Location: South Eastern Melbourne
Program: Disability Services
Position type: Volunteer

We require our volunteers to be supportive, enthusiastic, friendly and understanding. We enjoy having fun on our programs, helping participants develop new skills, gain independence, explore and embrace new activities, celebrate achievements and positively engage with their peers and the community.

Objectives

Flexible Respite offers an exciting range of recreation and camp activities and individualised respite supports for children, and adolescents with a disability. Activities are age appropriate, fun and planned by our participants. They provide a great opportunity to make new friends and explore what the local community has to offer.

Our programs give a family, who have a child with a disability, time to focus on their other children, spend time with each other, go shopping, maintain the home, enjoy a night out and refresh and strengthen their relationship.

You can help by

• encouraging and working with children and young people to pursue their own individual interests, hobbies and friendships
• providing enough support that will enable the child or young person to participate in activities and develop relationships
• supporting the child or young person to become as independent as possible
• supporting the child or young person to be participate, be involved and accepted within their community.

Qualities required

• enjoy developing relationships with children and young people
• be flexible and patient
• be able to provide practical and physical support as needed
  engage with people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
  work as part of a team
  take initiative

Requirements

OzChild volunteers range in age from 16 years to retirement age. All volunteers will be required to complete Police and Working with Children Checks before beginning their volunteering role.

Support and training

New volunteers are invited to attend the OzChild Disability Services orientation training sessions. These sessions are a valuable and essential step in the process of becoming an accredited volunteer with our program. OzChild volunteers receive valuable information and ongoing training opportunities to develop new skills through accredited and non accredited courses.

Application process

1. Contact OzChild - Mornington (03) 5975 7644
   or use our Volunteer and Carer position online enquiry form
   A Volunteering Information Pack can be provided
2. Information evening - meet with the program manager
3. Volunteer orientation training
4. Assessment - including Police, Working With Children, medical and personal referee checks
5. Application reviewed by an assessment panel
6. Accreditation with OzChild
7. Ongoing accredited and non accredited training