Insurance Office

Volunteers

Volunteers & Voluntary Workers

A volunteer is a person who receives no remuneration or other payments in kind in regards to the works undertaken.  They are defined in the Summary of the Occupational Health & Safety Act 2004 – WorkSafe June 2005 as “a person acting on a voluntary basis (irrespective of whether the person receives “out of pocket” expenses).

• La Trobe University may be approached by members of the community to “work” within the University as a volunteer.
• Students on outside placement or undertaking voluntary work with the knowledge and consent of the University are deemed to be voluntary workers but need to fill out a Work Placement "unpaid" form.

Insurance

Volunteers are not deemed to be employees for the purposes of Workers Compensation Insurance under the Accident Compensation Act and therefore they are NOT covered by the University’s WorkCover insurance.

Volunteers are covered under the University’s general and products liability protections.   There is also limited cover under the University’s personal accident and travel insurance while on campus or elsewhere in connection with University related activities, including necessary travel to and from such activities (other than international travel).   There is no cover for personal effects belonging to the volunteer and medical expenses are limited to Non-Medicare Medical expenses.

To obtain insurance a “Volunteer Form” must be completed and held by the authorising department. 

For further details contact the Insurance Office on 9479 2801.

OH&S Obligations

The area is required to complete an OH&S induction as they would with any new employee and document that this has occurred. It is suggested that you use the regular induction checklist.

Any training regarding utilisation of equipment and protective equipment should also be documented. These documents should also be kept by the authorising department.

Payment

Generally volunteers are unpaid, and those engaging in volunteer work should do so for no financial payment.  Occasionally volunteers may receive payment in the form of reimbursements, allowances and honoraria.

The Australian Tax Office  defines payments to a volunteer that are not subject to tax as having many of the following characteristics:

• the payment is to meet expenses incurred or expected to be incurred;
• the payment has no connection to the recipient’s income-producing activities or services rendered
• the payment is not received as remuneration or as a consequence of employment
• the payment is not relied upon or expected by the recipient for day to day living
• the payment is not legally required or expected
• there is no obligation on the part of the payer to make the payment
• the payment is a token amount compared to the services provided or expenses incurred by the recipient - it is necessary to consider the full facts surrounding both the payment and the recipient in determining if the amount is a token amount.
  

The simplest way for volunteers to recoup out of pocket expenses is for the organisation they volunteer with to reimburse them directly.  A reimbursement for payment that covers the precise amount of expenses incurred by a volunteer.  Reimbursements are not treated as assessable income and are therefore not subject to income tax."

Authorisation:

La Trobe University schools/departments considering taking on “volunteers” should complete the Volunteer Form and hold within their school/department.

For further information contact

Insurance Office on 9479 2801 or
Workplace Environment and Wellbeing Unit on 9479 2101

(pdf version available here)