For more than 60 years, Australian volunteers have been a vital ingredient in the partnership between Solomon Islands and Australia.

The first volunteers arrived in 1965 and since then, more than 700 volunteers have worked alongside over 136 local organisations to share skills, strengthen institutions and support locally led development outcomes. My sincere thanks to them all – past
and present !

The Australian Volunteers Program is founded on partnerships. Volunteers work shoulder-to-shoulder with Solomon Islanders, sharing expertise, learning together from each other and supporting priorities identified by communities and institutions themselves. Through respect, genuine partnership and friendship, volunteers are important to building more and more enduring relationships between Australia and Solomon Islands.

Because of the success of the program, our volunteer numbers have surged in the past eight years. Since 2018, 191 Australian volunteers have completed 240 assignments with 57 partner organisations. Eighty per cent of Solomon Island partner organisations reported good or excellent progress towards assignment objectives.

The individual stories are so powerful. For example, take Australian volunteer Ben Clare, who is blind, and who worked with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services and community-based rehabilitation unit, to establish a Braille training facility in Honiara for people who were blind or vision impaired. Within weeks, participants were reading, writing and undertaking basic mathematics, with some later earning income through small business activities.

On a personal note, I am so delighted to see sign language being used in many church services on a Sunday – and staggered by their ability to simultaneously translate sermons with such speed.

Australian volunteers are active wherever we are asked to be involved – and show up where you might least expect. Through the Indigenous Pathways Exchange program, Torres Strait Islanders and Solomon Islanders are working together as park rangers,
sharing knowledge and strengthening connections in conservation and habitat protection.

In education, volunteers have contributed to curriculum development, teacher training, vocational education and institutional strengthening. At Solomon Islands National University, volunteers have worked across disciplines including agriculture, emergency medicine, nursing, computing and education, helping to improve academic quality and build local capacity.

Volunteers have played an important role in strengthening the health workforce, particularly through the National Referral Hospital, and soon through the Naha Urban Health Clinic and Birthing Centre. During COVID-19, Australian volunteers assisted in developing clinical protocols and emergency response coordination – saving lives alongside Solomon Islands doctors and nurses.

Through the Solomon Islands Medical Partnership for Learning, Education and Research (SIMPLER), which operated from 2015 to 2024, 44 Australian health-worker volunteers trained 191 foreign-trained medical graduates. The program successfully transitioned to Solomon Islands ownership in 2024.

In the justice sector, volunteers have mentored prosecutors and public defenders and supported law reform initiatives. Elsewhere, volunteers have strengthened women economic empowerment programs through business planning, financial management and entrepreneurship.

They have also contributed to correctional services, disability inclusion, sports development, tourism planning, sustainable livelihood initiatives, meteorological services and mentored veterinarian graduates.

Australian partnership with Solomon Islands is built on local leadership, mutual respect and knowledge exchange. The Australian Volunteers Program embodies these values. Whether supporting a university lecturer, mentoring a health professional or strengthening a local organisation, volunteers contribute not only their expertise but also their commitment to partnership. Their lasting legacy lies in the skills, relationships and opportunities they help create, for future generations of Solomon Islanders and
Australians alike.

Lukim iu neks taem!