Volunteer Referral

The Volunteer Referral Service is closed down for holidays over the Christmas and New Year period. It will re-open on Monday, 12 January 2009 for interviews. Please call 9261 3600 after Monday, 5 January 2009 to make an appointment. We look forward to helping find you a volunteer position for 2009.

Last year The Centre for Volunteering's Volunteer Referral Service (VRS) matched thousands of people to volunteer jobs in their area of interest. Now we want to help you.

There's always a great demand for volunteers. But finding a role that matches your interests, skills, values or ambitions can be tricky. This is where the VRS can help.

We help hundreds of community organisations find volunteers. This allows us to:

• Put you in touch with a wide range of volunteering opportunities, and
• Suggest volunteering opportunities in areas closely related to your interests.

Working out what type of volunteer work you want to do
The rewards that you find in paid employment are quite different from those that you find when you're volunteering. To help you decide how you'd like to get involved as a volunteer, ask yourself:

• 'What do I enjoy?'
• 'What skills and talents can I offer?'
• 'How can my skills and talents help a community organisation?'
• 'What values and experiences would I like to explore?'

You can also do our online skills self-assessment: Skills Passport. It's a great way to assess how your skills and experiences can be applied to your volunteer work, and your paid employment.

How our Volunteer Referral Service works
Both volunteers and paid staff work at our Volunteer Referral Service, located in Pitt Street, Sydney. We interview prospective volunteers and liaise with hundreds of not-for-profit organisations in order to refer our volunteers to suitable opportunities.

We help out anyone who wants to volunteer in NSW. However, if you live in the Greater Sydney area, or in regional NSW, you may find it more convenient to contact your closest Volunteer Resource Centre. These agencies have lists of volunteer opportunities available closer to your home; or they may be able to find a particular volunteer opportunity that suits you. Contact your nearest centre. Also to find volunteering opportunities all around Australia, search .

Are you ready to volunteer?
To find out more about how we interview and register our prospective volunteers, read our six easy steps to volunteering and complete our online volunteer registration form.

Alternatively, you can call our Volunteer Referral Service on 02 9261 3600 Monday–Friday, 10am–3:30pm, E.S.T.