26 August, 2015. 10:10
CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | Contact
SARAH RIDGWAY says despite the fact that she has an irresponsible addiction to online shopping, and dedicates far too much of her paycheque to a party-girl lifestyle – she cannot go anywhere without being told how noble she is.
“It’s really bizarre. I’m a single 20-something who likes night-clubbing and I am always late on rent because of my online shopping habits. What on earth is noble about that?”
Sarah is one of 889,900 Australians employed in the non-profit sector, working for The Wellness Institute, an organisations dedicated to the research of a range of debilitating illnesses.
While she says she enjoys her work, she doesn’t seem to understand why she is forced to wear the title of a selfless champion of the weak, sick and needy.
“I work as a receptionist for resource centre that funds research into illnesses that affect Australians. It’s pretty simple really. Why are people like me considered more noble than neurosurgeons or defence troops?”
“Just the other day I was running late for work and someone saw the logo on my shirt. They pulled me up to tell me how bloody noble I was,”
“I told them ‘Actually, I’m not that noble… I am hungover and I’m not actually at work yet’. I had slept about 3 hours and here was some bloke telling me how important people like me are”
In a contrast to the half-hearted non-profit employees like Sarah, it is well-documented that those who actively seek work in the non-profit sector, are often happier knowing that the work they do helps the world.
Just this week, the iconic education program known as Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) was listed as #9 in the BRW Best Places To Work.
The program employs 115 people to help connect Indigenous students with mentors around the country.
CEO Jack Manning-Bancroft says their recent BRW ranking is proof that people work for AIME because they enjoy the work and enjoy the workplace. Not because they are noble.
“We offer them 5 days of Study and Development Leave a year, 3 days of Cultural Leave a year, and 1 day of Legend Leave to volunteer with a cause of choice,”
“We also pay them for the work they do, because you can’t do what we do by asking backpackers to rattle donation tins at train stations,”
It’s not like running water at a junior football match on the weekend. It’s a full time gig and these people have bills to pay,”
If you would like to know more about the work that Jack (not Sarah) does, you can learn more here.
