Volunteer agreement, Kanangra Wildlife Rescue and T. Nordin
Volunteer agreement template that sets the role, the hours and the expenses
A volunteer agreement is not a contract, and the moment it reads like one it starts to look like a job. This two page example for a wildlife rescue names the shifts, the induction, the working with children check and the three expenses that are reimbursed, then says in one clause that there is no wage, no leave and no minimum hours.
The document, page by page
Every page as it renders and as it prints, with nothing summarised. Read the wording before you reuse it.
Section by section
What each section is for, so you can keep the ones you need and drop the rest.
- Letterhead and parties
- The rescue's letterhead with its ABN, and a paragraph saying this is not employment.
- 1. The role and the hours
- Duties, the boundary on adult animals and rescues, the two shifts and how to skip one.
- 2. Before the first shift
- The three hour induction, the rehabilitation licence, and the working with children check.
- 3. Expenses
- How to claim, and a three row table of travel, feed and laundry with their limits.
- 4. Not an employee, cover and ending it
- No wage or leave, insurance for rostered shifts, same day injury reporting and ending it.
- Signatures
- One block for the rescue and one for the volunteer, both dated.
How to adapt this document
For a one off event volunteer, cut the shift pattern in clause 1.2 to a single date and time and drop the expenses table, since nobody claims a kilometre rate for a single afternoon. For a volunteer who drives the organisation's vehicle, add a clause naming the licence class, who pays an excess and what happens after an incident, because that is the exposure a rescue actually carries. For a role with no child contact, delete clause 2.2 entirely rather than leaving it in as boilerplate, because asking for a check that the role does not need is both a privacy problem and a barrier to signing people up. Keep clause 4.1 in every version, because a short plain sentence that this is volunteering rather than work is the part a regulator or an insurer reads first.
Which law the terms follow
The agreement is written for a New South Wales incorporated association and names the instruments that apply to it. Clause 4.1 states that the Fair Work Act 2009 does not cover a genuine volunteer, which is the Fair Work Ombudsman's position on unpaid work: a volunteer arrangement has no intention to create an employment relationship, no obligation to attend and no expectation of payment. Clause 2.2 follows the child protection regime in New South Wales, where child related work requires a Working With Children Check that the employer or organisation verifies with the Office of the Children's Guardian, and where a volunteer check carries no fee. Clause 2.1 records that the rescue holds a rehabilitation licence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and that the volunteer works under it and follows the code of practice for rehabilitating protected native animals, which is what lets an unlicensed person care for protected wildlife at all. The organisation's ABN and its incorporation number appear on the letterhead.
What makes this document work
The role says what the volunteer does not do
Clause 1.1 lists feeding and monitoring joeys, cleaning pens, recording weights and helping at two school talks a term, then ends with no road rescues and no handling of adult animals. Naming the boundary is what keeps a volunteer out of work they are not trained or insured for.
A shift can be skipped, and no reason is needed
Clause 1.2 sets Saturdays 7am to 11am and Wednesdays 4pm to 6pm, then says a shift is swapped or skipped by telling the roster coordinator by 6pm the day before, with no reason needed. An agreement that demands a reason is one that starts to look like a roster obligation.
The expense table has a nil row in it
Travel at 88c a kilometre, feed to $120 a month, laundry at $12 a week, and gloves, masks and disinfectant supplied by the rescue rather than reimbursed. The nil row is the useful one, because it tells a volunteer what to stop buying out of their own pocket.
Questions people ask
Is a volunteer agreement legally binding?
It is not meant to be. The parties paragraph says the document records what each side has agreed to do and is not a contract of employment, and clause 4.1 adds that the Fair Work Act 2009 does not cover a genuine volunteer. The value of the page is clarity and evidence of induction, not enforceability.
Can a volunteer be paid expenses without becoming an employee?
Yes, where the payment genuinely reimburses a cost rather than rewarding the work. This agreement pays a kilometre rate, a capped feed allowance and a flat laundry amount, all on receipts, and says plainly that a reimbursement is not income and not a payment for work. An honorarium set by the hour starts to look like a wage.
Do volunteers need a Working With Children Check?
They do where the role is child related work, and this one is because of the school talks. The agreement asks for the clearance number and date of birth so the organisation can verify it with the Office of the Children's Guardian, notes that a volunteer check is free, and blocks the talks until the verification is recorded.
Are volunteers covered by insurance?
Only if the organisation arranges it, because workers compensation generally does not extend to unpaid volunteers. Clause 4.2 says the rescue holds public liability and volunteer personal accident cover for rostered shifts, and requires an injury or a bite to be reported the same day. Check the wording of the policy against the roster.
How should a volunteer agreement handle ending the arrangement?
Gently, and in one sentence. Clause 4.2 lets either side stop at any time, in person or in writing, and adds that the rescue will say why if it is the one ending it. Notice periods and performance language belong in employment documents and put a volunteer organisation in the wrong place.
What should a volunteer induction cover?
The hazards specific to the work. This one runs three hours and covers animal handling, hygiene, biosecurity and emergencies, and records that the rescue holds a rehabilitation licence under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 that the volunteer works under. Putting the induction date in the agreement is what proves it happened.
Build your own in about a minute
The button below opens the generator with this use case already described. Change the wording to match your own, generate, then edit anything you like.
Make one like thisOther document examples
Settlement agreement template with a payment, a release and no admission
A settlement is only worth signing if the money and the release are tied together in the right order. This four page deed settles a home building defect claim for $9,500, makes the release conditional on the payment landing, and says in one clause what happens if it does not: sue on the deed, or go back to the tribunal as if the deed had never been made.
Joint venture agreement template with contributions and split
An unincorporated joint venture has no company to fall back on, so everything a company structure would supply has to be written down. This one puts two builders together for a single $14.6 million refurbishment, splits it 55/45, and sets out who funds it, who decides, how a deadlock breaks and how either of them gets out.
Non-compete agreement template with cascading restraint clauses
An Australian non-compete lives or dies on how it is drafted, because a court will not rewrite one that reaches too far. This one restrains a senior stylist from a competing salon using three separate covenants of falling reach, from 5 kilometres for six months down to 1 kilometre for three, and pays $4,500 for them.
Want the steps in the builder? Read Create a document with AI, then Send a document for signature. For everything this generator can do, see the document maker.
Written and checked by the OneCraft team. Last checked .