Volunteering is giving your time, skills and experience to support a cause without receiving a financial reward. More than two million Victorians volunteer each year.

Some people use volunteering to learn new skills or as a path to paid work or further study. For others it’s more about connecting with and supporting people in their community. Volunteering covers a wide range of activities, which means there are roles to suit people with different interests and goals.

Benefits of volunteering

Volunteering has many benefits,for you and your community. It might be supporting a cause that’s important to you, helping to create social change, developing new skills or meeting new people.

There are many reasons people volunteer, such as:

• connecting with other people
• being active in the community
• supporting important community causes
• learning about different cultures
• feeling good about giving back
• finding pathways to job, study or training opportunities
• developing new skills or getting experience in different roles to improve your CV.

Volunteering is a wonderful way to support the community, develop a sense of purpose and meaning in life and to get out and have fun. We encourage a safe return to volunteer participation. 

Who can volunteer

Volunteering is for everyone. Regardless of background, skills, experience or the amount of time you have to give, there are roles for people with different levels of commitment.

The first step of getting ready to volunteer is to think about:

• the type of volunteering work you would like to do
• your interests and passions, and the types of organisations you'd like to work with
• what you hope to get from the volunteer experience
• how much time you have to give
• how regularly you want to volunteer, for example one-off, weekly or monthly.

How to get involved

Formal volunteering is usually organised through not-for-profit community organisations (also known as ‘volunteer involving organisations’). For these roles, applying for a volunteering position is a bit like applying for a job.

Volunteering organisations often have a recruitment process to help them find volunteers that are most suited to work with them. It's important to find out as much as you can about the volunteering organisation and the kind of work involved so you know if it's something you want to do.

Organisations may require parental consent for young adults, or a police check, or working with children check for adults. You may need to do an interview or a training course for some volunteer roles.

Getting started

There are many ways to find a community organisation and a volunteering role that’s right for you. Some options include:

• Ask your friends and family what they do
• Check out the community noticeboard at your local library
• Ask Izzy is a directory of local organisations providing a range of community services
• Local council websites often have a community directory, and many also run a range of volunteering programs
• Volunteering Victoria provides information and search tools to help you find a volunteer role