Volunteering
About
Looking for a way to give back and connect with the community? One of the many volunteering groups in Cardinia Shire may be for you!
Whether you’re interested in gardening and the environment, sports and recreation, or just want to give back to the community, there is a volunteering opportunity for everyone.
If you are looking to volunteer for a local not-for-profit or community group, you can search our volunteers directory.
Council supports its many volunteers in many ways including:
- workshops and information sessions
- subsidised training
- volunteering job opportunities.
Training calendar for volunteers and community organisations
Council offers a range of free or subsidised training for volunteers to support our volunteer community organisations such as sporting clubs, neighbourhood houses, community asset committees and many more.
Register now to attend an upcoming session:
Understanding financials for committee members
Date: Wednesday 7th May 2025
Time: 6pm - 8:30pm
Location: Council Chambers, Cardinia Shire Council Civic Centre, 20 Siding Avenue, Officer (in person attendance preferred however option to attend online is also available)
Committee or board members of not-for-profit organisations come to the table with a mix of skills and experiences which makes their contribution special. Many don’t have an in-depth knowledge of accounting or a head for numbers, yet most committees are now aware of their individual responsibility to ensure the group is solvent and the importance of being able to read the financial reports. Learning how to read and understand the facts and figures presented in financial reports
Creating promotional materials using Canva
Date: Wednesday 4th June 2025
Time: 6pm - 8:30pm
Location: Council Chambers, Cardinia Shire Council Civic Centre, 20 Siding Avenue, Officer
Ever wondered how community groups make their flyers and social media posts look so good?
It’s easy, with Canva everyone can create professional looking promotional materials! Canva is a design platform that can help you to create professional, eye-catching graphics, flyers, newsletters, videos, presentations, social media posts (plus much more) for your community group.
This session will walk you through the basics of using Canva and how not for profits can make the most of this online design tool. It will help your group to create, download and share beautiful designs that grab people’s attention, adding to the visibility of your group and the effectiveness of your communications. This is a hands-on course, so please bring a laptop or tablet/ iPad to use during the session.
Free training videos for volunteers
Non Profit Training produced a series of free educational volunteer training videos designed to educate and empower nonprofit organisations.
These engaging resources provide essential skills and knowledge, helping volunteers maximise their impact and enhance their contributions to the community.
Subsidised training for volunteers
We offer a volunteer training program each term, which is offered by local neighbourhood houses, community centres and Universities of the Third Age (U3A) at a subsidised rate (conditions apply).
The following courses will be available throughout the year:
- food handling
- basic bookkeeping
- first aid and CPR
- various computer courses.
For details of available programs and fees and to apply for a subsidised place, please contact the relevant training provider directly.
- Beaconsfield Neighbourhood Centre
- Moy-Yan Neighbourhood House (formally Bunyip & Ditsrict Community House)
- Cockatoo Neighbourhood House
- Lang Lang Community Centre
- Living and Learning Pakenham
- Outlook Community Centre
- Upper Beaconsfield Community Centre
Recruit volunteers for your organisation
- If your not-for-profit organisation is looking for support from volunteers, please submit the role and we will post it in our volunteering opportunities directory.
- The directory is a free service to not-for-profit organisations based in Cardinia Shire, or that service Cardinia Shire residents.
Annual event for volunteer organisations
- More than 500 volunteer organisations work to make Cardinia Shire a great place to live, so in May every year we celebrate our volunteers through a volunteer reception at Cardinia Cultural Centre.
- Each year, invitations to attend the volunteer reception are sent to 2 representatives from not-for-profit groups. To ensure representatives from your organisation are invited, please confirm your organisation's contact details are correct in our community directory.
- We hold the volunteer reception in May, to coincide with National Volunteer Week