Organisations which rely heavily on volunteers are warning they will have to have cut back on services because of changes to health and safety laws around the nation.
Under the law changes, volunteers are considered as workers and organisations say it will cost them more money.
Latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show a staggering 6.4 million people do unpaid work.
Some volunteers deliver meals to the sick and the elderly. Others supervise scout camps or work as marshals at community events like Sydney’s Gay Mardi Gras.
But according to health and safety expert Ken Phillips, this is about to change.
“Everyone is now exposed in a way that they have not been exposed in the past and the expectations on them now are to have the full resources around occupational health and safety (OHS) that you would expect of a government department, BHP, Coles Myer et cetera, et cetera,” he said.
The new laws redefine volunteers as workers for health and safety purposes, which means they now have a duty to do what is reasonably practicable to prevent injury.
Breaches to those laws can attract large fines with volunteers facing penalties of up to $300,000.