Stories about Social Justice and Welfare

Helping out homeless kids

Impoverished youth often gets mixed up in gangs and crime as a way to up their status and search for companionship. Tutoring gives the kids a safe place to relax and find positive role models. More...

You don't have to be amazing to volunteer

For me, volunteering started in a self-serving little place called Planet Brain.

I really wanted it to come from some deep seeded heart throbbing desire to change part of the world, but it wasn't. It was market research for my job. I wanted to volunteer to understand how it worked, what the barriers were and what would inspire others to give it a go.

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Volunteering with Oxfam Australia SkillShare

I wanted to contribute to social justice beyond just giving money. I wanted to be doing some activity that was meaningful to me, as my work, though it was stimulating and fun, didn’t fulfil my aspirations to be “making a difference”. I chose to volunteer my time with Oxfam Australia SkillShare who arrange short term projects in the local community sector for volunteers with professional skills. They’ve contributed skills such as marketing, training, facilitation, graphic design and IT to a diverse range of organisations including those in the fields of environment, housing, disability, neighbourhood houses, advocacy, indigenous and refugee services. I chose this because I support Oxfam’s philosophy of community development and liked the concept of leveraging people’s professional skills to build capacity in the community sector. I could also do small chunks of volunteering to fit around my full time work. More...

St Vincent De Paul’s

As a year nine student at Loreto Mandeville Hall, which focuses many co-curricular activities on social justice, I thought that it would be a great idea to volunteer as a way of helping my community without counting the cost of doing so. More...

Northern Territory Emergency Services and Bush Fire Volunteer

I live in Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory & am a volunteer member of Northern Territory Emergency Services (NTES) & have been for about 13 years. I joined because a friend was already involved and thought that it would be a challenge and a way to give back to the community. More...

Contributing my professional skills to a local charity – the Berry Street Victoria Marketing Committee

For a while I’d been thinking about volunteering my time to help those in need, but was not really sure how and where I could best make a difference. I thought that I could perhaps use my professional skills ‘behind the scenes’ to help a charity achieve their goals…

I’ve been a volunteer on the Berry Street Marketing Committee for nearly 2 years now & find that it’s a fantastic way to contribute my skills and knowledge. More...

My experience in the Southern Hemisphere's largest Soup Kitchen

In my days volunteering at the Sacred Heart Mission I met the most courageous, outrageous, vulnerable, tender, spiritual, independent, challenging, intelligent and beautiful people I have ever come across. And in retrospect, I think that those people probably helped me along my journey more than I ever helped them. More...

My Refugee Experience - the sameness of all human beings

I have had many volunteering experiences over the years and continue to get involved due to the amazing feeling of fulfilment that volunteering provides me with. I think that most people become volunteers due to feelings of altruism and an understanding of the lack of justice in society, but my overwhelming experience of volunteering is always that I take just as much as I give. More...

Providing pro bono legal representation to the disadvantaged and marginalised

Volunteer work provides me with diversity and new skills. I always learn something new. More importantly, I feel it is helpful for me professionally and personally to stay connected with and understand the needs of different sections of the community. More...

Working in digital to help soup kitchens

I had wanted to volunteer for a soup kitchen for around 5 years. The excuse that I had used for the last 5 years was that I was too busy at the moment but I will do it someday. Looking back it was such a rubbish excuse. More...