NRM sector to federal, state and local government, regional bodies, industry and anywhere issues arise that will impact on NRM volunteers.
- Steering committee representation, such as the Inaugural Queensland Coastal Conference, CoastInfo website and Land for Wildlife. The coastal conference and CoastInfo projects are an important step in closing the information gap for the majority of volunteer NRM groups whose work benefits coastal environments.
- QWaLC also provides a $40,000 float to enable community NRM groups to host the Landcare Conference in odd-numbered years. QWaLC believes it’s important for the conference to remain focused on volunteer NRM groups, and the best way to achieve this is to encourage individual groups to host the conference.
Networking
QWaLC maintains a vast NRM network that encompasses volunteer NRM groups, regional bodies, government representatives and industry personnel. Due to demand for access to this network, QWaLC has introduced free associate membership for interested individuals.
We utilise this network for the following outcomes:
- Collaboration between volunteer NRM groups. This has included networking events where QWaLC invites our network to attend a get-together and talk to like-minded people. Our meet-and-greet afternoon tea in January resulted in new partnerships between groups working on similar projects. QWaLC is currently working on further extending collaboration between groups through an online forum hosted on this website.
- Information dissemination. This includes distributing both email and hard copies of relevant events, research developments and funding and skill-building opportunities. As we are an independent body, we distribute information from regional bodies, government and industry groups if it will benefit our groups. This includes listing on this website’s ‘Events’ page, email blasts and physical mail-outs (free of charge). Our mail-out alone will include a ‘Landcare Journal’, information from two regional bodies and two industry groups. Contact QWaLC if you would like further information on this service.
Promotion
QWaLC is proud to promote the achievements of NRM volunteers.
- QWaLC is funded by Landcare Australia to coordinate the Queensland Landcare Awards. This is the state’s most prestigious Awards process, with many regional and industry winners entering for the chance to then be considered for a National Landcare Award. QWaLC dedicates hundreds of hours to the Landcare Awards, ensuring that all NRM volunteers can enter and have their projects considered. Nominations for the Awards will be announced when opened.
- QWaLC provides media coverage of the achievements of NRM volunteers. Media releases are regularly distributed to NRM-specific media and the broader media arena. However, these releases often focus on the achievements of the groups rather than QWaLC, and that fits in with our role of promoting our volunteers rather than ourselves.
Insurance
As a result of our understanding of the needs of NRM volunteers, the Department of Natural Resources and Water (DNRW) entrusts QWaLC with the administration of three insurance policies. This involves a considerable commitment of time and resources, involving:
- Responding to hundreds of email and phone insurance enquiries. This can include contacting groups, or the insurance broker for specific information. It also requires following up with groups to ensure that they received the information they needed.
- Processing registrations for insurance. This is a detailed process involving distributing applications, receiving applications, making sure the applications are complete, sending copies of the applications to the various assessment panels, getting the applications returned and then having the policies distributed to the new groups.
- Ensuring a fair process. Sometimes groups are rejected for insurance coverage. QWaLC then advocates on behalf of those groups to make sure that the assessors’ decision was fully informed. In the past eight months QWaLC has achieved a reversal of the assessors’ initial decision to result in three previously rejected groups being covered by insurance. This means a considerable cost-saving for the groups, who otherwise are unable to afford insurance, and might have had to cancel their NRM activities.
QWaLC Annual Report
Annual Report 2007/2008 (
