Volunteering

Index by Date

August 2008

• Join a Green Gym! Get fit, get social and help save the planet - for FREE!
  - Conservation Volunteers Australia (CVA) has introduced the Green Gym, a volunteer programme which promotes healthy living while restoring the natural Australian Environment.

April 2008

• Family InSight Inc - Volunteer home-visiting program supporting families with young children.
  - Family InSight is a volunteer-based organisation supporting families with young children in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.

March 2008

• Volunteer WebLog - Creating Opportunities
  - Help us to help others. The Volunteer WebLog links organisations with enthusiastic and ready to volunteer volunteers!!

November 2007

• Measuring Civil Society and Volunteering
  - The civil society sector contributes as much to the gross domestic product in a wide range of countries including Australia as do the construction and finance industries, and double the utilities industries according to a Johns Hopkins University report. The report also details the role of volunteering within this contribution.
• Advice on All Aspects of Volunteering
  - VoluntaryWorker contains over 50 articles all written by our team of experts and we add around 10 new articles each month.

September 2007

• Toolkit for Volunteer Speed Matching
  - The concept of Speed Dating has taken off around the world and now one clever volunteer centre on the outskirts of London has created "Volunteer Speed Matching"- so get out your egg timers!

August 2007

• The Beginning of the Men’s Shed Concept in Grenfell.
  - By Len Wallace

July 2007

• How Wildlife Corridors are Reconstructed Using Crown Roads in Southern NSW
  - The Friends of Oolong and Landcare are promoting programs which will produce reforestation and wildlife protection in large areas, not close to national parks and reserves, with the cooperation of local communities and incentives to landholders.
• VolunteerHub
  - VolunteerHub is a volunteer coordinator's assistant. Simply publish your events and volunteers can sign up with a user-friendly registration process. Reducing telephone traffic while organising, tracking, emailing, and reporting on your organisation's volunteer activity. VolunteerHub is a creative information technology for connecting people and purposes.

May 2007

• National Volunteering Issues Survey Results
  - Volunteering Australia’s second annual National Survey of Volunteering Issues, released during National Volunteer Week (May 14-20 2007) has identified that most volunteers are positive about the benefits their work brings to the community.

April 2007

• Idealist.org
  - Want to find volunteer opportunities? With idealist.org you can define what information you'd like to receive by email from among the volunteer opportunities posted by organizations all over the world. You can also design the perfect volunteer opportunity for yourself by setting up one or more Volunteer Profiles with your interests, skills, and schedule. These Profiles can then be searched by organizations in Idealist.
• SAIL (Sudanese Australian Integrated Learning)
  - A volunteer run, non-profit secular program that provides free English support and Community Services to the Sudanese refugee population in Melbourne, and as of 2007 Western Sydney.

October 2006

• Improving Employee Volunteer Programs - a View from Both Sides by Hayley Hext
  - Commissioned by Philanthropy Australia, this report explores the realities of corporate employee volunteering from the perspective of both corporate and non-profit organisations.

September 2006

• Centre for Volunteering NSW
  - The Centre for Volunteering is the peak body in NSW promoting and supporting volunteering and community participation.

November 2005

• Community Volunteers Success Story
  - Labour intensive work by volunteers to remove a woody weed without using pesticides results in the additional benefit of producing nesting and refuge for wildlife in a NSW sanctuary.
• Volunteer Management
  - Notes from a Workshop on working with volunteers presented by D. Nelson at the Queensland State Conservation Conference 1998.

May 2005

• Volunteering outside the System
  - An article by Mary Merrill looks at the phenomenon of independent or unaffiliated volunteers who do not feel obligated to do their volunteer work through established channels.
• Indigenous Community Volunteers
  - Indigenous Community Volunteers is an independent, not-for-profit company that offers support to Indigenous communities to pursue their community development goals in their own way.
• Valuing Our Volunteers - how to support your volunteers
  - A fact sheet of ideas from ourcommunity.com.au to ensure your group's volunteers remain healthy, happy and an advertisement for the good work your group performs.
• Volunteering support from the Australian Federal Government
  - The Australian Government provides support programs and resources to assist the work of volunteers and organisations that employ them.
• National Volunteer Skills Centre
  - A web based centre with a range of knowledge and skills development resources on volunteering available online free of charge.
• Volunteering Australia
  - Volunteering Australia is the national peak body working to advance volunteering in the Australian community.

April 2005

• World Volunteer Website
  - The WorldVolunteerWeb.org supports the volunteer community by providing a global one-stop-shop for information, resources, and organizations linked to volunteerism.

March 2005

• Volunteering information from the Department for Victorian Communities
  - A common feature of strong communities is a strong volunteer culture, which is why the Victorian Government has developed ways to encourage and support the participation of volunteers in communities.
• Hunter Volunteer Centre NSW
  - Online resource centre for Hunter based community organisations and individuals interested in volunteering.

October 2004

• Institute for Volunteering Research
  - The Institute for Volunteering Research aims to develop knowledge and understanding of volunteering in a way that is relevant to practitioners and policy makers.

September 2004

• Australasian Volunteer Program Management Website
  - This website has been developed to assist those who have a responsibility for the management/coordination of volunteer groups.

August 2004

• Working with Technical Volunteers – Manual for Non-profits
  - A guide to help organisations and schools hire and work with technical volunteers.

July 2004

• Not for Profit, Not for Volunteers – produced by Liz Keen for Radio National’s Background Briefing, 27 June 2004
  - ‘All around Australia, people are volunteering. In every town, in every suburb of every city, there are millions of volunteers. They contribute around 700-million hours of volunteer work each year.’ Liz Keen discusses issues facing volunteers and not-for-profit organisations with a range of representatives from this sector.
• National Volunteering Conference papers 2004
  - Keynote speeches from the 10th National Conference on Volunteering – evolution, devolution, revolution? – are now available on Volunteering Australia website.

November 2003

• GoVolunteer - volunteer recruitment website
  - GoVolunteer is an initiative of Volunteering Australia and is Australia's first national volunteer recruitment website.

June 2003

• Review of Volunteer Referral Agencies in NSW
  - The Review of Volunteer Referral Agencies in NSW, including options on possible directions and role of VRAs in the future.

May 2003

• Finding and keeping Volunteers Kit
  - The following extracts from the Finding and Keeping Volunteers kit produced by the NSW Meals on Wheels Association offer a planned approach to attracting volunteers.
• Volunteer Referral Centres
  - Interested in volunteering but don't know where to start? Try contacting these volunteer referral and resource centres within NSW.

February 2003

• Employee Volunteering Guide Launch
  - Carmel Tebbutt, then NSW Minister for Community Services, launched the Employee Volunteering Guide on 5 December 2002.
• Employee Volunteering Guide
  - Produced by the NSW Premier's Department, the Employee Volunteering Guide aims to be a practical resource for company and not-for-profit organisations interested in employee volunteering in the community.

January 2003

• Volunteer Match
  - Pro Bono Australia's Volunteer Match a specialised service matching skilled professional volunteers and not for profit organisations.
• Manitoba Voluntary Sector Initiative
  - The voluntary sector of Manitoba, Canada, has initiated a three-year community-based process to develop and improve the long term sustainability of the voluntary sector in their area.

July 2002

• Interested in volunteering for the environment?
  - VolunteerGreen is an initiative developed by the Australian Conservation Foundation.
• International Symposium of Volunteering - 2001 Report
  - Held in Geneva, November 2001, the Conference wrapped up the International Year of Volunteers and planned future action.

May 2002

• Royal Botanic Gardens - Volunteer Program
  - The Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney (RBGS) has a strong commitment to volunteers and sees their value in building links with the community as well as enabling the extension of its programs.
• Older People and Volunteering
  - Report on research conducted on volunteering and "baby boomers" for the 2001 Premier's Forum on Ageing.
• Landcare
  - Landcare groups consist of volunteeers of all cultures, ages and backgrounds and have a common concern about the quality of land, water and vegetation in their local areas.

April 2002

• Rural and Regional Volunteering Support Strategy
  - This project was undertaken during International Year of Volunteers 2001 to identify the current needs of organisations in rural and regional areas of NSW that involve or engage volunteers to deliver a service as well as those organisations that support volunteers.

January 2002

• Volunteers Policy and Procedure Manual
  - Australian Conservation Foundation Policy and Procedures Manual for Volunteers.

May 2001

• Volunteers in NSW Government agencies
  - Information about volunteer programs and activities within NSW Government agencies.

March 2001

• Sandy Hollway Launches International Year of Volunteers 2001 in NSW
  - Speech by Sandy Hollway at the launch of the International Year of Volunteers dinner. Convention Centre, Darling Harbour, 4th December 2000.

November 2000

• Volunteering Organisations Australia
  - Are you interested in volunteering? Want to be involved in your community? Here are some of the many organisations that can offer satisfying opportunities for people willing to give some of their time.
• The State Emergency Service
  - The State Emergency Service is an emergency and rescue service dedicated to assisting the community. It is almost entirely volunteer, with over 200 units located throughout New South Wales, and comprising more than 9,000 volunteer members who are easily identified by their distinctive orange overalls.