Volunteer Program

The ASRC began as a volunteer-run organisation and volunteers continue to constitute the vast majority of the ASRC’s workforce. With only 30 paid staff members and over 500 volunteers, they are the primary providers of essential services for the majority of Victoria’s asylum seekers and participate at all levels of leadership and decision-making at the ASRC.

Volunteer - Claire Connors

"Despite its growing size, the ASRC has an extremely warm and friendly atmosphere. Everyone smiles and says hello. I was amazed to realise the CEO had learnt my name a matter of weeks after I had started volunteering. I am a part of the Volunteer Support Team and it is great to see how, despite rarely advertising, we receive so much public support and interest in volunteering."

What We Do

Volunteering has been at the heart of the ASRC since it began. Volunteers work in all of the ASRC’s Programs and fulfill over 50 different roles, including: Caseworker, Lawyer, Receptionist, Doctor, Nurse, Cook, Orientation Guide, English Teacher, Counsellor, Employment Caseworker, Researcher, Administrative Support and Mentor, to name just a few!

Recruiting and coordinating such an enormous team of volunteers is a very big task. This is where the Volunteer Support Program comes into action. We organise five Volunteer Intakes each year, with anywhere between 70 to 120 new volunteers beginning each Intake. We work closely with other ASRC programs to formulate and provide training programs and ongoing volunteer support.

The ASRC is committed to investing in its volunteers, through training and development opportunities, by fostering the leadership potential of current volunteers, and ensuring that acknowledgment of volunteer contribution remains a cornerstone of the management and operation of the ASRC.