COVID-19 community support – how can I help?

During the novel coronavirus outbreak, it is important that you look after the health and safety of yourself and your family, friends, neighbours and local community first.

Follow the advice of the Australian Department of Health and your local area health authorities, ACT Health or NSW Health.

Volunteering is a great way to help in times of need, but it’s important for you to be mindful. We appreciate all offers of assistance but need to balance this with volunteer safety and the safety of the community.

If you have symptoms including fever, coughing, sore throat, fatigue or shortness of breath, seek medical advice and DO NOT engage in volunteering.

Emergency Volunteering – how does it work?

In times of emergency, VolunteeringACT manages requests for “spontaneous” volunteers on behalf of the ACT Government.  

While there is currently no formal request from the ACT Government to assist with emergency volunteers, VolunteeringACT has “self-activated” the Emergency Volunteering website to manage increasing requests for volunteers from Volunteer Involving Organisations. 

If you can volunteer to assist vulnerable and isolated people in the community, we invite you to register as an emergency volunteer so we have a record of your details and your skills.  

As requests for volunteers are received from Volunteer Involving Organisations, we will email information about the opportunities to people who have registered. We will then compile lists of interested volunteers and refer these to the organisation, who will manage the screeningrosters, inductions and program specifics. 

We will only refer volunteers to volunteering programs that: 

  • Are run by an organisation that is partnering with the ACT Government, is a member of VolunteeringACT, or is a community organisation in urgent need of volunteers; 
  • Are supervised by a volunteer coordinator;
  • Provide appropriate safety equipment and procedures; 
  • Provide a program induction/briefing; and, 
  • Have volunteer insurance. 

If you’re interested in volunteering generally, you can also search for roles on our website, where all of our 180 members advertise their volunteering roles. 

Further Information

For the most up to date information on COVID-19 and physical distancing restrictions, please visit the following websites: 

Australian Government Department of Health 

ACT Health 

NSW Health 

covid-19.act.gov.au 

For more resources on volunteering safely, please head to our COVID-19 webpage