Volunteers, WWC and Protection

Does your organisation use volunteers?

Are you confident you know exactly who is volunteering, how they assist and whether they have been correctly screened and inducted?

I often hear …

‘we can’t make it too difficult for someone to volunteer. We’ll turn them off helping.’

Someone who wants to help, by working with children, will not be turned off by being asked to protect children. Well… the type of volunteers you want will not be turned off.

It’s all in how you present the requirements. I’ve worked with small and large organisations to create volunteer management strategies that work.

Volunteers are a great asset to any child focused activity…

They are also a potential risk as they are often poorly monitored.

With a plan, a written strategy (this is how it will work), and a culture that celebrates child protection and safety (this is how it works here – with pride), volunteers will continue to assist and become a valuable protective presence.

Volunteer management begins with a strategy. Bring all of the co-ordinators to the table.

A strategy is not created by an individual. It is a tool to be created by the team who represent each type of volunteer. Come together and identify shared resources and methods and look for opportunities to streamline practice. I strongly recommend you invite the WWC co-ordinator and the sport/activity co-ordinator and, if you have one, of course the volunteer co-ordinator.

So how do volunteers get involved?

• Small group helpers – junior school reading
• Sports and activities – coaching or managing
• Accommodation providers – homestay or billet
• Leadership/mentor programmes
• Council, P&F or other governance roles
• Canteen or uniform shop
• Youth ministry
• Camp assistants/mentors
• Parent/carer roster
• Family members who live on campus/boarding
• Tutors
• Pre-service teachers
• RTO students
• Older students, once they turn 18, must have a current BC to volunteer

Volunteers working with children

It is the organisation’s responsibility to ensure that all volunteers are screened and inducted appropriately. Working with Children screening (Blue Cards) in Queensland requires that all volunteers appear in the Blue Card Register (Employee Register) regardless of whether they require a Blue Card or Exemption Card. That means, volunteer parents (that is parents of current students within a school environment) must appear on the Blue Card Register, regardless of whether they hold a BC. A volunteer who is also a QCT registered teacher, must appear on the Blue Card Register.

The Working with Children (WWC) legislation includes volunteers in the definition of employees. In other words, it does not distinguish between a paid employee and volunteer. Does your organisation treat them with equal attention when it comes to screening and making sure they understand their responsibilities regarding child protection and reporting?

Use the table provided to plan out your strategy. I highly recommend you consider online registration. You can check out St Luke’s Anglican School registration here for an example.

I suggest you use Volunteer Management Strategy Template to identify how volunteers help in your organisation (nature of volunteer role). Consider how volunteers are;

1. Recruited – website information, letter box drop, reference from existing volunteer/employee, online registration form
2. On-boarded – such as inducted, WWC screened, driver’s licence/vehicle rego/insurance noted if transporting, provided with the Code of Conduct and any other documentation
3. Recorded on registers – Volunteer register, Department register (such as football or homestay), training/induction register
4. Eligibility to commence – method of communication, responsibility/role
5. Supervision – who knows about each type of volunteer and monitors conduct/attendance
6. Renewal – who is responsible for ensuring the volunteer remains current with the requirements such as WWC screening and induction/training

Volunteer Management Blog has the content of this blog and an example of a strategy template completed for a fictional school. The headings are a suggestion. You may want to change them. This is just a suggested structure to identify the parts of the ‘whole of organisation’ strategy.

Where HS= Homestay, BC=Blue Card, EOI=Expression of Interest

Want more help?

Want to know more? We’re here to help. You bring the organisers to the table and we’ll help you walk away with a strategy to manage, recruit, screen, induct and supervise volunteers who work with children.