Welcome to the NSW Government’s Volunteering Portal

Government Information (Public Access) Act  2009

The volunteering portfolio is part of the Office of Communities. To find out more, please visit the Communities website.

www.volunteering.nsw.gov.au is the NSW Government's web portal for both volunteers and organisations that work with volunteers. The portal has been developed to link together volunteering information spread across a range of government and other websites. This site contains information and resources to assist with all aspects of volunteering.

Who can be a volunteer?

Anyone can be a volunteer.

Around 1.67 million people in New South Wales are involved in formal volunteering, through their involvement in community and other voluntary organisations. Many other people are involved in informal volunteering, helping out relatives, friends, neighbours and other members of the community.

What are the benefits of volunteering?

Being a volunteer has lots of positive benefits. Some research suggests that volunteering can improve health, lower stress, reduce social isolation and raise self esteem. Volunteering can also provide an opportunity for people to develop new skills or enhance existing ones thus improving career prospects. On a broader level, volunteering can contribute to the wellbeing and unity of a community.

What can volunteers do?

There are opportunities to do almost anything as a volunteer in NSW.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) groups volunteering into 14 categories:

• administration/clerical/information
• support/counselling/mentoring
• coaching/refereeing
• fundraising/sales
• lobbying/advocacy/policy research
• management/committee work
• performing/media work
• personal care/assistance
• preparing food/serving food
• protecting the environment
• search/rescue/first aid/firefighting
• teaching/instructing
• transporting people