Finding a volunteer placement

Volunteer placements should make the best use of your skills by carefully matching you with a role that suits your level of experience.

Are you actually qualified to be a teacher, social worker, or builder? Unskilled volunteers in these roles can take jobs away from local people particularly when working with children or vulnerable groups.

A good question to ask yourself is, if you’re not qualified for these roles in Australia, should you really be doing them overseas?

If you are paying a program fee, you have a right to know how that is spent. Organisations should be transparent and willing to show you their financial statements.

There may be some administrative costs that need to be covered. Always check that at least a portion of your fee is going to the local community.

Ideally, if your placement is organising your accommodation, meals or transport they should be engaging local providers and hiring local people so that your money is invested back into the community.

We need to learn before we can help. Choose an organisation that provides training for your role, as well as an understanding of the cultural customs and political, economic and social context of the country you’ll be working in.

Ask:

1. Do you run a pre-departure session or a welcome briefing?
2. Do you provide resources for me to read before I go?

We also encourage you to do your own research. Remember, as GLP students you can also attend any relevant GLP Colloquia or Think Tanks before you leave.

Look for an organisation that supports you while you’re away. It is important to ask your organisation the following questions:

• Who could you contact if you have an emergency or a problem while on a volunteer placement?
• Where is the closest medical clinic?
• Will you be able to check in with someone regularly if you’re having trouble adjusting to the new environment?

And most importantly, never travel without travel insurance.

Ask the organisation whether they have any child protection policies - the answer should be yes! Make sure you ask to see the policy.

If the answer is, “erm…we can’t show you that right now”, reconsider the organisation.

If the answer is yes, ask:

• Are all staff, including volunteers, trained on how to implement and abide by the policy?
• Are visitors and volunteers registered on arrival and always supervised?
• Is there a system in place that allows children to safely and confidentially report complaints and concerns?

Choose an organisation that supports conservation and animal welfare efforts. Avoid volunteer placements that offer animal rides or allow you to touch and play with the animals.

Here are a couple more questions you can ask if you are looking for a volunteer opportunity with animals.

Volunteer placements should have a process in place to handover work so that it can be continued after you leave.

Ideally, local staff will guide you and ensure your work is relevant to their needs and can be seen through after you have returned home.

Spending time training local staff is recommended. A rotation of volunteers means local people don’t develop the skills or experience to drive development.

This is a good way of finding out more about the organisation, volunteer placement and country before you commit.

You can find more questions to ask in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Smart Volunteer Checklist [PDF 1.44MB].