Volunteering for students and young people

Formal or informal volunteering

Volunteering is giving your time and skills to help others for no financial gain. 

Volunteering can help you work out what the right career is for you, and it’s a great achievement to include in your resume. 

As a volunteer you can meet new people, develop new skills, gain experience, build your networks and make a difference while having fun. 

You can do informal volunteering, such as helping an elderly neighbour, or volunteering at a local event.  

You can also do more structured volunteering with an organisation or a program like the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award. 

Some organisations won’t accept young volunteers without parental consent, so it’s important to find the right type of volunteering for your needs, age and skills. 

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award

The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award is also known as the Duke of Ed. It's a global youth development program empowering young people aged 14-24 to explore their full potential. 

Students who participate in the award must give service over a set period of time that enables them to experience the benefits that their service provides to others. 

Examples of service for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award include: 

• volunteering with the Rural Fire Service, State Emergency Service or other emergency service organisation that relies on emergency volunteers
• visiting and supporting people in need, such as the elderly, or those with disabilities 
• volunteering at a hospital or local care home 
• volunteering in animal welfare 
• sports coaching or being an umpire or referee
• volunteering at a local foodbank or charity. 

The award helps you meet new people, learn new skills, get formal recognition of extracurricular, sporting and volunteer activities and enhance your resume. Some universities recognise it for bonus ATAR points. 

There are four main sections to the Duke of Ed including:

Physical recreation 

Improving physical fitness and wellbeing, encouraging an active and healthy lifestyle.

Skills  

Unleashing talents and broadening personal interests and skills.

Voluntary service   

Connecting with the community by giving meaningful service to others.

Adventurous journey  

Purposeful adventuring and team building in an unfamiliar environment. 

Gold residential project  

A purposeful experience with new people outside their usual place of residence. 

Find out more about the Duke of Ed in NSW. 

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Video transcript

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award

Have you heard about the Duke of Ed?

Let me tell you a bit about it. It's an internationally recognised youth development program for 14 to 24-year-olds. You can adapt the award to suit your personal interests and goals. In fact, you might already be doing an activity that counts towards the award or you can try something new. 

There are four sections to complete: - Physical recreation, Skills, Volunteering and then Your adventurous journey. 

You can choose from a load of physical recreation activity, like these guys - video shows young adults kayaking, playing cricket and motor bike riding.

You get to volunteer - there's so many ways you can make a difference, and you'll get to meet some incredible people. (Video showing surf life savers, people collecting rubbish from a park, a young woman working in an animal shelter, another woman working in a library, a young person in a wheelchair on a basketball court.)

For your skill, you can pretty much do any skill you want. Here are some of my favourites. (Video of people learning to drive, making a cake, writing HTML code, dress making.)

You also get to do the adventurous journey and explore some amazing places like this. (Video of people hiking and the bush at night.)

What are you waiting for? 
Grab a friend and get started on your Duke of Ed journey.

Record volunteer hours on up2now 

High school students can record their volunteering hours on the NSW Education Standards Authority up2now website. 

Schools must register with up2now to enable students to log in and record their achievements. Please check with your careers adviser if your school is registered. 

Recognising Volunteers

Students and young people who volunteer can be nominated to receive a Recognition Certificate. To be eligible for a certificate the student or young person must volunteer in NSW.

There are two types of recognition for the volunteers of NSW.

Nomination for Recognition

This is the simplest way to acknowledge volunteers. These nominations will not be judged; however, the nominee will be invited to their local regional ceremony (if their personal email address is provided, not the organisation’s or nominator’s email address). The nominee will be presented with a certificate to acknowledge their contribution to the community. This nomination requires you to complete four parts of the nomination form only.

Nomination for Judging

These nominees will be judged for the NSW Volunteer of the Year Awards in their appropriate category. This nomination requires nominators to complete six parts (parts 1 to 6), all of which must be completed to be accepted by the judging committee.

All nominations must be submitted electronically by either a volunteer involving organisation, a school or the NSW Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award, which is managed by the NSW Office of Sport.

Learn more about the Recognition Program.