AVID is Launched

Thursday, 16 June, 2011

The new Federal Government volunteer sending program – AVID – was launch by Foreign Minister Rudd at Parliament House.  AVID (Australian Volunteers for International Development) consists of three major partners, Australian Volunteers International (AVI), the Australian Red Cross and a consortium lead by Austraining International.  ABV is a member of the Consortium and as such maintains its thirty years of work through the AusAID contracts.

‘The Consortium will allow us to continue our ground breaking and professional work in skills exchange with developing countries’ said Michael Lynch, CEO of ABV.  ‘We have always worked closely with Austraining International and we are excited to look for further opportunities to grow ABV through the relationship,’ he said.

Minister Rudd highlighted ABV’s exemplary work in his speech and pointed out the importance of volunteers to Australia’s overall overseas aid package.

AVID will have an overall branding that makes the Australian volunteer more recognizable, rather than as a member of one of the partners.  The same level of assistance overseas will continue but the new program will allow Australians to volunteer for new countries in different regions.  The May Federal Budget has also continued to increase the funds for development with a small increase in the AVID allocation.

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