Volunteering

Volunteers, something for everyone!

Phillip Island Nature Parks volunteers help protect nature for wildlife and inspire others to act. Volunteers work directly with the Nature Parks team, assisting with visitor experience, threatened species monitoring, conservation and research, nursery and revegetation programs, wildlife research, rehabilitation, and care.

Note: Volunteer roles do not involve direct handling of wildlife.

Current Volunteers click here for resources and useful links!

Who can become a volunteer?

Phillip Island Nature Parks is committed to diversity and inclusion as an organisation. We welcome volunteers with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities. Each volunteer role has different requirements and commitments, and our Volunteer Coordinator is happy to support you to find a role that suits your abilities and interests.

All volunteers are required to:

Complete our Induction and training, either online or face-to-face.
Obtain a free Volunteer Working with Children Check (WWCC) (must be over 18). Employee WWCC and VIT registration are also accepted.
Register on Better Impact, our volunteer management system.
Manage their own signing up, volunteer hours, and other activities using the MyImpact portal.
Adhere to relevant policies, procedures and OHS requirements while volunteering.

What are the benefits of volunteering?

Nature Parks volunteers contribute to both the community and our ecotourism, research, and conservation outcomes. Many of our roles have a strong social aspect either in the form of talking to visitors or working with our close-knit volunteer teams. Volunteers receive the same discounts and benefits as staff, including admission to our sites, discounted staff meals, and access to our employee assistance program. We celebrate our volunteer team at several events throughout the year, culminating in our annual National Volunteer Week event.

Volunteer Opportunities

Some of our most popular volunteer opportunities are listed below. We do have other opportunities come up from time to time. These are promoted to all registered volunteers via our newsletter and email. Once on board, volunteers are always welcome to take up new opportunities provided you complete an induction and meet any qualifications required.

Engage with visitors from across Australia and around the world in our Visitor Experience roles. These roles are based across our four attractions:

The Penguin Parade: Join our visitors before the Penguin Parade and help set expectations for a high quality experience and build their understanding of the life of the little penguins. Once the penguins reach the water's edge, volunteers may be invited to assist with the nightly penguin count.

The Koala Conservation Reserve: Hang out on our tree top boardwalks and help our visitors spot the koalas amongst the manna gum trees. You can also head down to the bush stone-curlew aviaries where this threatened species is paving the way to be released back into the wild on Phillip Island (Millowl).

The Nobbies: Keep an eye out for whales, penguins, seals and birds of prey from our cliff-top boardwalks. Share information and current sightings with visitors.

Churchill Island: Chat with visitors about the farming activities, heritage gardens, and life on the island in the Samuel Amess era. Volunteers have the choice to wear historically accurate costumes that are provided by the Nature Parks.

Help us protect nature for wildlife by getting involved with our conservation and research teams. This role can get involved in several activities from revegetation, weed control, wildlife monitoring and more. Activities are driven by our conservation priorities and can be seasonal.

The Barb Martin Bushbank Nursery

Every Wednesday and Thursday the Volunteer team joins our nursery coordinator in propagating native plants for rehabilitation programs that contribute to habitat restoration on Phillip Island (Millowl). Suitable for a range of abilities and needs.

Curlew Custodians

Bush stone-curlews were last heard on Phillip Island in the 1970s, however we are working to re-introduce this species to Phillip Island (Millowl) as part of the Threatened Species Plan. Nature Parks has five birds in captivity at the Koala Conservation Reserve and this Volunteer team helps our conservation team by preparing and delivering food, tidying the aviaries, and recording observations and behaviour of the birds.

Hooded Plover Watch

'Hoodies' are small grey and white beach nesting birds. Their breeding season coincides with tourists hitting our beaches, putting their eggs and young at risk. The hooded plover watch helps monitor the birds and the data collected is added to the Birdlife Australia portal. Rangers use this data to track the birds, put signs up warning beach goers of their presence, and to know when the birds are ready for banding. This opportunity is seasonal and available between October and March each year.

To register as a volunteer please follow the link below. You can compete an expression of interest on our volunteer management platform, Better Impact and set up your account on the MyImpact portal.

Please remember your log in and password as volunteers will use this portal to sign up for activities and manage your volunteering experience at Nature Parks. We will contact you via email to share opportunities, invite you to an induction and training days and keep you up to date. Please note, it can sometimes be several weeks before an opportunity becomes available in your area of interest.

More information

For any inquiries about volunteering or to seek alternatives to our online application process, contact our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteers@penguins.org.au or 0437 476 833.