Volunteer work
About three million people in Australia support local communities by volunteering with a range of organisations.
Volunteer work involves performing a task or supplying something to a not-for-profit organisation or project.
Volunteering is undertaken:
- by personal choice
- to benefit the community
- to enhance the life of the volunteer
- with no financial payment.
By volunteering, individuals or groups address the human, environmental and social needs they see around them. For example, a physics professor at Murdoch University has applied his knowledge to work as a volunteer with community conservation groups (see Taking research to the community).
People volunteer for different reasons. They might be:
- looking for a challenge
- wanting to share skills they have
- wanting to learn new skills
- networking
- finding out about recent innovations in an area of interest
- looking for new experiences
- doing it for fun
- meeting new people
- sharing an interest.
For more information, go to:
