Australia is home to many unique but often isolated communities, and organisations such as Frontier Services — Australia’s oldest bush charity — go out of their way to offer a helping hand and listening ear.
The beauty and challenges of Australia go hand in hand, and this is especially true when you head out into the remote areas where communities are small, tight and oftentimes in need of assistance. Frontier Services was founded as the Australian Inland Mission in 1912 by Reverend John Flynn — whose face is pictured on our $20 note, and who also founded the Royal Flying Doctor Service in 1928 — with the goal of supporting people living in the bush, whether that is practical, emotional or medical care.
Regional Australia is prone to many different kinds of challenges, big and small, whether it’s isolation from friends, family or services, the mammoth task of maintaining a property, through to natural disasters, the restrictions of age or even the simple influx of visitors during a show or festival.
While the days of travelling into the outback via camel and horse are long gone, Frontier Services has not given up on its aims and has established many ways of helping bush communities battle the challenges of outback life, including a network of Bush Chaplains and volunteers who take time out of their lives to travel Australia and help people in need of physical and emotional support.
John Flynn speaking with a remote town local resident
Volunteer with Outback Links
The Outback Links volunteer assistance program is a great initiative by Frontier Services, and operating nationwide year-round it opens up a lot of opportunities for people to not only travel to remote areas but also to meet and work alongside locals in various ways and get a unique insight into these communities.
The program links up volunteers with people and/or communities around the country who are in need of practical assistance. The jobs and tasks can range greatly, from gardening or painting through to property maintenance and general farm support, which demonstrates just how many ways people lend a helping hand.
The program has proved very valuable and serves as a great way to bring together volunteers with a passion for helping others and communities who are often in desperate need of aid, whether it’s practical aid in terms of having another set of hands about, or the simple comfort of companionship in an isolated area.
As they say, actions speak louder than words, so here are some examples of Outback Links’ latest work and upcoming trips.
Improving a community facility
Birdsville and Bedourie, Qld
Only a few months ago in July, Bush Chaplain Jennie Feldmeier, operating across the Cunnamulla/Burke and Wills Remote Area, received community support requests from two properties in Queensland’s southwest. The requests were for assistance at two events that would be taking place only 200km from each other, and running consecutively, making it an ideal opportunity to organise a group of volunteers to go out and help with both. After coordinating with Frontier Services, a group of volunteers was assembled to head out to Queensland to support Bush Chaplain Jennie in Birdsville for the 2024 Big Red Bash in early July before heading to Bedourie for the Camel and Pig Races.
Bush Chaplain Jennie Feldmeier
The team was made up of five dedicated volunteers from New South Wales, who trekked more than 2000km to the iconic but remote town of Birdsville to offer their assistance at a cafe run by a local First Nations Australian family, Lyn and Don Rowland and their daughter Peta, as they prepared for the influx of visitors heading to the 2024 Big Red Bash.
The Big Red Bash attracts thousands of visitors from all over Australia (the 2024 event saw around 8000 festivalgoers), many of whom descend on Birdsville for supplies before and after the three-day event on the Simpson Desert.
Volunteers in Birdsville
After getting some barista skills under their belts, the volunteers helped with coffee-making, preparing swags (wraps, Birdsville style) and toasties with special bush herbs and spices. With these extra hands onboard, the Rowlands were able to get some much-needed rest while they ensured everything stayed on track during this busy period.
While in Birdsville, the team also helped with the conversion of the old Frontier Services Hospital into a museum, a project that is on its way to becoming a ‘must-see’ destination in Birdsville. Bush Chaplain Jennie pointed out the growing number of visitor book entries and the slowly filling donation box, which will be put towards further maintenance and improvements at the site, which is much appreciated by owner Jenna Brook.
Feeding the volunteers
The team’s next destination was Bedourie around 165km north of Birdsville, to support Robbie Dare, the owner of the local roadhouse, during the Bedourie Camel and Pig Races which draws around 3000 visitors to a town of only 100 residents. The volunteers’ plan had to be adjusted however, as unexpected rainfall caused a few logistical challenges, including many of the Big Red Bash attendees being redirected through Bedourie and overwhelming this small town’s resources. It was all action stations, and the Outback Links volunteers took on various roles, from traffic control through to kitchen support to ensure the town could cope with the unplanned crowds.
Trips such as these always present challenges, but the team remained resilient and ready to lend a hand wherever one was needed. During the Bedourie Camel and Pig Races they helped manage traffic, prepare sandwiches, wash dishes, manned the barbecue, prayed with community members and helped keep everyone in good spirits despite the muddy conditions and reduced race attendance due to the poor weather.
Bush Chaplain Jennie had nothing but praise for how the team went above and beyond and came to every task with admirable joy and dedication.
Roma, Qld
As we’re writing this article, Outback Links is preparing for another group volunteering trip to Roma, in Queensland’s Maranoa region, which will take place on 23–27 September 2024 (our future, your past). This region has been ravaged by several natural disasters in recent years. Catastrophic fires raged through the area in late 2018, destroying homes, sheds, fences and farming equipment among other things. Recovery after this event was made worse by repeated flooding in early 2022, which caused not only damage but also led to a fuel build up. Dry conditions followed this flood season, which sparked further bushfires in early 2023.
Bush Chaplain Dona Spencer will be heading to the area in September along with a group of volunteers to focus on three properties owned by mainly elderly residents who have faced increased social isolation and vulnerability due to these destructive events.
The volunteers will be helping clean up properties, control post-fire flooding and erosion, refill water tanks, clear storm debris, install firebreaks, fix fences, reinsulate irrigation and replant vegetation.
While this trip will have already finished by the time you read this, it is a great example of the kinds of projects Outback Links undertakes, and why they are always on the hunt for volunteers with trade backgrounds of experience, particularly plumbing, carpentry or building.
Outback Links volunteers at work on a fire-affected property in Victoria
Tara, Qld
Another upcoming (early 2025) group volunteer trip will be happening in Tara, Queensland, another area that has endured ongoing challenges, including tragic deaths and the loss of more than 53 homes to bushfires in October 2023.
Alongside Bush Chaplain Dona Spencer, the team of Frontier Services volunteers will lend a helping hand in this damaged but resilient community. They will primarily be helping with landscaping and building maintenance on various properties that were impacted by the bushfires.
Dona is primely placed to help rebuild and strengthen these Queensland communities. Based in Roma, she has established ties with this area, providing pastoral care and practical assistance to those who were impacted by the recent tragedies. This work ranges from visiting the impacted areas, such as caravan parks and showgrounds, to offer emotional support, through to delivering quilts made with love by a Brisbane craft group to provide comfort and warmth to those in need in this region.
Dona Spencer (left) with the lovely quilts made by a Brisbane craft group
Year-round volunteering
The Outback Links program isn’t just group volunteer trips either. It’s a program that runs nationwide, all year long. This means if you’re on the move travelling and are hoping to volunteer, there’s a good chance you can tee something up and get a unique insight into these remote Aussie communities and personalities while you’re enjoying your travels.
Volunteers who’ve taken part in the program have nothing but praise for the initiative and highlighted the profound impact that ongoing volunteered assistance can have on rural communities.
“You can give back a little and make a big difference,” commented Naomi, a Frontier Services volunteer and nurse, who spent time at a cattle farm in central western New South Wales along with her sister Jane. The sisters helped out with essential tasks such as fencing and cattle line repairs, but also offered much-needed companionship to the owners, Bruce and Mary.
The reciprocal nature and reward of volunteer work was emphasised further by Therese and Clive, retirees and avid travellers who headed off on a unique campervan adventure around Australia with Outback Links. They volunteered in all different places and settings, from cataloguing books at the Banjo Paterson Museum in Yeoval, NSW, to farm chores in Lightning Ridge. “It’s not the volunteers who make Frontier Services special; it’s the people of the bush who so graciously accept our help,” Therese commented.
Another couple, Chris and Ros, have dedicated their lives to lending a helping hand on properties across Australia. Whether it’s taking charge of managing the property or performing maintenance tasks, the pair have been a vital support for property owners. “Just us being there — physically present — is value enough,” Chris said. “Everything else is a bonus.”
Outback Links volunteers helping fire-affected residents in Buchan, Vic
Bush Chaplains
Frontier Services’ network of Bush Chaplains spans 86 per cent of Australia and travels tens of thousands of kilometres every year visiting people living in isolated areas for a cuppa and a chat. These Bush Chaplains are frequently on the frontline when it comes to noticing issues or challenges these people are facing, and provide a listening ear, crucial support and connection to other service providers when it’s most needed.
Many of the Bush Chaplains cover vast areas and multiple communities. Bush Chaplain Sunny Kadaparambil delivers essential support in central South Australia, visiting approximately 49 communities, 170 stations and various roadhouses and mining operations. Because of this, Sunny has a unique insight into some of the challenges faced by people in this area, and his years of experience and a compassionate approach have placed him in a valuable position where he can support individuals and communities to overcome prevalent issues including mental health challenges, isolation and the impacts of natural disasters.
Jennie Feldmeier is another one of Frontier Services’ great Bush Chaplains. Jennie’s patrol area covers a massive 450,000 square kilometres, ranging from Tambo to Birdsville in Queensland and down to the New South Wales border. Jennie is a former property owner, so she brings a wealth of experience and insight into the beauty and challenges of rural life and remote living. She has become a pivotal figure in the Cunnamulla, Burke and Wills Remote Area, supporting individuals and communities to overcome all sorts of challenges, whether it’s day-to-day troubles or emotional support.
An Outback Links volunteer hard at work
Give a little, gain a lot
Australians have been lauded for their sense of camaraderie and mateship, and the work that Frontier Services and its many volunteers do is a great example of how we can keep this Aussie spirit going. And what better way to truly experience remote Australia than to volunteer to help the communities and people who call it home, and get a unique insight into what outback life is truly like?
To find out more about Frontier Services, its history and how to become a volunteer, head to its website.
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