On this page
- Introduction
- National Volunteering guide
- Working with Volunteers: A self-help tool
- Youth volunteers
- Volunteer supporting organisations
Introduction
Volunteers are an important resource to community organisations.
Most volunteers provide their services because they want to contribute to their community in a useful and meaningful way.
The relationship between an organisation and its volunteers should be managed in a way that is mutually respectful, safe and healthy. Adopting ‘best practice’ principles around the involvement of volunteers will help volunteer involving organisations attract, manage, retain and recognise volunteers, and improve the volunteer experience.
More information
Depending on whether a worker is a volunteer, employee or an independent contractor, different legal entitlements and obligations apply. For more information on this, see our guide ‘Employee, contractor or volunteer?’ which covers:
- the different categories of working relationships, and
- the legal obligations community organisations owe to different kinds of workers
National Volunteering guide
One way your organisation can ensure its relationship with its volunteers is meaningful, and managed in a respectful, safe and healthy way is by understanding the legal issues around the involvement of volunteers.
Your organisation owes its volunteers certain legal obligations and these are sometimes hard to work out. Our National Volunteering guide aims to strengthen your understanding of these legal issues.
Our guide provides an overview of the key legal obligations organisations owe volunteers and provides practical examples, template documents and tips to assist in their understanding. The guide is available for download below.
The guide is divided into four parts and covers the following key issues:
- Introduction - what the guide covers
- The volunteer relationship - recruiting, inducting, managing performance and ending the relationship
- Volunteer safety - your organisation's responsibility regarding negligence, work health and safety, managing risk, insurance and child safety
- Other legal issues - intellectual property, privacy and record keeping
Download the full guide
Sample Volunteer Agreement or Deed of Agreement
We have created templates to help your organisation prepare a volunteer agreement or deed of agreement.
Note
lnformation about an organisation's obligations to its volunteers under discrimination, sexual harassment, bullying and victimisation laws are set out in our guide to workplace behaviour laws.
Working with Volunteers: A self-help tool
We have developed a Working with Volunteers tool to complement our National Volunteer Guide.
This tool will help volunteer-involving organisations understand the key legal obligations that not-for-profit organisations have towards volunteers. The key topics include recruitment, safety, unlawful workplace behaviour, managing performance and ending the volunteer relationship.
After completing a series of questions, your organisation will be provided with an opportunity to print a report containing an overview of the legal issues, recommendations and links for further information all based on your answers.
Youth volunteers
Our guide provides an overview of the legal issues you need to consider when engaging volunteers who are under 18-years-old.
This guide covers:
- what’s different about youth volunteers?
- engaging youth volunteers, including inducting and training on workplace safety and behaviour
- managing youth volunteers, including minimum working conditions
- protecting youth volunteers, including mandatory reporting obligations and screening checks, and
- insurance considerations
Volunteer support organisations
Peak volunteer organisations are a great source of information and can help support your organisation.
Volunteer matching organisations can help your organisation look for volunteers. You can also advertise online or in your local paper. We've identified organisations who can help.
Regional groups, such as Volunteering Geelong, Leadership Ballarat and Western Region, Hunter Volunteer Centre and Gladstone Region Volunteering are a great source for regional based volunteer opportunities. Local Councils also often run volunteer matching services.
The content on this webpage was last updated in October 2025 and is not legal advice. See full disclaimer and copyright notice.
