Who We Are

As the national peak body for volunteering in Australia, Volunteering Australia provides leadership, coordination, and advocacy across the volunteering ecosystem. In a federated structure, our role is to bring together the expertise and insights of the State and Territory Volunteering Peak Bodies to ensure a cohesive national approach that strengthens volunteering in every community.

We work nationally to:

• Provide policy leadership and advocacy
• Coordinate national strategy, infrastructure, and standards
• Strengthen communication, engagement and collaboration across Australia
• Lead national research and data excellence

As the national peak body, Volunteering Australia provides the leadership, coordination, and strategic vision needed to support a thriving, future‑focused volunteering ecosystem—one where volunteering is recognised as the heart of Australian communities.

At Volunteering Australia equity, diversity, and inclusion is at the core of who we are. We strive to position these values at the forefront of all we do. We are strong advocates for centring diverse voices and believe in the transformative power of volunteering in creating inclusive communities.

We are committed to inclusion across race, culture, ethnicity, gender, sex, sexuality, religion, and ability. We recognise that people from diverse communities face systemic barriers to participation. We seek to challenge the current system and strive for change that makes volunteering accessible to and inclusive for all.

We are committed to amplifying the voices and experiences of First Nations People, who represent the world’s oldest continuing culture. We recognise that volunteering in First Nations communities is based on values of reciprocity, mutual obligation, family and kinship ties, and communal responsibility and respect.

In Practice

We aim to centre equity, diversity, and inclusion at the forefront of our work by amplifying the voices of lived experience. We are committed to strengthening the volunteering ecosystem by addressing social, cultural, and economic barriers to volunteering.

We undertake to embed principles of diversity, inclusion, and equity in all our work and progress access and equity issues through our policy and advocacy agenda. We acknowledge the importance of an intersectional approach, recognising that many Australians face multiple forms of discrimination and disadvantage. We understand from time to time that this may ask of us to take
special measures in our program, in our policy or services.

We understand we have a leadership role to play in advancing inclusive volunteering, but recognise we are not experts in inclusion. We are committed to partnering with organisations, communities, and individuals to proactively advocate for an inclusive, safe, and accessible volunteering
ecosystem.

We pride ourselves on being a workplace of choice. We are committed to upholding our values on equity, diversity, and inclusion in our recruitment and workplace culture. We strive to make our roles and workplace accessible, culturally appropriate, and respectful of diverse needs and identities.