Volunteering at the RSPCA Burwood East

• Examples of volunteer roles
• What time commitment is required?
• How do I become a volunteer?
• Meet some of our volunteers

Some examples of roles performed at the Burwood East Shelter include:

HANDS-ON ANIMAL RELATED ROLES:

• Cattery – cleaning, feeding and caring for cats and kittens
• Kennels – cleaning, feeding, caring, walking our dogs and puppies
• Admissions –cleaning, feeding and caring for a range of animals in our initial processing area
• Barn – cleaning, feeding and caring for our small and large barnyard animals
• Dog Grooming Assistant – assisting the Dog Groomer by helping hold the animals during grooming, cleaning up after grooming and washing dogs
• Shelter Front Desk – assisting the public with a range of enquiries, some animal handling required.
• Shelter Driver – transporting wildlife or dogs via RSPCA van to other shelters/carers.
• Vet Nurse Assistant – working in our busy vet clinic, tasks include cleaning, feeding and caring for our shelter animals and private pets before and after surgery – limited roles available.

NON ANIMAL RELATED ROLES:

• Events
• Op Shop Assistant
• Retail Assistant
• Administration/Finance/IT
• Grounds Maintenance
• Fundraising
• Skilled volunteers – if you have professional skills that you wish to look at offering the RSPCA please email us your resume and your area of interest to volunteer@rspcavic.org.au

To find out about the volunteer positions currently available at the Burwood East shelter click here.

What time Commitment is required?

At Burwood, most roles volunteers need to commit to either a weekly or fortnightly shift in the morning or afternoon on a weekday or weekend, for a minimum of 6 months.

Animal Related roles work on a structured roster to ensure we have adequate resources to care for our animals on a daily basis. Roles in our shelter and clinic are generally 4 hour shifts eg 8am – 12pm or 12pm – 4pm.

Hours required for other roles vary and can be discussed at interview.

Please note that we do not offer short term, high school community service roles or one-off volunteering opportunities for individuals or groups at Burwood.

High school or tertiary students can apply for our Work Experience program and Our Corporate partners can participate in our Corporate Volunteer Program.

If I am interested, what is the next step to becoming a volunteer?

The first step is to attend a Volunteer Information Session. This session goes for approximately one hour and will go into further detail about the RSPCA Victoria, our Volunteer Program and the roles available. Bookings are essential and sessions fill quickly.

How do I book in for the Volunteer Information Session?

Please phone 9224 2222 between 9.00am – 4:30pm Monday – Friday from the date bookings open.

All sessions will be held here at RSPCA Victoria Head Office, 3 Burwood Highway (corner Middleborough Road), Burwood East. Parking is available at Safeway, opposite the RSPCA on Burwood Highway.

What happens after the Volunteer Information session?

After attending the Information Session, if you would like to become a volunteer you need to book in for a 30-minute interview with one of our Volunteer Coordinators.

Details of how to book will be given to you in a handout at the Information Session.