Volunteering guides translated into 16 languages

14 October 2009 | Volunteering Australia

Two of Volunteering Australia's foundation documents, The Definition and Principles of Volunteering and the Volunteer Rights and Volunteer Checklist have been translated into the 16 most used languages in Australia and are available to download for free.

Australia's population is increasingly diverse, and of our 21 million residents, 5.5 million people (one quarter) were born overseas. Over 200 languages are spoken. Volunteering Australia recognises the enormous diversity amongst volunteers and has translated two of our foundation documents into sixteen different languages to cater for this diversity.

The Definition and Principles of Volunteering provides a definition of formal volunteering and its underpinning principles, and the Volunteer Rights and Volunteer Checklist is an overview of volunteers' rights and some important points for volunteers to check off with their organisation before volunteering. These are important documents that all volunteers should have access to.

After conducting thorough research into the cultural make up of Australia, sixteen of the most commonly spoken languages were chosen. Volunteering Australia has translated both documents into all sixteen languages and these are now available to download for free from the Volunteering Australia website.