Volunteer Agreement

Agreement

1.       What you can expect when volunteering

We value our volunteers and will provide you with:

  • a written role description so you understand the tasks you are expected to perform
  • a full induction and reinduction each year
  • specific training relating to the role you have chosen
  • the freedom to move between roles
  • a safe environment in which to perform your role
  • respect for any personal confidential information you share with us, as per our privacy policy
  • insurance to cover you for the volunteer duties you are authorised to perform. 

2.      What the organisation asks of its volunteers

We ask you to:

  • support our values, vision and mission
  • be an advocate for the organisation in the community
  • complete all relevant induction and training sessions as required
  • only perform authorised duties and always operate under the direction and supervision of staff following all reasonable directions and instructions
  • understand and comply with the organisation’s Code of Conduct
  • notify a staff member of any health and safety issues or potentially hazardous situations that may pose a risk to them or others
  • report any accidents or incidents relating to staff, volunteers or the workplace in a timely manner.

3.      Role description

Please refer to the volunteer role description to help you understand your role and the tasks you are asked to perform and tasks which you are not. 

If you are unsure whether a particular task is part of your role, please don’t hesitate to talk to the volunteer coordinator, operations coordinator or any manager.

Always operate under the direction and supervision of staff and follow reasonable directions and instructions. This is particularly important for your own health and safety.

4.      Prior to commencing your volunteer role

The organisation is committed to providing suitable training in support of your role as a volunteer. For this reason, it’s our policy that all volunteers undertake an induction before starting their volunteer role.

The volunteer coordinator will confirm the details of your induction date. Once inducted, it is up to you to participate in any training scheduled. Training is offered to all volunteers on a regular basis for all volunteer roles.

5.      Information we need before you can start in the volunteer role

Before you can start the volunteer role, we need the following information:

  • Contact details for you and your emergency contact
  • Year of birth
  • Your preferred volunteer role, if any
  • We will ask you if there is anything that may impact on your ability to complete your volunteer role safely (e.g. injury, condition etc).
  • We may ask you to complete background checks such as Working with Children Check (WWCC), ID checks, reference checks, police checks, licence checks.

All personal information will be stored in accordance with our privacy policy.

6.      All volunteers must follow safety processes at all times

We ask that you:

  • are respectful and courteous to all other volunteers, staff, social workers, donors and any visitors in the course of your role
  • use any property or equipment given to you in your role safely and only for the purpose of the role and return it to the organisation when you finish your volunteer role
  • provide any updates to your personal contact information in a timely manner - email, phone number etc.
  • do not come into the warehouse if you feel unwell in any way
  • let us know immediately if there is anything that makes you unsuitable or unable to carry out your volunteer role i.e. you injure yourself
  • provide feedback to staff and let us know if we can improve the volunteer program and the support that you receive whilst volunteering

7.      Health and Safety

Your safety and the safety of everyone who is involved in our organisation, is a priority.

The organisation has safety obligations towards:

  • you in your capacity as a volunteer
  • all people that you interact with as a part of your volunteer role
  • any visitor, contractor or other people who attend our premises.

It’s important to understand that you may be personally liable (that is legally or financially responsible) for any harm or damage caused to yourself or others if you act outside of the role description, outside of the instructions given to you or you are affected by drugs or alcohol when you are volunteering.

It’s therefore important that you only perform the tasks in your role description and that you follow the instructions of staff at all times.

Under the Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004 (OHS Act) and other workplace laws, the organisation has a duty of care to minimise risks to everyone affected by its conduct (including paid employees and volunteers).

The organisation is responsible for:

  • providing and maintaining safe equipment
  • providing and maintaining safe systems of work
  • keeping the warehouse in a safe condition, free of risks to health (for example, ensuring fire exits aren’t blocked and the worksite is generally tidy)
  • providing suitable facilities for health and wellbeing.

As a volunteer, you have duties under health and safety law too. These include:

  • taking reasonable care for your own health and safety
  • taking reasonable care for the health and safety of others
  • complying with any reasonable instruction by a staff member
  • reporting to staff any concerns you may have about safety or your health in performing your role
  • complying with all of the organisation’s policies and procedures relevant to your role.

We will provide you with a full induction, when you commence as a volunteer with our organisation. However, please do not hesitate to talk to the volunteer coordinator, operations coordinator or any manager at any time if you have any health and safety concerns. 

8.      Insurance

We are committed to providing adequate insurance cover for volunteers while carrying out their volunteering roles that have been approved and authorised by us.

The organisation has the following insurances:

  • Voluntary Workers Personal Accident Policy
  • Public liability insurance

To ensure this insurance covers you for any incidents that occur while you are volunteering with us, you need to:

  • always sign in and out when volunteering onsite.
  • report any incident to the volunteer coordinator, operations coordinator or any manager immediately.

We want to let you know that the following events are unlikely to be covered by our insurance:

  • actions that are beyond the scope of your volunteer role, or that occur without appropriate authority or permission from us
  • criminal activity (including criminal charges arising out of driving incidents), and
  • dishonest or reckless activities (for example turning up intoxicated or drug affected).

9.      Volunteer expenses

The organisation will not reimburse volunteers for any travel costs associated with travel to and from their volunteer role. We may however, with prior approval from any manager, reimburse you for any items purchased to complete your volunteer role. These payments are not remuneration or wages. You will always need to produce receipts.

10.    Confidential information

Volunteers may have access to confidential information as part of, or to assist them, with their role. Confidential information includes any information about the organisation, social service agencies and IT systems, which have been deemed by the organisation as confidential or which is, by its nature, confidential or proprietary. You may be asked to sign a confidentiality agreement.

You are not permitted to use or disclose any confidential information for any purpose other than the proper discharge of your duties as a volunteer.

11.     Intellectual Property

You agree to transfer all intellectual property rights and interests (including copyright) in any ideas or materials you create relating to your provision of voluntary services. You consent to the use by the organisation of such creations in a manner reasonably contemplated by the voluntary services provided under this document. As a volunteer you also agree not to bring any claim for infringement of your moral rights in respect of that use.

12.    Consent to use photographs and images

The organisation may take photographs and video footage of you carrying out your volunteer work and use it for the purposes of fundraising. This may include printed and digital marketing - newsletters and annual reports, including the use of your image on social media platforms. If you do not want to be photographed or your image used by the organisation, please make the photographer aware of your wishes.

13.    Property and security

All goods donations to remain the property of the organisation. Unless authorised by staff, donations and property are not to be removed from the premises or sourced on our behalf (including on any social media platform).

As a volunteer you may be given a key or a code to enter the building, this is not to be shared with any other person nor is it to be used in an unauthorised manner i.e. do not try to access the premises outside of operating hours.

14.    Communication

Communication with you will be via email, SMS, phone and the volunteer Facebook group (where applicable). As part of your volunteering, you will be added to our volunteer newsletter list which is the main way for us to communicate with you.

As a not for profit organisation, we garner our financial support from philanthropic trusts, businesses and individual donors. Historically our volunteers regularly support us financially as well as providing us with their personal time. We will contact you for financial donations from time to time. This will be via SMS, phone or email and you are under no obligation to make a financial contribution but it will be gratefully received. You may also opt out of our fundraising appeals and only receive the newsletters.

15.    How to contact us

If you have any questions or concerns about your role, your health and safety, or if you need any assistance to help you perform your role, the best way to contact us is by email at volunteer@geelongmums.org.

16.    Policies

All our policies can be found on this website and the following policies have particular relevance to you.

  • Sustainability policy
  • Code of conduct
  • Dispute resolution policy
  • Privacy policy
  • Confidentiality policy
  • Occupational Health and Safety Policy
  • Social Media Policy
  • Volunteer Policy

17.    Review and acknowledgment

We ask that you sign to acknowledge that you have read and understood this volunteer agreement and have had an opportunity to ask questions. This will happen on our GoCanvas mobile application.