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Australia launches #smartvolunteering in Bali amid global rise in 'voluntourism'
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Australian consul-general, Helena Studdert (left), speaks during the launch of the #smartvolunteering campaign in Bali on March 22, 2018. (Australia Consulate General in Bali/-)
T
he Australian Consulate-General held a public outreach event for NGOs and civil society in Bali and launched the Australian Government’s #smartvolunteering campaign on Thursday amid reports about donated goods from Australia being held at the customs office in Bali.
The Consulate-General has posted information on their website about the processes required for importing donated goods into Indonesia.
“Australia’s long love affair with the island is manifest in the interest and keenness shown by Australians to help Balinese people and local communities that they see as being disadvantaged or in need,” the Australian consul-general, Helena Studdert, said in her opening remarks.
The consul-general said the office had received reports about people carrying donated goods being stopped at the airport on arrival, or shipments of donated goods being held up by customs. The goods included: hospital beds, wheelchairs, medical items, computers, clothing, toys or books. Some of them were used goods, some new.
“The Consulate was involved in a shipment of ambulance litters and CPR equipment being confiscated by customs for over 15 months. The reason given was a lack of proper paperwork,” Studdert went on.
Studdert also mentioned the global rise in volunteer tourism or “voluntourism”, citing 2017 UNICEF data indicating that the number of residential care institutions in Cambodia rose by 75 percent between 2005 and 2010. Half of the institutions are in the popular tourist destinations of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
Residential care refers to group living arrangements for children without primary caregivers or whose biological parents are unable to care for them.
UNICEF attributed the increase in such institutions to overseas donors. “As a result, many centers turn to orphanage tourism to attract more donors, fueling a system that exposes children to risk,” the report said.
Studdert, however, did not give any examples of such orphanages in Bali.
“For these reasons, the Australian Government discourages orphanage tourism, including visits and short-term, unskilled volunteering in orphanages,” she went on.
However, Studdert emphasized that the campaign was not designed to “discourage the generosity of spirit that Australians are well known for, but to ensure their volunteering is the right fit”.
Head of Dissemination and Information Services at Ngurah Rai Customs and Excise office, Teddy Triatmojo, gave a presentation titled “Donating Goods into Indonesia – What You Need to Know”. Teddy took questions and comments from NGOs and members of the Australian community in Bali regarding the challenges of bringing donated goods into Indonesia and Bali particularly.
Teddy said goods imported for donation could be exempted from tax. "Basically, the procedure for importing goods for donation is the same as for ordinary import. However, for donating goods, the import tax could be exempted with some conditions," he said.
For information about the procedure for importing goods, you can call Contact Center Bravo Bea Cukai on 1500225, or Ngurah Rai Customs Office on 0361 - 9351035 or email kppbc.ngurahrai@customs.go.id. (evi)
