Voluntary Work Organisations 001-02010040

Some job seekers may meet some or all of their mutual obligation requirements by doing voluntary work. From 1 July 2024, the Centrelink Approved Voluntary Work approval process has been simplified to one single form, for the job seeker and Voluntary Work Organisation to complete.

Voluntary work as an approved activity to fully meet the mutual obligation requirements, can only be included in a job seeker's Job Plan if the organisation they are doing voluntary work with has completed the relevant section of the Verification of voluntary work (SU462) form and declared they meet the criteria.

To meet the criteria, Voluntary Work Organisations, must be a:

• community based not-for-profit organisation and hold the appropriate public liability insurance and personal accident/voluntary workers insurance, or
• government sector agency:
• if unclear, use online government resources like the Australian Business Register's ABN Lookup service. The Resources page has a link

A government sector agency will have appropriate insurances and does not need to supply proof of insurance. All other organisations must declare they hold suitable evidence (in the event it is requested) that they have paid for and have an active public liability insurance policy and personal accident/voluntary workers insurance policy.

Public liability insurance

Public liability insurance covers the cost of claims made against an organisation by a third party, if the services delivered by the organisation result in injury or property damage.

Community based organisations must declare they have an active public liability insurance cover of at least $5 million.

Personal accident/voluntary workers insurance

Personal accident/voluntary workers insurance covers the cost of claims made against an organisation by volunteers because of a work accident.

The level of personal accident/voluntary workers insurance may be different for each organisation. Services Australia cannot give advice about what level of cover is appropriate. Organisations should be encouraged to get professional advice to determine appropriate level of cover.

Government sector agencies do not need to supply proof of insurance to Services Australia.

Government sector agencies are not-for-profit organisations and do not need to supply proof of their status. Community based organisations must declare they are a not-for-profit organisation.

Australian public schools are considered to be government sector organisations for the purpose of assessment as a Voluntary Work Organisation.

However, independent Parents and Citizen Associations and private schools are not considered government organisations and must meet the not-for-profit status requirements.

Job seekers can undertake approved voluntary work with more than one organisation or the same organisation but for more than one location. The physical address of each location the job seeker is volunteering with must be included on the Verification of voluntary work (SU462) form.

The Verification of voluntary work (SU462) form can be lodged via online services, post or in person at the Centrelink Service Centre.

For more information on how to prepare and scan Centrelink customer documents on a Multi-Function Device (MFD), see Scanning Centrelink documents using an MFD.

When a job seeker is participating in voluntary work as an approved activity and they complete their fortnightly reporting, they must confirm they have participated in the activity for at least 30 hours in the reporting period. If the job seeker has not met this activity, they will be asked to provide a reasonable excuse explaining why they have not participated in voluntary work. Depending on the reason provided, the job seeker may be transferred to a Telephony Service Officer (IVR channel only) or advised to contact the agency to discuss their circumstances and have their reporting process completed.

Voluntary Work Organisations will declare on the Verification of voluntary work (SU462) form that they will tell Services Australia if a job seeker stops or reduces their number of voluntary work hours. If the Voluntary Work Organisation suspects a job seeker is not telling Services Australia about a change in their voluntary work hours, the organisation can report a suspected fraud.

Organisations must tell Services Australia of a change of their circumstances within 14 days. Examples of events include:

• a change of their name or location
• a change to their not-for-profit status
• a community not-for-profit organisation no longer has the insurance needed
• they cease operation, or
• they no longer want to be an approved Voluntary Work Organisation