Secondary school students are being supported to track their volunteer service, connect with their community, build networks and grow their career-ready skills thanks to a new pilot project delivered by Volunteering SA&NT and backed by $125,000 in funding over two years from the Department of Human Services.

Innovative app to log and summarise volunteer hours

The Student Volunteer Army pilot, which has rolled out to seven public schools, is designed to recognise and celebrate the volunteering efforts of young people. It features an innovative app, which students can access on their laptop, or smartphone outside of school hours,  to log their volunteer hours, celebrate volunteer service milestones and easily download a summary of their volunteer hours for inclusion on their resume or as part of an application process, such as an apprenticeship or further study.

South Australia is the second jurisdiction to pilot the model after Tasmania. More than 450 SA students have signed up to the app as part of the pilot and almost 100 students are already active volunteers.

7 schools taking part in the pilot

Berri Regional Secondary College, Northern Adelaide Senior College, Thebarton Senior College, Wirreanda Secondary School, Glenunga International High School, Blackwood High School and the Riverland South Australian Aboriginal Secondary Training Academy are participating in the pilot.

Fostering the next generation of South Australian volunteers

Volunteering has faced some challenges in the past few years and this pilot is helping to build confidence in the next generation and rebuild our state’s volunteering ranks.

The success of the pilot — and the potential for it to be introduced more widely — will be evaluated in Term 4.