Volunteering

Make a positive impact as a Southern Cross Care (WA) volunteer

Volunteer with Southern Cross Care (WA) and make a positive difference to someone else’s life.

SCC (WA)’s volunteers come from all ages and all walks of life. From retirees with a passion for enriching the lives of others, to people who cared for a family member or even teenagers who want to do something meaningful with their free time, our volunteers make a significant difference to the lives of those in our care and receiving our services.

Undertaking a wide variety of roles, our volunteers all have one thing in common, the positive feelings they get from offering their time to help others. There are many different paths of volunteering with us, whether it is within residential aged care, working alongside our mental health services or assisting with activities in our respite centres.

Residential Aged Care

One-on-one social visits – volunteers are matched with an individual resident who may not otherwise receive many visitors. Volunteers usually undertake a minimum fortnightly visit of around one hour.
Group visits – volunteers are matched with a group of residents who may not otherwise receive many visitors. Groups are usually created based on shared cultural background or activity interest.
Activities – volunteers assist SCC (WA) therapy staff to deliver activity programs, which may include bingo, arts and crafts, etc. Volunteers may assist in setting and packing up, running the session or assisting individual residents who require support to participate.
Bus Driver– drive our residential aged care and retirement living residents on outings to including shopping trips, activity-based outings and sightseeing. Not all sites have their own bus so shifts could include picking up and returning buses where required.
Pastoral Care – volunteers work closely with the site-based Pastoral Carers to extend the range and effectiveness of the pastoral care program through one-on-one skilled companionship visits to allocated residents.
Pastoral activities – volunteers deliver or assist with religious activities like leading hymn singing or bible reading sessions, assisting clergy during church services, etc. Groups of volunteers (e.g. church groups) can also propose new activities and deliver them as a group.
Clergy Volunteer – clergy who lead religious services for residents.

Respite Centres

Volunteers assist with respite sessions at dementia-specific respite centres alongside respite staff. This may include scheduled activities like exercise, arts and crafts, music appreciation or one-on-one interaction with specific clients.

Community Options (Mental Health)

One-on-one social visits – volunteers are matched to visit an individual client in a group home setting who may not otherwise receive many visitors. Volunteers usually undertake a minimum fortnightly visit of around one hour.
Group visits – volunteers visit a site to interact with a group of clients. Volunteers usually undertake a minimum fortnightly visit of around one hour.

Pet volunteers

Several SCC (WA) sites have pet visiting volunteers, who bring their dogs to visit residents. Pet owners who are interested in volunteering and think their dog may be suitable should contact volunteer services to organise a canine temperament assessment. The assessment will be undertaken by a trained professional and a nominal fee will apply.

Get in touch

Can I choose where I volunteer and how often?
Not all volunteer opportunities will be available at all sites, but we will work with you to identify the best match for you.
Volunteer opportunities are available predominantly during the day on weekdays, although occasional weekend opportunities may be available at some sites. Most people volunteer 1-2 hours either weekly or fortnightly.
Whether you offer one hour a week or several hours, your time is an asset to us.

Ready to Volunteer? APPLY NOW!
If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Volunteer Services at 08 9269 6855 or volunteerenquiries@scrosswa.org.au to find out more.

Please note, as part of the volunteer application process, you will need to:

Complete all Volunteer Application documents
Complete a National Police Check (paid for by SCC (WA))
Undertake a site induction
Complete our online Volunteer Induction Training and additional training modules

Get in Touch Now

Hear what our volunteers have to say

"We volunteer for Southern Cross Care via Animal Companions - a West Australian, non-profit organisation. My dog Andy and I were accredited as a visiting team in 2015 and we provide regular therapeutic pet visits to people at Villa Pelletier.  Andy really enjoys visiting it and we both love going.  People say animals are great therapy and we get to experience that firsthand.  Those with impairments can connect with Andy because they don’t need to be able to speak, hear or see very well to interact with him, which is very special."

- Volunteer Miranda and her therapy dog Andy

Those with impairments can connect with Andy because they don’t need to be able to speak, hear or see very well to interact with him, which is very special.

Miranda & Andy