FAQs
There are four main types of insurance that community organisations most frequently purchase to provide protection to the organisation, their volunteers/members and the community.
Public Liability Insurance - To cover an organisation for its legal liability to third parties for personal injury or property damage caused by an occurrence in connection with the insured organisations business activities.
Personal Accident Insurance/Volunteer Protection Insurance - To cover volunteers for any out-of-pocket expenses following accidental injury, disability or death while carrying out their work on behalf of the organisation. This type of insurance would normally cover loss of income.
Directors’ and Officers’ Liability - To compensate committee members and office bearers for loss, for example, legal costs where they have committed a wrongful act in the running of the organisation.
Professional Indemnity Insurance - To compensate the organisation for loss incurred through a claim made against the organisation for breach of professional duty arising from negligence, errors, omissions, defamation, loss of records or documents, dishonest acts etc by volunteer or paid staff.
Organisations wishing to register to advertise their volunteer positions with Volunteering SA&NT must have Public Liability and Volunteer Protections Insurance.
External use of logo
The logo is a visual representation of our brand and is used across all forms of Volunteering SA&NT corporate communications, advertising and marketing collateral.
To ensure that our brand is not diminished, its use by external entities is subject to approval.
To request approval for use of our logo on external distribution collateral please contact the Communications Manager (communications@volunteeringsa-nt.org.au stating the use of the logo,on what medium/s and a sample layout.
Portrait or landscape logos are available in either .eps, .tif or .jpg file formats for use on print, screen (website, powerpoint presentation, email signature, onscreen PDF or vector (non-merchandise - use on designer software only).
The volunteering dollar replacement hourly rate figure is currently $45.10 per hour (as at 2020). The calculation is taken from the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) average weekly earnings figures for Australia. The hourly rate will be updated when current information becomes available.
Most global definitions of volunteering, including Volunteering Australia’s, have no minimum age, so children can be volunteers. Many young people take on a wide variety of roles and the context of each needs to be considered to determine whether it is in fact volunteering.
For instance, if a child takes on a task as a learning exercise or as part of a family obligation, and it is not voluntary then it is not considered volunteering. However if a child helps out a sports function or a tree planting event and chooses to do so, then it can be considered volunteering. Volunteer Managers need to contact their insurance provider to check whether there are age restrictions in place for the designated work and whether there is special consideration for volunteers under or over the insurer’s age limit.
Anyone can volunteer however there may be age requirements depending on the type of volunteer role. Some volunteer involving organisations have a policy of not involving volunteers under or over a certain age, with insurance one of those reasons. Organisations need to specify if there are age restrictions for a certain volunteer role.
Involving young volunteers in an organisation can add new energy and life ensuring volunteer involvement continues to grow.
Some organisations are concerned about the risks involved in engaging young people under 18 and to minimise or address these concerns, here are some key things to consider.
• Do the staff and volunteers who will be working with the volunteer have a DHS Working with Children Clearance?
• Does the insurance policy cover people under the age of 18 volunteering within your organisation?
• What does your organisation’s policies and procedures state about having under 18’s volunteer?
• Have the employees and volunteers who would be working with the under 18 undertaken Child Safe Environments Training?
• Consider parent/guardian consent to volunteering and include media release forms, being transported in a vehicle etc.
There are a range of volunteer management databases including Microsoft products and these are two of the more popular ones.
VIRANo and like most global definitions, Volunteering Australia’s definition does not include a defined maximum amount for reimbursement, an honorarium or stipend. It is considered best practice for volunteer involving organisations to reimburse their volunteers for pre-approved out of pocket expenses associated with their volunteering role.
National Standards for Volunteer Involvement - Standard 2
The level of what may constitute fair and reasonable expenses will differ based on the context of the volunteer’s role and would need to be negotiated and agreed in advance. It is up to each volunteer involving organisation to set their own policies and procedures on reimbursement.
While volunteers freely give their time, best practice recommends they are not expected to pay any expenses incurred whilst volunteering. The National Standards for Volunteer Involvement indicate that a volunteering involving organisation needs to ensure that a policy and procedure exists for reimbursement for volunteer out-of-pocket expenses. This varies between organisations and there is no set rule however organisations need to develop their own policies and procedures regarding reimbursement and meal allowances that are clearly communicated to all volunteers.
It is strongly encouraged that organisations develop a policy on volunteer engagement. Please see National Standards for Volunteer Involvement to assist in the development of a Volunteer Involvement Policy.
Generally no, Volunteering SA&NT refers volunteers to volunteer involving organisations.
To find out more on advertising volunteering positions
For specific volunteer work where an organisation cannot recruit enough volunteers, Volunteering SA&NT offers a fee-for-service consultancy to recruit, induct and train volunteers. Please contact us for further information.
T 8221 7177
Email