Staff contribute over 70 days for community organisations

ACU Engagement update: Since the Community Engagement Time Release (CETR) Policy was launched in April 2019, ACU staff have accessed over 500 hours of time release to support community initiatives. This equates to roughly 71 days of ACU staff working to address community needs such as food security, domestic violence, homelessness and many more.

Assisting those who are experiencing disadvantage or marginalisation can be an extremely rewarding experience and staff are afforded up to five days per year to make a contribution through the policy. The CETR is easy to apply for and can even be accessed as a team or group.

Renee Hutchinson from the Office of the Vice-Chancellor and President, and Aileen Conradi, Executive Assistant to the Associate Vice Chancellor Queensland recently took part in a staff community engagement opportunity with Foodbank in Brisbane.

'Aileen and I drove around Brisbane in the Foodbank vehicle collecting the donations that will go to help this important charity. I have volunteered at Foodbank in Sydney with my OVCP colleagues and thoroughly enjoyed the experience - it brought our team together in a unique way and left us with sore muscles and full hearts,' said Renee.

The policy also allows for flexibility in how the hours are divided.

Dr Tatum McPherson-Crowie of the Libraries Directorate, has been volunteering with Mary’s House in her personal time since 2017. With the introduction of the policy, Tatum has been able to increase her regular commitment from once, to twice a month.

Tatum said that the five days of time release have provided her with greater stability in her commitment to Mary’s House, by enabling her to plan shifts months in advance without negatively impacting on her work commitments.