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Games worth more than AUS$ 100m. That is the economic impact, but it is too
early to know what the likely effect of the Olympic volunteer program will be on
long-term volunteering (Brettell March 27, 2001). However, Chalip (2000: 210)
found three positive social impacts that result from the Olympic volunteers. First,
educational benefits for participating university students in selecting and recruiting
volunteers who trained them in fundamental human resource management
techniques (see Cashman 2000). Second, the legacy of the Olympic volunteer
program for future Australian events. Third, the role-played by the volunteer
program in making the Games into an event for which all Australians feel a sense
of ownership. After the Olympics some volunteers and managers of volunteers
in Australia worried that the high levels of recognition and praise heaped upon
volunteers at the Games had raised the benchmark. The constant attention in the
press during the Games, and the parade of volunteers that were staged after the
Games represented a much-elevated level of social reinforcement for volunteers.
Consequently, after the Games, some volunteer managers in Australia were
concerned that volunteers would now come to expect that they would be
obtained high levels of public recognition and reward for volunteering —
something that could not be guaranteed for "normal" volunteers (Chalip March 26,
2001).
The impact of Olympic volunteers was and will be different in every host
country. Barcelona gave a good example of how to continue with the movement
after the Games. Volunteers created an association that is still active in supporting
sports competitions, fun runs and cultural activities (Calpe 2000: 267-272). For
Athens 2004 there is some concern about finding enough volunteers, because the
volunteer movement in Greece is not strong (Sakellion 2001). One characteristic of
Greeks is to have "filotimo" - an almost untranslatable word that means, "to give
honour or dignity to, that which is deserving of it". In the case of the Olympics,
Greeks think about their homeland and culture. This moral Andreadis (2000: 307)
believes will be one of the most valuable weapons for the mobilisation of
volunteers. However, the Olympic Games provide a great opportunity to
strengthen the volunteer movement of the host nation.
Many people did not know about the problems of minorities in Australia.
The history of Aboriginals shows progress in the early 90s as e.g. in 1992 with the
high Court "Mabo-decision", which rejected the lie of "terra nullius" [it said:
Australia was unoccupied at the time of British settlement] (Hanna 1999: 36).
However, after the Howard Government was elected to office in 1996, there were
cuts in e.g. Government spending on indigenous programs (Gesellschaft für
bedrohte Völker 2/2001), which indicates the politics of the current government.
Therefore, it is surprising that, one way or another; aboriginality is one of the
central motifs of Australia's representation of itself to the world. While it is not the
task of the Olympics to solve national issues such as reconciliation, it has to be
mentioned that SOCOG has insured that in a variety of symbolic and practical
ways, the rights of the original Australians are properly recognised. Indigenous
people were represented in the bid process team and enshrined in the bid.
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