VOLUNTEERING
Volunteers make a difference...
Our Volunteers are trained to enable them to perform their duties in a manner to "make a difference" to peoples lives. From time to time vacancies occur for volunteers to perform reception duties on the front desk. These duties are many and varied, but essentially involve giving out community information and making legal and financial counselling appointments, both by telephone and in person. Volunteeers are not required to give legal advice or counsel clients but are required to provide appropriate information and referrals to other organisations. We also have a number of student participants at our centre.
What we ask of you..
- You need to be a good listener and be open-minded and non-judgemental
- Be able to work as a member of a team
- Be able to commit to at least one rostered shift each week
- Be able to attend ongoing training sessions
- Be able to learn about our service and other services available in the community and communicate this information effectively
- Have a pleasant telephone and reception manner
- Be adaptable
- Able to observe client confidentiality
What you can expect from us...
- Sound training in all aspects of community advice
- The opportunity to learn information about various areas of law
- A busy, varied and interesting workplace
- Assistance from both the employed staff and fellow volunteers in all aspects of the role
- Free parking
- Morning and afternoon tea
We are currently not recruiting, or seeking, further law student volunteers at this stage but vacancies will be published on this website when they become available.
We offer both a formal and informal student program. Student are invited to attend solicitor-client appointments to learn what happens during a legal appointment. Students also undertake a client in-take where they interview new clients before seeing a solicitor to find out what their matter is about. This gives students the opportunity to learn client interviewing skills and practice their communication skills. Other tasks students undertake are drafting letters on behalf of clients and assisting complete court forms and other relevant documents.
Formal Student Program
We have many students participating through formal arrangements with Bond University as part of their law degree. These students come to the office one day a week for 5 weeks. Students who are interested in this should contact Leanne Rogers who is a current Bond University law student.
Informal Student Program
We also have students from various universities who come in on a regular basis through our informal student program. This is run in a 8 or 16 week block. Students can either come to the office one day a week for 8 weeks or one day a fortnight for 16 weeks. This allows students to fit volunteering into their university and work schedules whilst also allowing a constant turn over of students since demand for vacant positions is so high.
Gaining work experience is a valuable asset to law students and we are happy to provide work experience. If you are a student seeking to participate, please contact our Student Co-ordinator for information. Please note that students participating through formal arrangements will be given priority when our centre is busy.
