National Volunteer Week (NVW) is the largest celebration of volunteers and volunteerism in Australia, and provides an opportunity to highlight the role of volunteers in our communities and to say thank you to the more than 6.4 million Australians who volunteer
Programs
Golden Gurus Program
The Golden Gurus Program is an initiative of the Australian Government arising from an idea at the 2020 Summit, and developed by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. The program recognises the loss to the community of the skills and experience of baby boomers who are retiring from the workforce and invites them to become skilled volunteer mentors to support the growth and development of people working for community organisations.
The VSA&NT program offers a new form of volunteering for people aged 50+ who are retired/semiretired and have time to become Golden Gurus (skilled mentors). Golden Guru mentors will be experienced people, possessing good listening skills, be empathetic and have good relationship building skills. Not only will they be carefully screened, but will also receive training and support relevant to their role. The Golden Gurus will not provide advice or specific skills training.
Our Golden Gurus will be available to mentor paid staff, working for community organisations that are members of VSA&NT. This is a great opportunity for those taking on new responsibilities, to have additional support resources. An example could be a newly appointed Volunteer Manager looking for support from an experienced person outside the organisation, to act as a sounding board for ideas.
The Golden Gurus Program is an initiative of the Australian Government arising from an idea at the 2020 Summit, and developed by the 
