Environmental Volunteer Manual and Process Review Community Survey

Overview

The City of Canning currently has over 200 hectares of natural areas and 7 environmental volunteer groups, all of which make a valuable contribution to the management and conservation of these areas. In 2015, the City of Canning published the Environmental Community Group and Organisation Manual. This resource was developed as a resource to provide volunteer groups with an understanding of their roles and responsibilities, the support that the City provides, information on insurance arrangements and health and safety as well as forms and templates.

In 2023, a review commenced of both the City's Environmental Community Group and Organisation Manual and its processes for managing these volunteers.

Why are there changes?

Recently the Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (Cth) and associated regulations were released, coming into effect on the 31st of March 2022. Under the revised Act, the definition of the term 'worker' is much broader and applies to volunteers of an organisation. This means that the City must provide the same protections to its volunteers as it does to paid workers - this includes the management of health and safety risks and the provision of information and training.

Current Progress

In light of the legislative changes, the City has reviewed its processes for managing environmental volunteers and modifications have been made to ensure that the City is legally compliant and ensuring the safety of all its volunteers. The City has been actively consulting with a range of stakeholders, including its own environmental volunteers, to develop a practical approach that complies with health and safety requirements whilst also meeting volunteer expectations.

Given the changes to the City's processes for managing environmental volunteers, the City has also developed a draft Environmental Volunteer Manual that reflects these process changes. The City has also developed a draft Revegetation Guide which can be used as an informative resource for new and existing environmental volunteers.

What's next?

After reading the revised Environmental Volunteer Manual and the Revegetation Guide (see Documents section on the right), the City would like to request that all group leaders and interested group members of environmental volunteer groups complete the survey. Whilst there are some processes that cannot be changed due to legislative requirements, the City would appreciate constructive feedback as to how these processes can be implemented in a practical way. After the survey has closed, the responses will be reviewed and all respondents will be notified of the next steps.

Survey closes at 5pm, Wednesday 30 April 2025.

Please be aware that the attached documents are drafts only and the design and formatting will be altered once the content is finalised.