Get involved with an emergency volunteering agency

Australia has 18 different emergency volunteering agencies contributing in different ways when extreme weather events hit. They are all working hard to involve young people who are motivated by causes such as climate change.

Some groups take a while to get involved in as they have training requirements, whereas others are experimenting with a more spontaneous approach to involve volunteers when big events happen. 

Some groups desperately need new volunteers (like the SES in Queensland and a whole host of rural and regional bushfire brigades).

Other groups like most urban bushfire units are chockers and can’t handle new people. So you need to do a bit of leg work to find the right group for you.

We suggest two ways that you can work out which group you might want to get involved with.

Step 1.  Check out the eighteen different emergency volunteering agencies at the AEMVF national website to find out which appeals to you most.

The Green Cross Australia website also has information about the roles of how the SES and Red Cross respond to floods, how rural bushfire volunteers brave the heat, how surf lifesavers save lives in wild storms
and the amazing work of St Johns Ambulance volunteers.

Step 2. Check out  Seek Volunteering to see what positions are available around the country. Just search for 'emergency' and look out for Australia’s top 18 emergency volunteering organisations.

If you take time to learn about the issues and build your core skills, you will fast-track your involvement once you’re ready to commit.

If an extreme weather event does happen, having logged your readiness will give you a leg up if you want to help your chosen emergency volunteering agency quickly.  This will fast track your application as you can provide some key information about yourself and have the certificates all ready to go.

When a big event occurs (maybe even in your neighbourhood)

When Aceh and Cyclone Larry happened, tens of thousands of Australians compassionately reached out to offer their help. Dentists, builders, nurses, tradespeople and just ordinary Australians with good hearts and good skills offered to get involved.

Unfortunately, it can be difficult to spontaneously involve large numbers of people who are unaffilialted with response agencies and whose skills have not be formally verified. This verification is essential because liability arises with accidents that occur under emergency situations – and there are many of these.

Australia’s challenge is to gradually increase the numbers and capabilities of volunteers who are 'good to go' when increasing climate change impacts hit our shores and our neighbours. But our exising emergency NGOs are strapped for resources and the need to expand the volunteer base is a challenge.

By knowing your readiness; getting ready to survive 72 hours, building core skills, and joining an emergency NGO, YOU can play an important role in growing our nation’s capacity and contributing to emergency response efforts.

Interested in making a commitment to the Log Your Readiness process?

 

Download our printable Readiness Checklist and fill it out as you go!

 

Don't forget to include it as part of your resume when you sign up for a volunteer position with an emergency response agency!

What to do if you want to help immediately after an extreme event hits

 

Here’s our advice:

 

What to do if you want to help immediately after an extreme event hits

 

1.   Do not just show up at the impacted location. The emergency response requires coordination and you may not be aware of risks involved.
2.   Be patient and before you make your next move, think about your availability, capacity to assist, your skills, and the fact that often emergency volunteers spend long tiring hours waiting to do things. That’s the nature of the challenge. Also be mindful that sometimes people are needed several weeks after an event hits.
3.   If you are connected to an emergency NGO – offer help immediately if you are in a position to do so.
4.   If you’re not affiliated with an NGO but you have good core skills and want to contribute where it’s needed – go to the SEEK Volunteering website and look for “spontaneous volunteering” opportunities.
5.   You can also call special purpose hot lines run by State agencies to try to get connected with spontaneous volunteering roles. Your state will have a peak volunteering agency that will be working closely with SEEK and State agencies, and sometimes they coordinate food and blanket drops.
6.   If it looks like it’s too hard to help this time, donate money to Green Cross Australia or your favourite emergency NGO so that we can build Australia’s capacity to respond to climate change impacts. Then sign up to join a longer term training program.
 

 

What to do if extreme weather hits your neighbourhood 

 

Some small steps can make a big difference especially if we come together as a community. Here’s some advice:

 

1.   Spread the news through your friends and neighbours that you are prepared and are there to help.
2.   Be mindful of all your neighbours and make sure that everyone has been contacted.
3.   Make sure that everyone’s relatives know they are OK when communications come back.
4.   If you come across minor injuries and you have first aid skills, use them.
5.   Be aware that these situations can make your neighbourhood vulnerable to intruders and talk about this with locals.
6.   Look out for lost or stray pets and report them to the RSPCA.
7.   Offer help to emergency NGOs that come to your area – they need local support to find out what’s really happening.
8.   If you have extra water and food, offer it to people who need it.
9.   Be especially mindful of older people, people with disabilities, people who live alone, people with non-English speaking backgrounds, and people with small children.
 

To see what you can do in an emergency situation, download our printable Emergency Plan checklist.