Volunteering pays off – both for the involved engineer and the world they serve

Abstract

Many Australian engineers perform vital humanitarian aid work overseas and in Australia after disasters. Their professional skills and attributes render them particularly suited to making useful contributions to relief work and community development. This article provides an overview of the role Australian engineers play as volunteer humanitarian aid workers. It outlines the positive impact of their volunteer experience on the countries and people they help; on the engineers themselves as professionals and individuals; and on their co-workers and, most significantly, their employers. Five case studies describe recent individual deployments, while a sixth case study describes RedR Australia, an aid organisation that trains engineers for overseas deployments, maintains a skills and availability register, and arranges deployments when required. The article concludes that, while the current volunteer ethos is already strong, Australian companies can do even more to support their engineers as aid volunteers, and suggests specific ways by which this can be achieved.