Supporting our volunteers to serve safely and well
LinC Yarra Valley is grateful for the time, care and compassion our volunteers bring to our Social Supermarkets, Crisis Support and LinC Play programs. Our volunteers are at the heart of how we serve and support people across our community.
Our training is designed to be practical, relevant and appropriate to each role, helping volunteers feel confident, supported and well prepared to serve others with dignity, respect and kindness.
Program Leaders help volunteers understand which training applies to their role and make sure any required training and checks are completed and recorded.
This resource page is here to support LinC Yarra Valley team members and member organisations with approved training and useful reference materials. We welcome your feedback and suggestions so we can continue to strengthen the way we support our volunteers and the people we serve.
Program Leader responsibilities
Program Leaders play an important role in helping our volunteers feel prepared, supported and confident in their service. They also help LinC Yarra Valley make sure the same important safety and training standards are followed across our programs.
Please help your volunteers by making sure that:
- New volunteers receive the induction relevant to their role.
- Volunteers know which training is mandatory.
- Required checks are completed before volunteers undertake restricted duties.
- Certificates or other evidence of completion are provided where required.
- Training completion is recorded in the LinC volunteer register.
- Volunteers complete required refresher training.
- Changes in role trigger any additional training required.
- Serious concerns, complaints or gaps in training are escalated through LinC Yarra Valley’s agreed process.
If you are unsure whether a volunteer needs particular training or screening, please check with the LinC Yarra Valley General Manager before allocating them to the role.
Volunteer induction and responsibilities
Engaging Volunteers
This guidance covers volunteer roles, induction, background checks, responsibilities and ongoing training.
Who should read this: Program Leaders
Why: To understand good practice for supporting, inducting and managing volunteers
When: Read when you start as a Program Leader
Access here: ACNC Engaging Volunteers
Safeguarding vulnerable people
This guide helps LinC Program Leaders understand how to keep volunteers and the people we support safe, including what to do if there is a concern, complaint or report of unsafe behaviour.
People may be more vulnerable at different times because of age, disability, financial hardship, language, isolation, trauma or other circumstances.
Who should read this: Program Leaders, Executive and Board members
Why: To understand your responsibilities for keeping people safe & responding to concerns
When: Read when you start in the role, and again when LinC Yarra Valley updates its policies
Access here: ACNC Safeguarding Vulnerable People
After reading this guide, you can check your understanding by taking ACNC’s safeguarding assessment.
Start here: training for all LinC volunteers
All regular LinC Yarra Valley volunteers who are part of our programs are supported with induction and ongoing training covering:
- LinC’s purpose, values and expectations
- the volunteer’s role and boundaries
- respectful and appropriate conduct
- safeguarding vulnerable people
- privacy and confidentiality
- complaints and reporting concerns
- basic health and safety
- how and when to escalate a concern
Some of this training is delivered through LinC Yarra Valley-specific induction and annual refresher resources.
Program Leaders should ensure new volunteers complete the relevant LinC Yarra Valley induction before, or as soon as practicable after, commencing their role.
Our approach is simple: equip people well, care for one another, and make sure volunteers know where to turn when they need help.
Social Supermarkets
Social Supermarket volunteers work with food and household goods and regularly interact with people experiencing financial and personal hardship.
Program Leaders should ensure volunteers understand food safety, respectful client interaction, role boundaries, health and safety and how to report concerns.
Food safety
DoFoodSafely is a free online food-safety training program provided by the Victorian Department of Health. It covers:
- personal hygiene
- safe food handling
- food contamination
- delivery, storage and display
- cleaning and sanitising
- allergens
Participants complete an assessment and can receive a Certificate of Completion.
Who should complete this: Social Supermarket Team Leaders & volunteers who regularly handle food
Cost: Free
How: Online, at your own pace
Time needed: About one hour
What you receive: Certificate of Completion
When: Complete before you start handling food, and again if food safety requirements change
Access here: Complete DoFoodSafely
Please note: DoFoodSafely is the free Victorian Government course recommended for community and not-for-profit food handlers. It is not a Food Safety Supervisor qualification.
Food-handling volunteers and Team Leaders should complete DoFoodSafely. Where a formal Food Safety Supervisor qualification is required, LinC will arrange the appropriate accredited training.
Working respectfully with clients
LinC Yarra Valley provides annual refresher training for Social Supermarket volunteers on working respectfully and safely with clients.
The training covers:
- treating people with dignity and respect
- listening without judgement
- keeping appropriate boundaries
- responding when someone is upset or distressed
- knowing when to ask a Program Leader for help
- knowing when a concern needs to be referred or escalated
If you are yet to attend this training
Please use the two resources below to help you understand the key expectations for working respectfully and safely with clients until you attend the next LinC Social Supermarket Volunteer Training session.
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Volunteering Victoria: Volunteering Rights and Responsibilities Guide
A short guide to help volunteers understand their role, responsibilities, boundaries and what support they should expect.
Who should read this: Regular Social Supermarket volunteers
Cost: Free
How: Short online guide
When: Read when you start volunteering
Access here: Volunteering Rights and Responsibilities
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Safe and Equal: Responding to Disclosures
A short guide on what to do if someone tells you they are experiencing family violence or another serious concern. It explains how to listen, respond without judgement and understand the limits of your role.
Who should read this: Client-facing Social Supermarket volunteers
Cost: Free
How: Short online read
When: Read when you start volunteering
Access here: Read Responding to Disclosures
Please remember: You are not expected to be a counsellor or case worker. Your role is to offer respectful, practical support and know when to ask for help.
- be respectful and listen
- keep appropriate boundaries
- avoid trying to solve complex personal problems yourself
- ask your Program Leader for help when needed
- report or escalate serious concerns through LinC’s agreed process
Crisis Support
Crisis Support volunteers work with people experiencing financial hardship, housing stress, family violence, disability, mental distress and other difficult circumstances.
You are not expected to be an expert in all of these areas. Your role is to listen with care, respond respectfully, recognise when extra help may be needed, and connect people with appropriate support.
LinC Yarra Valley provides core training for the Crisis Support role. The additional free resources below can be used to build your confidence in areas you are more likely to come across.
Core Crisis Support training
- CISVic Community Support Worker training or another relevant qualification agreed with the General Manager
- Family Violence Foundations
Family Violence
Crisis Support volunteers may speak with people who are experiencing family violence, worried about their safety, or unsure where to get help.
Family Violence Foundations is a free Victorian online course that helps you understand family violence, recognise possible signs, respond safely and know when specialist support may be needed.
The course covers:
- what family violence is
- common signs and impacts of family violence
- how family violence can affect adults, children and young people
- how to respond in a safe and respectful way
- cultural safety and different experiences of family violence
- when and how to refer someone for specialist support
Who should complete this: Core Crisis Support volunteers
Cost: Free
How: Online, at your own pace
What you receive: Certificate of Completion
When: Complete once as part of your core Crisis Support training
Access here: Family violence foundations
Other useful training and resources
Choose the resources that are most relevant to your role and the people you are supporting.
Beyond Blue: Money and Mental Health
Money problems and mental wellbeing are often closely connected.
This is a free online resource that can help you understand that relationship and respond with greater confidence and empathy.
Who should use this: Crisis Support volunteers
Cost: Free
How: Online, at your own pace
When: Use as part of your ongoing training or when supporting someone experiencing financial stress.
Access here: Money and Mental Health
Housing and Homelessness
Crisis Support volunteers may support people who are experiencing homelessness, at risk of losing their home, or living in unsafe or unstable housing.
These Victorian resources from Council to Homeless Persons can help you understand homelessness, communicate respectfully and recognise when specialist housing support may be needed.
Who should use this: Volunteers who regularly support people with housing concerns.
Cost: Free
How: Online learning and practical resources
When: Choose resources that are relevant to your role. You can discuss options with the General Manager.
Access here: Housing and Homelessness
Disability awareness & inclusion
Crisis Support volunteers may support people with disability or people who experience barriers when accessing services.
Introduction to Disability Awareness is a free online course that helps you understand disability, inclusive communication and the impact that attitudes and discrimination can have on people with disability.
The course covers:
- understanding disability
- common barriers faced by people with disability
- respectful and inclusive language
- communicating with confidence and respect
- disability rights and inclusion
Who it is for: Crisis Support volunteers
Cost: Free
How: Online, at your own pace
Time needed: About 90–120 minutes
What you receive: Certificate of Completion
When: Complete once as part of your ongoing Crisis Support training
Access here: Introduction to Disability Awareness
Legal issues & referrals
Victoria Legal Aid: Law for Helpers
You are not expected to give legal advice. These resources can help you recognise when someone may have a legal problem and know where to refer them for help.
Who should use this: Crisis Support volunteers
Cost: Free
How: Online resources
When: Use when relevant or as part of your ongoing training.
Access here: Law for Helpers
LinC Play
LinC Play volunteers work with children and families, so creating a safe, welcoming and caring environment is an important part of the role.
Volunteers are supported to understand how to keep children safe, treat them with dignity and respect, recognise when something may be wrong, and know what to do if they have a concern.
Core LinC Play training
LinC Play volunteers are expected to complete child-safety induction and training appropriate to their role.
This includes:
- the Victorian Child Safe Standards
- LinC Yarra Valley’s Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy
- appropriate behaviour and boundaries with children
- recognising signs of child abuse or harm
- responding safely if a child shares a concern
- reporting and escalating child-safety concerns
- cultural safety and inclusion
- safe use of photos, phones, social media and online communication
Victorian Child Safe Standard 8 requires organisations to train and support staff and volunteers to understand their Child Safety and Wellbeing Policy, recognise signs of harm, respond to concerns and help create culturally safe environments.
Who should complete this: LinC Play volunteers
When: Complete when you start volunteering, with refresher training provided regularly
Working with Children Check
LinC Yarra Valley requires LinC Play volunteers undertaking relevant child-related work to have a current Working with Children Check, unless an exemption applies.
A Working with Children Check is a screening requirement, not a training course. Program Leaders should make sure required checks are current and recorded before a volunteer begins relevant child-related duties.
Who this applies to: LinC Play volunteers undertaking relevant child-related work
When: Before starting relevant child-related duties
Access here: Working with Children Check Victoria
Please remember: Keeping children safe is everyone’s responsibility. You are not expected to investigate concerns yourself. If you see, hear or notice something that worries you, report it through LinC Yarra Valley’s child-safety process and ask your Program Leader for help.
Victorian Child Safe Standards
The Victorian Child Safe Standards help organisations create environments where children feel safe, respected, included and listened to.
These resources can help LinC Play volunteers and Program Leaders understand their responsibilities and the practical steps they can take to help keep children safe.
Who should use this: LinC Play volunteers and Program Leaders
Cost: Free
How: Online information and training resources
When: Use when you start in the role and again as part of refresher training
Access here: Victorian Child Safe Standards
Photos, phones and online safety
The eSafety Commissioner provides simple guidance on safely using photos, videos and online communication involving children.
Who should read this: LinC Play volunteers and Program Leaders
Cost: Free
How: Short online guide
When: Read when you start volunteering and refer back to it when needed
Access here: Photo and video sharing
