Timebanking now covers 64 communities and 80 per cent of people in NSW and has just come to Tamworth and Armidale. 

It allows members to earn time credits when volunteering their time to provide a service and then spend these time credits when receiving a service from another volunteer.

Volunteers are the life blood of our community in many ways and there’s really not too many areas in our society that are not enriched by the selfless act of volunteering.

It’s not an activity associated with giving so you can receive something in return – but this is the basis of timebanking, one of the key initiatives in the state government’s volunteering strategy.

Community groups appear to be a bit divided on its merits, some saying it defeats the purpose of volunteering and won’t encourage new volunteers for this very reason: they don’t expect anything back.

Others argue that a large percentage of volunteers are getting on in years and that if they can trade in some of their volunteering hours for a bit of work around their house or garden, then that may encourage them to stay involved a bit longer.

It could even entice younger people to put their hand up, they say.

Timebanking has been operating in other parts of the world for some time, but is relatively new to Australia.

Already people are sharing stories about some of their rewarding experiences with the initiative, but is it a legitimate way to grow our volunteering ranks when the statistics tell us our volunteer population is ageing?

Will it benefit charities, community organisations and sporting groups that rely on their volunteers for everything from raffle ticket selling and manning barbecues, to mowing sports grounds and helping out in the school canteen. 

Timebanking is probably a very worthy initiative, but does it fall outside the traditional volunteering model and should it be treated as such?

Should the NSW government be using it, and investing taxpayer dollars in it, as a strategy for the growth of volunteering?

The only really effective way to ensure we generate enough “volunteer power” now, and into the future, is by leading by example.

There’s no reason every able-bodied person in our community can’t be giving something back, and by doing this our children and grandchildren, the nation’s future volunteer workforce, come to see it as a normal thing to do.

Knowing you’ve helped make a difference should be reward enough.