IVP
Volunteer in Australia or overseas. Live and work with a local community.
Join a volunteer camp for two weeks or longer, in Australia or overseas, with volunteers from around the world. Help with a real community project, share meals and daily life, and see a side of the world most visitors never see.
IVP was founded in 1988. It is a Branch of Service Civil International, a volunteer peace movement since 1920. Also a Branch of Network for Volunteer Development in Asia, working for peace since 1997.
Where do you want to volunteer?
Volunteer in Australia
For volunteers from Australia and overseas. Join a volunteer camp hosted by IVP with a small international team.
Volunteer overseas
For Australians, join a volunteer camp through SCI or NVDA.
How it works
How to join a volunteer camp in Australia
01
Find a project
Australian volunteer camps are listed on the SCI international database.
02
Apply through your own SCI branch
Contact the SCI branch or partner organisation in your country. They will send your application to us.
03
Get ready to come
Once your place is confirmed, we send you a project guide with travel details. See what’s included and what you pay for.
Note: Most visitors need a visa to enter Australia. Check the official rules at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au before you book.
What a volunteer camp is like
Small team. Real work. New friends.
In May 2026, volunteers from Australia, Spain, Russia, Hong Kong and France spent two weeks near Taralga, NSW, on our Creating Glideways volunteer camp. They helped protect the threatened Greater Glider, and got to know rural Australia along the way.
Learn from experts
Ecologists and local landholders trained the team in wildlife surveys, camera traps and habitat checks. Night-time spotlighting walks to find Greater Gliders became everyone’s favourite.
Do work that lasts
The team planted trees for wildlife corridors and installed special nest boxes and cameras high in the canopy, helping reconnect habitat across the landscape.
Live and explore together
Volunteers cooked, ate and shared stories around the fire. They visited the Goulburn Farmers Market and the community solar farm, and explored the Wombeyan Caves.
“Understanding conservation requires more than reading about it – it comes from spending time in the landscape, learning from experts, and working alongside others who care deeply about protecting it.”
A Creating Glideways volunteer, 2026
You don’t need special skills, just be ready to work as a team and happy to live simply. Every volunteer camp is different: check each camp’s information page for the work, conditions and what’s included.
Volunteer story
“It was a reminder of what a peaceful, connected world could look like: people giving freely, and one day, in some unexpected way, receiving something in return.”
Andrea Grugel · Germany · Tallong Apple Day Festival, 2025
Since 1920
SCI’s volunteer peace movement
41
SCI branches worldwide
100%
volunteer-run in Australia
Volunteer overseas
Living in Australia? Volunteer overseas.
IVP members can join volunteer camps run by SCI partners around the world. Membership also helps us welcome international volunteers here.
News from IVP
-
Peace Across the Sea
Peace Across the Sea, a joint project of IVP Australia and the Bhumi Horta Foundation, trained 20 people from Indonesia and Australia in peace action.
-
Raising Peace Salon: next one on Monday 9 November
The Raising Peace Salon is a Zoom meeting every second month to talk about peace. The next one is on Monday 9 November, 7 to…
-
Farewell to Rex Mayer and welcome to new appointments
The IVP Finance Team is entering a new chapter, with Neo Gerona as Finance Officer and Yang Fan as Treasurer.
Help us keep volunteer camps running.
IVP is a small non-profit run entirely by volunteers. A donation helps us host projects and welcome volunteers from around the world.