Australians
have long been known as a nation of joiners, with a strong tradition of vol-untarism.
But there are fears this is changing, writes Victoria's Governor, Sir James
Gobbo, AC. Civic responsibility, cooperation and enlightenment are subject to setbacks and disenchantments. Even where significant economic and political progress have been achieved, there is evidence of a sense of ennui.
There is much evidence that inherited institutions are not valued or even really understood. Some in the Western world question what kind of society we are handing on to our children. One index of this unease is the degree of social cooperation and participation in areas not directly related to politics or commerce.
Benevolent or charitable work is one part of a much wider area which can simply be described as voluntary work. Some of it is not strictly benevolent, such as unpaid voluntary service on a school committee or in a political party, or participation in sporting clubs or societies devoted to music or choirs and the like.
This wide dimension of voluntary service can properly be described as part of the social capital of a nation - features of social organisation such as networks and social trust which facilitate cooperation for mutual benefit.
The UK, the US and Australia have had a long tradition of voluntarism. Figures compiled in the early 1980s showed that some 30 per cent of Australians over the age of 15 each gave an average of 120 hours free service per year. Australia's rate of voluntary service was second only to the United States. These figures only record voluntary service through organisations, not unpaid service within the extended family circle or by one individual directly to another.
Australia has been described as a nation of joiners. We have one of the highest rates of participation in voluntary organisations in the world. These voluntary or non-government organisations take many forms, ranging from service organisations and churches to sporting clubs and trade unions.
But there is real cause for concern in Australia about the level of this civic engagement.
For a start, there has been a distinct fall in the number of people volunteering.
One explanation is, of course, that we now have more women in the workforce. In the past, after women brought up their children, they very often gave a lot of time to voluntary organisations. Churches report declining attendances, and membership of political parties and unions is falling. These kinds of bodies are often involved in voluntary work. A further explanation is the diminishing interest of new generations in voluntary organisations, some of which are institutions to which the young feel no link.
Harvard researcher Dr Robert Putnam has found a steady and disturbing fall in civic engagement in the US since the 1960s. He considered many possible factors and concluded that the culprit was television.
Putnam's work on civic engagement has shown how important civic association and social capital are, not merely to achieve a healthy democracy but also commercial and industrial progress. There is evidence that successful capitalism in Asia has a direct relationship with the vigour and tradition of family and similar networks.
The amount and vigour of civic engagement are critically important to the future of modern society. It is not simply a question of the stress caused by falling rates of community volunteering at a time when the sun can be said to be setting on the welfare state. It goes further. Falling civic engagement reduces social intercourse - and increases the trend to individualistic self-interest. It may, as Putnam contends, critically affect all political institutions and the health of democracy.
We face a great challenge. If we do not uphold the value and extent of our civic engagement, many of the institutions we have taken for granted will suffer.
This is an edited version of a speech Sir James Gobbo delivered to a Monash Alumni International Forum in Singapore earlier this year.