The National Standards for Volunteer Involvement

This framework is designed to help organisations consider the role of volunteers within their administration, and the impact effective volunteer involvement can have on achieving strategic goals and aims.

There are 8 standards addressing the key areas of volunteer involvement:

1. Leadership and management
2. Commitment to volunteer involvement
3. Volunteer roles
4. Recruitment and selection
5. Support and development
6. Workplace safety and well-being
7. Volunteer recognition
8. Quality management and continuous improvement

This framework has been devised to provide guidance on how to:

• Incorporate the values and maximise the benefits of volunteer involvement
• Develop effective volunteer involvement strategies and practices
• Involve volunteers in meaningful and useful activities that contribute to the outcomes of the organisation’s work
• Ensure the rights of volunteers are protected and that they are supported to carry out their roles and responsibilities

Download the National Standards framework

This online tool helps organisations achieve best practice by measuring their performance with volunteer involvement.

This tool will:

• Assess your organisation’s performance against the standards
• Identify actions required to achieve compliance with the standards
• Automatically generate an action plan for good practice
• Suggest great workflow management tools 
• Provide useful templates to assist with volunteer management

For more information and to subscribe to the Volunteering Australia self-assessment tool

The Centre runs a number of practical workshops for organisations and volunteer managers on implementing the standards. These include:

• Preparation workshops
  This includes 2 half-day workshops to assist organisations to prepare and plan for their implementation of the Standards, with guidance from experienced facilitators.
• Knowledge workshops
  Perfect for senior managers and board members, the Centre also offers a morning and afternoon workshop looking at how to implement the Standards.

Workshop objectives include:

• Gain an understanding of the benefits of implementation
• Assess the gaps of your organisation
• Manage the necessary change
• Begin an action plan

For more information, contact svm@volunteering.com.au.

The Centre runs a free 2-hour ‘health check’ for its members to assess how they sit against the standards. Following the consultation, The Centre can assist in putting together an action plan to manage necessary change.

For more information, contact membership@volunteering.com.au.

Containing a comprehensive set of instructions, this guide and workbook is designed as an accessible manual for organisations to implement the Standards. Notably, this resource can help organisations identify their strengths, and suggest system improvements for managing volunteer involvement.

The guide and workbook is available for purchase.

• Non-member $30
• Member $25

Become a member

To get a copy, contact info@volunteering.com.au.

Please note, the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement (2015) are the intellectual property of Volunteering Australia. They are recognised within Australia as the best practice framework for volunteer involvement. As the owners of the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement, Volunteering Australia has endorsed its foundation members, the state and territory peak bodies for volunteering, as being the sole organisations authorised to deliver training and develop resources on the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement. Any unauthorised use of the National Standards for Volunteer Involvement is strictly prohibited.