Volunteering

Volunteering is a great way to feel connected and to contribute to your community. It provides a variety of benefits for you and for your community, including sharing skills, building confidence, making new friends, getting job-ready, strengthening connections and enabling community wellbeing.

We fund Volunteering Queensland to promote volunteering, provide a volunteer referral service, training and sector support for volunteers and volunteer-involving organisations. Volunteering Queensland also provides registration services for emergency volunteers during disasters when activated by the Queensland State Disaster Coordination Centre.

Inquiry into volunteering in Queensland

Volunteering Queensland’s state of the sector report in 2024 showed that volunteering rates in Queensland have dropped 10% over the past 3 years.

The Queensland Parliament’s Local Government, Small Business and Customer Service Committee (the Committee) is holding an inquiry into the barriers preventing more Queenslanders from volunteering.

The Inquiry into volunteering in Queensland (the Inquiry) started on 11 December 2024. It is tasked with examining:

• the current state of volunteering in Queensland
• the value volunteering contributes
• obstacles to volunteering,
• current government support for the sector
• the unique challenges experienced by people from diverse backgrounds, genders, age groups, abilities and locations
• opportunities for improvement.

The Inquiry's public consultation

The Inquiry’s public consultation period is well underway. The Committee invited written submissions from the public on any aspect of the inquiry and over 560 written submissions were received.

Public hearings, which provide individuals and organisations with the opportunity to appear in person before the committee, have now commenced. Full information about the regarding public hearings is on the Inquiry's Parliamentary website page.

Next steps

The Committee is holding public hearings.

The Committee’s report is due by 18 September 2025.

The government will provide a formal response to the Committee’s report within three months.

Volunteering opportunities

Volunteering Queensland provides information for many volunteering opportunities in Queensland. Visit their website to find volunteering opportunities or search their database by location or work/skill type.

You can also contact your nearest volunteer resource centre to find out about volunteering opportunities in your region:

• Far North Queensland Volunteers, phone (07) 4041 7400
• Volunteering Gold Coast, phone (07) 5526 0688
• Gympie Region Volunteer Centre, email to management@chsn.org.au
• Not for Profit House in the Gladstone region, phone 0460 792 812
• Volunteering North Queensland, phone 0439 043 939
• Volunteering Redlands, phone (07) 3086 0000
• Volunteering Sunshine Coast, phone (07) 5443 8256

Volunteer-involving organisations can view Volunteering Queensland’s website to:

• advertise volunteering opportunities
• access resources for volunteer managers
• find training programs
• find volunteering dates and events.

Volunteers do great things across a wide range of sectors. To get an idea of the broad range of programs in Queensland, check out the options below.

Community services

• Become a Justice of the Peace and act as an objective witness of official or legal documents.
• Volunteer with Homeless Connect, a one-day event linking homeless people with vital services.
• Community First Development volunteers assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in their communities by providing specific skills such as financial management, business development, IT and graphic design.
• Australian Youth Mentoring Network links mentors with mentoring programs that work with young people.
• Aged Care Volunteer Visitors Scheme is a national program that provides companionship to socially isolated people living in aged care homes.
• Care Army volunteers support volunteer involving organisations that deliver services to vulnerable community members.
• Community Recovery Ready Reserve (registrations for Queensland Government staff only).

Conservation

• Become a Volunteer for Parks to let your love of nature contribute to conserving our environment.
• Clean Up Australia Day to do your bit for the environment by cleaning up your local area with friends and family.
• Roma Street Parkland volunteers play an important role in maintaining the beautiful park gardens to world class standards.
• Discover opportunities to help our threatened species including volunteer projects that include helping to care and rehabilitate injured and sick marine animals and wildlife, koala management and monitoring flying foxes.
• Become a conservation volunteer to help with environmental and wildlife conservation projects.

Keeping the community safe

• Volunteer with the State Emergency Service (SES) to support Queensland communities before, during and after an emergency.
• Volunteer with the Rural Fire Service Queensland to protect people, property and environment to keep communities safe.
• Volunteer with Neighbourhood Watch Queensland, an informal group that meets to identify and address local issues.
• Work with police through Volunteers in Policing to address customer service, community safety and crime prevention needs in the community.

Volunteer with Safer Schoolies and work alongside community organisations and government agencies keeping school leavers safe.

Online volunteering

Online volunteering allows you to make a difference from the comfort of your own home at a time that suits you. Some interesting opportunities include:

• United Nations Online Volunteering connects volunteers with organisations working for sustainable human development.
• State Library of Queensland Digital Volunteers assist the State Library to collect digitised photographs, newspapers and documents online.

Legal information for volunteers in Queensland

Workplace Health and Safety

• Volunteers and organisations that use the services of volunteers have obligations under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011. Further information is available on the Workplace Health and Safety Queensland website or call 1300 362 128.

Safe Work Australia has developed a range of workplace health and safety resources for volunteers and organisations that engage volunteers.

Publications and research

• State of Volunteering in Queensland 2024 Report
• ABS Voluntary work and unpaid work/support–Key statistics
• National Strategy for Volunteering 2023–2033
• Volunteering in Australia 2022
• Key volunteering statistics in Australia (March 2024) (PDF)
• Volunteering Australia's National Standards for Volunteering Involvement.