The national raffle campaign has been running since November 2016. It raises funds for the National SES Volunteers Association which, in turn, uses those funds for specific projects or activities to benefit volunteers. NSESVA has no funding, so the raffle campaign was started to develop a source of income. The NSESVA is a relatively new association, formed in late 2015. All State and territory VAs are member of the national association. More information about NSESVA can be found on the website nsesva.org.au, including annual reports and financial statements.

The raffles are legitimate and comply with all relevant regulations. In the last raffle, a Victorian grandmother won the major prize of $20,000 and is using it to return to her native Scotland for a last visit to see old friends and relatives. Other Victorians regularly win minor prizes, and there has been at least one other major prizewinner.

Funds raised by NSESVA are used to benefit volunteers and volunteer development. An example of an NSESVA project in 2019 was the sponsoring of youth members from each State and Territory to attend the AFAC National Memorial Service in Canberra on May 1, to develop their leadership skills and engagement with SES and the VAs. The youth contingent participated in the memorial ceremony, forming a Guard of Honour for the Governor-General and dignitaries, attended NSESVA meetings as observers, visited Parliament House and the ACT SESVA HQ and gave individual presentations at a formal dinner. A feature article about this trip was published in Phoenix May 2019.

Another recent initiative was the NSESVA’s presentation on Women in the SES: Reshaping Dynamics at the AFAC19 conference, which celebrated the work of women volunteers and advocated for greater diversity and inclusion in the EM sector. The research paper was received with overwhelming support for bringing the cause of volunteers on the ground to this

international conference.

NSESVA advocates for the interests of volunteers in many other forums, including the AFAC Volunteer Management Technical Group and the Fit for Task project; contributing to the development of doctrine which directly affects volunteers, such as the Volunteer Impact Assessment Guideline and the Volunteer Inclusion Model Guideline.