My Volunteer Experience - Dylan Reed
Welcome Dylan!
Dylan Reed joined our SAcommunity Team - Media and Communications Team as a volunteer while he works towards his studies at University, beginning with the team this year on the 29 August 2024. He attends for ~4 hours a week onsite at the Connecting Up office, Infoxchange around his casual work shifts.
Dylan recently published his first article, and a collection of his stories can be found at his blog portfolio link here: https://sacommunity.org/blog/21441
Total Hours 61 This Year 36 Joined 29 August 2024 Last Check-in 16 May 2025
Personal Biography
Dylan is a university student with a keen interest in politics and political history. He spends a large amount of his spare time researching and viewing political articles and commentaries. He additionally has an interest in aviation, and has had a number of flying lessons in the past, with the hopes of gaining a private pilot’s licence sometime after graduating from University.
He has recently transferred within University from studying a Bachelor of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics, to studying a Bachelor of International Relations. He has begun volunteering at Connecting Up to hone his interpersonal skills, as well as being able to contribute to the community and gain valuable connections.
Dylan plans to eventually work within the public sphere - whether that be within policy or in a government department.
Image: Elevator pitches with the team: Alex Thi Ngoc Bich-Nguyen, Dylan, Rex Porter, Kurinji Arivazhagan, Aaron Xuefeng Li, Jason Chun Kwan Lam and Jacinta Jiawei Qi 1 November 2024
More Elevator pitches with the team: Shoaib Khalid, Estefania Perez Carvajal, Alexander Bull, David Webb and Dylan 13 November 2024
Work experience - Internal and External Events, Connections and Networks
Volunteers and interns are encouraged to attend monthly SAcommunity Team meetings, Connecting Up staff meetings, as well as quarterly all-staff Infoxchange Town Hall meetings to understand more about the organisation as a whole.
Organisation-wide news, events and projects are communicated through the staff channels, with weekly CEO Updates from David Spriggs. Informal 'Lunch and Learn' educational sessions, and network meetings create connections with staff. Whilst peer-to-peer training or capacity building and telephone techniques training allow for networking with other volunteers. Volunteers are also given opportunities to attend stakeholder and partner events as they arise.
Relevant meetings and training sessions Dylan has attended include:
Telephone Techniques Training Todd Guanhua Tao practices his council call with Dylan 29 November 2024
Infoxchange Lunch & Learn - International Day of Persons with Disability - Shane Brand 29 November 2024
Infoxchange Lunch & Learn - International Day of Persons with Disability - Shane Brand 29 November 2024
Questions for an electoral office
We were given the opportunity to provide the State Electorate Office of Lee with an export list, and after doing so they kindly answered some questions I had about working in an electoral office as this is a keen interest of mine.
1. How involved are office staff in the preparation for an MP's parliamentary speeches and public appearances?
I think is depends on the individual MP, and how comfortable they are speaking publicly. Forunately for me, Stephen [Mullighan, State Member for Lee] is excellent at public speaking and really enjoys it, so he is able to think quickly on his feet and not require a script. This means I only really have to provide him data and statistics, and little else in the way of speaking notes.
2. How much communication and/or collaboration occurs between electoral offices, and how much do office staff participate in the communication?
A fair bit of collaboration occurs between offices when they work for members of the same political party. This is especially the case when campaigning on statewide policies and issues.
3. What role do office staff play in managing an MP's schedule?
This role is vital, as MPs (especially Ministers) are incredibly busy. We must sometimes ensure their entire day is planned to the minute, in order to make the most of their availability. We have to ensure everything is in the diary and the calendar is regularly updated.
4. What skils or qualities are most important to someone working in an electoral office?
I think besides the obvious (having an interest and knowledge of politics), it is really important to be able to communicate and empathise with people. A lot of the contact we recieve is from vulnerable people, who need help and have exhausted all other options. So you need to be able to chat with them, offer assistance and not take it personally if they are frustrated.
5. How would office staff normally assist with an MP's involvement in local issues or projects?
It's important that you pay just as much attention as your MP to local issues, because sometimes things can ramp up unexpectedly, and you need to be able to brief your MP at a moment's notice. We also prepare a fair amount of correspondence on behalf of our MP, when assisting with local issues.
Digital Training & Development
Volunteers and interns have access to the Connecting Up Digital Learning Centre providing live webinars and recorded webinars, workshops and webcons presented by subject-matter experts to understand more about a range of technology topics for the not-for-profit sector.
Volunteers and interns have access to the Connecting Up Digital Learning Centre providing live webinars and recorded webinars, workshops and webcons presented by subject-matter experts to understand more about a range of technology topics for the not-for-profit sector.
Relevant training sessions were selected, attended, summarised and assessed by Dylan to look at how these sessions can enhance his volunteering experience, and have included:
AI For Social Impact - Ryan Harrington
AI should be used more to increase productivity than replace work as, in its current state, it can show signs of biases and can often make up unsupported evidence or claims as a result of its reliance on human learning. The speaker, Ryan Harrington, implies that whilst AI will be, and in some cases is currently, crucial to productivity, it can also come with a host of additional concerns. I found this webinar engaging due to the continued relevancy and importance of the topic it covers.
Cyber Security Risks and Incident Response - PWC
Cyber security is an important investment that not-for-profits should look into. A security breach can impair not-for-profits as they often hold sensitive and personal data of donors, sponsers, or support recipients. As such, having a data-breach can cause long-term financial and reputational damage on a not-for-profit.
SAcommunity Team with Yong Kheng Beh who came to speak with the team about her recent experience in her job interview 25 October 2024
End of the Volunteer Program for the Year 13 December 2024: Volunteers Rex, Dylan, Jacinta, Navodani and Alex
