Volunteering in the Health Sector

NSW Health has a long successful history of encouraging a culture of engaging the community in volunteering.  NSW Health greatly values the relationship fostered with volunteers who generously give their time, knowledge and life experiences to support our health services and make a real difference to the lives of patients, their families and staff across the NSW health system.

There are also ways to support the health of your local community. Some people volunteer their time on advisory committees to provide a community perspective on local health issues.  Volunteers can also make a very significant difference to the lives of patients, their families and staff across the NSW health system by fulfilling a variety of roles, including catering, gardening, retail, serving meals to patients, providing companionship, and fundraising. 

Larger hospitals often have a dedicated volunteer manager or coordinator who can help you.  In smaller hospitals you may be directed to a Health Service Manager. 

Many hospitals also have hospital auxiliaries which are a vehicle for fundraising and organising volunteer efforts. Auxiliaries often raise funds through operating retail outlets at a hospital with proceeds going back to the hospital. For example, Broken Hill Hospital Kiosk Ladies Auxiliary raises funds for the hospital through the efforts of volunteers who sell sandwiches, hot meals, cakes and coffee to hospital staff and visitors year round.

NSW Health welcomes your participation and offers placement in suitable volunteering activities available across the health services. 

To find out more about volunteering opportunities near you, go to the Department of Health website and click on the NSW Health Services Directory. This link will provide direct telephone contact details for all public hospital and community health services in NSW.  Find your local service and contact them about volunteering opportunities.

You can also contact the United Hospital Auxiliaries Inc by email hosp.aux@bigpond.net.au  or telephone 02 9391 9716.

If you are specifically interested in helping children and young people in hospital then contact one of the  three children’s hospitals in NSW – John Hunter Childrens’ Hospital in Newcastle, the Sydney Childrens’ Hospital at Randwick or the Childrens Hospital at Westmead.

The NSW Department of Health honours the vital contribution of its volunteers every year by holding a NSW Health Volunteers Appreciation Day. See the NSW Health Calendar on the NSW health website for more details.

Volunteering for a cause

Some people direct their efforts to a particular health cause or issue they have had personal or family experience with. Some examples of health related non-government organisations are below:

The AIDS Council of NSW  trains volunteers to provide home support to people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Cancer Council of NSW offers several kinds of volunteering roles – including peer support, health campaign support and advocacy, office assistance and event management.

Diabetes Australia – NSW are always looking for more volunteers to assist in a range of roles.  They are a non-profit, non-government, consumer based organisation who seek to help people by working to reduce the impact of diabetes on their lives.

The National Heart Foundation operates in each state and relies on volunteers to support its activities including the annual doorknock appeal, speakers groups and Jump Rope for Heart and schools program.

The Schizophrenia Fellowship of NSW is a not-profit organisation that uses volunteers to help run a telephone and referral service. 

Vision Australia provides support to people who are blind or have low vision. It has offices through out NSW. Volunteers assist with the talking newspaper network, offer library support and help out with recreational programs.

To find organisations dealing with other health issues open Google, click on pages from Australia and search using relevant key words e.g. epilepsy NSW.