No you don’t. We’re very mindful that most people live busy lives and may only be able to contribute their time every now and then. If you’re free more regularly, then that’s fantastic and we will definitely accept the help, but if you can only help out every once in a while, then we’re happy to take that as well. Whatever people can provide is greatly appreciated.

Register your interest in helping us via our Volunteer form. If you’d prefer not to provide the requested information via our online form for any reason at all, that’s totally fine – in this instance checkout the ‘alternative options to register’ question below for other ways to let us know of your interest.

Yes! We are mindful that not everyone wants to submit their information via an online form, which can be especially true for people working in Defence. We currently have two alternative options available:

1. Email: You can send us an email to admin@avla.org.au with your responses to the volunteer form questions that you feel comfortable answering. At a minimum, the following will need to be submitted:

   a. Your first and last name

   b. Your connection to Defence?

   c. Confirmation of whether or not you have ever been charged with a criminal offence?

   d. A summary of how you feel you could support the association

   e. The following confirmation statement “I confirm this information to be accurate, agree to receiving communications from AVLA, and agree to be bound by the Code of Conduct.”

2. Phone: You can send us an email with your preferred phone number, and we can organise a time for our staff to call you and take your membership form answers verbally.

If providing us with reduced information, please just note that this may impact our ability to identify suitable opportunities for you.

There are two main reasons for the number of questions asked within our forms.

1. Legal reasons. We have an obligation to confirm who our volunteers are, that they are willing to abide by our Code of Conduct, that you’re happy for to receive communications from us, and that you confirm the information is accurate.

2. Experience & location. We need to understand what your skills are and how we might be able to utilise you within the association. In some cases, it is also very helpful to understand roughly where you are located. If you’re just wanting to help out remotely then that’s less of an issue, but if you’re able to help in-person, then understanding where you are located will assist us in figuring out where to deploy your skills/assistance.

If you would prefer not to provide the level of detail requested, that is totally okay, and we do not want this to exclude you from volunteering with us. In this case, we recommend that you review the previous FAQ question ‘Are there other options to register, other than the online form?’, and consider registering through one of those alternative means.

Volunteering with us has many benefits such as:

• Develop new skills and experience for personal and professional enrichment

• Opportunity to support our service delivery teams and give back to the community through meaningful work

• Become part of a community of like-minded people who want to make a difference for the veteran community

• Be part of an organisation having a both national and international impact.

After completing the registration form, our team will review your application and will reach out if we have any further questions, or if we have identified an opportunity which you might be able to assist us with.

Depending on the answers provided in your application and the activities we have available; we may organise to have a yarn over the phone (or in person if possible). This provides us with the opportunity to we have a proper understanding of what skills and experience you have, where your interests lay, and also which of our volunteer opportunities might best suit you.

This is entirely up to you, however, as an external-to-Defence association, it is our preference that members sign up with their civilian/personal email address. This also reduces the risk of becoming disconnected when on extended leave, or when you transition out of Defence.

Absolutely! As an association run largely by active Defence members, we have a deep understanding of the importance of this topic, and we have been very mindful of data security in establishing our systems. Both our website and email infrastructure is hosted by a reputable Australian provider who only uses Australian servers. We use only encrypted storage solutions that meet Australian Government standards and is secure at the PROTECTED level.

We have also established our Privacy Policy in line with Australian requirements, and have consulted other Australian veteran organisations to build our understanding of how to best protect the data/information that we receive from those interested in joining or volunteering with us.

Wherever possible we anonymise the information we can to ensure your identity is as protected as possible. For instance, we will change your recorded location to a nearby suburb to reduce your stored personal information, while retaining enough information to provide our services.

In many instances having a criminal record does not preclude you from volunteering, but we need to understand this so we know the options available to us in exactly how we can utilise you, depending on the exact nature of the convictions. So, the quickest answer is that it depends on your individual circumstances and applications will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

We will have work that can be done both in person and remotely. It will all depend on exactly what tasks we need to get done, and what you’re able to provide.

We are more than happy to accept expressions of interest to assist with the production of our publications. Unlike other volunteer positions, however, people who work on our publications will be required to go through a trial process to assess where your skills are at. While you do not necessarily need to be a professional in this area (and many of our publication volunteers are not), we do need to confirm at you at least have a certain level of aptitude, or if you are at a level of proficiency that we feel we might be able to get you up to speed relatively easily.

If you are interested in assisting us with our publications, then please get in touch via admin@avla.org.au.

We are open to any level of skill, experience, or qualifications that volunteers have. We are also happy to accept assistance from people with little to no experience. It is often hard to determine exactly what skills or experience will be of greatest assistance, as everyone is unique and brings something different to the table. You may also have a particular skillset or an idea that we have yet to consider, but that could be of great assistance. So from this perspective, we equally welcome all potential volunteers and the assistance they have to provide.

Yes, you can! We are more than willing to accept volunteers from all walks of life. While there me be some restrictions, such as not being able to serve on our state or national committees which are reserved for current or former Defence people, there are still many roles that we could employ you in, including within some of our executive management roles for instance.

Don’t worry, we have no intention of spamming you with emails! Most of our promotional campaigns will be published via our various social media channels, with potentially a monthly or quarterly newsletter being developed at some point to keep members updated via email.

From time to time we will also communicate with you about upcoming volunteer opportunities that we think may be of interest to you. The decision to email this correspondence will be informed based off your registered locations, skills/experience, or recorded availability. We will, however, occasionally send out wider communiqués when:

• Inviting members to nominate for a specific committee or working group

• Informing you of important changes to the association or our policies