Volunteering

Voluntary Work is any service people provide to the community or non-profit organisations without any financial benefit and young people (aged 16 to 24 years old) are a growing volunteer base.

What young people can gain from volunteering:

  • Skill acquisition - job skills, communication skills, etc.
  • Personal and professional development and training
  • Confidence
  • Experience - especially to be able to add to your CV
  • A written/verbal reference
  • Having fun
  • Meeting new people
  • Experiencing new challenges
  • Satisfaction from doing something to make a difference
  • The ability to explore different sorts of career or job opportunities in a voluntary capacity

What young people can offer:

  • Energy
  • Enthusiasm
  • A fresh perspective and new ideas as to how organisations do things
  • Skills and abilities, in particular "new" skills - especially in IT
  • A "youth" point of view

Examples of youth-friendly projects:

  • Dog-walking - may only need to commit to an hour a week
  • Planting trees - see instant results
  • Novelty fun fundraising activities - e.g. National Boardshorts Day
  • Painting fishes on drains to remind people that what we put down the drain goes into our rivers
  • Office skills, get real life experience!
  • Computer tutors to teach older people about computers and the Internet
  • Retail experience volunteering in an Op Shop
  • Marketing volunteers to assist in brochure distribution
  • Lifesaving on the beaches
  • Sailing or ten-pin bowling with people with disability

An outline of what to do to find a volunteer position:

  • Have a look at GoVolunteer and apply on-line for any position that you are interested in.
  • Alternatively go to your local Volunteer Resource Centre (all their contact details are viewable on GoVolunteer under Volunteer Australia's Network.
  • If you are not keen on volunteering on your own then perhaps look for a group activity and take along a friend!

Below is a list of other potential volunteer opportunities through a wide variety of organizations including Animal Welfare, Arts, Culture and Heritage, Community Services, Health Services, Conservation and Environment organizations, Education providers, Emergency Services, Human Rights organizations and Sport and Recreation organizations.

Animal Welfare

Arts/Cultural/Heritage

For short-term opportunities, check out the websites of upcoming festivals for volunteer opportunities.

Community Services/Health

Conservation/Environment

Education

Emergency Services/Safety

General

Human Rights/Social Justice

International Work

Sport/Recreation

We would like to acknowledge the GoVolunteer website as the source of this information.

This project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations under the National Disability Coordination Officer Program. The views expressed in these materials are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Australian Government, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.