Paid Positions
Paid positions vacant at Nicholson Street will be listed as they become available. For real-time updates on positions available, please "Like" our Facebook page.
Volunteer Positions
Nicholson Street has vacancies on our volunteer Committee of Management. As an incorporated association, Nicholson Street Community House Inc. is managed by a Committee that sets the direction for the House over a 12-month period. Committee members nominate for election at the House's Annual General Meeting (usually held in October or November). If there are vacancies on the Committee, interested people may be co-opted onto the Committee at any time during the year. If you would like more information, please contact the House Co-ordinator.
Other volunteer positions vacant at Nicholson Street will be listed from time to time. For real-time updates on positions available, please "Like" our Facebook page.
What Is Volunteering?
Volunteer work is defined by the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) as activities - formal or informal - performed outside the immediate family environment which is:
• done of one’s own free will;
• provides a service to the community; and
• is done without monetary reward, excluding out of pocket expenses. 1
ACOSS maintains, "First and foremost, volunteering is work. It is also an expression of active participation in the civic life of a democratic society." 2
Formal volunteering is organised volunteering done through or for an organisation or project. Informal volunteering is direct volunteer services to other households and individuals (such as helping an elderly neighbour with shopping).
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, an estimated 4.4 million people 18 years and over performed formal voluntary service in 2000, contributing 704.1 million hours unpaid work annually. This contribution has been estimated at 1.4% of GDP, or $8.9 billion dollars. 3
Informal volunteering is not generally counted in surveys, although it is reported that the hours spent on informal volunteering in Australia is almost three times greater than that spent on formal volunteering. 4 There can be little question that the actual figure is much higher. Research has shown that indigenous and non-English speaking background communities tend to rely to a very great extent on informal volunteering, either for cultural or isolation reasons. 5
Volunteering and Nicholson Street
As a Neighbourhood House, Nicholson Street Community House is part of a movement that has depended on volunteers since the beginning. Neighbourhood Houses are very much aware that volunteers need to be supported and feel valued - not just within their own walls, but across the community.
For many years Neighbourhood Houses across the City of Moreland have been involved in the delivery of training programmes for volunteers (the Moreland Community Groups [MCG] Initiative), with funding provided by Moreland City Council.
Nicholson Street has welcomed approaches from volunteers since we were founded 20 years ago. Sometimes we've been able to place people in short- or long-term work, at other times we haven't been able to offer anything suitable at the time, but have pointed them towards other local organisations that also have opportunities for volunteers.
Offering to Volunteer at Nicholson Street
Prospective volunteers are encouragedto contact the House Co-ordinator by phone or e-mail and arrange a time to come to the House for an informal meeting.
At this meeting the Co-ordinator will talk to you about
• your interests
• your skills
• your availability
and answer any questions you wish to ask about volunteering at Nicholson Street.
After this meeting the Co-ordinator will develop a workplan for you and arrange an orientation session for you to begin your voluntary work at the House.
This process is followed to enable each volunteer to work in a role that suits their needs with appropriate support from House staff.
1 Australian Council of Social Service: Volunteering in Australia ACOSS Paper No. 74, 1996 [return]
2 Quoted in Wesley Mission Sydney: The Faces of Volunteering, May 2001 [ return]
3 Australian Bureau of Statistics: Voluntary Work, Australia, June 2001 [return]
4 Volunteering Australia in partnership with AMP Foundation: Snapshot 2004: Volunteering Report Card, 2004 [return]
5 Lorraine Kerr, Harry Savelsberg, Syd Sparrow & Deirdre Tedmanson: Experiences and Perceptions of Volunteering in Indigenous and Non-English Speaking Background Communities, Adelaide, May 2001 [return]
