Skills and Networks

The Coastcare program provides training and development activities for coastal volunteer groups. The program provides training on all aspects of conservation volunteering, including vegetation management, coastal ecology, managing volunteers and community engagement. Coastcare also organises local networking forums to strengthen links between volunteer organisations and land managers. If your group has a specific training or networking need, contact your local facilitator to discuss further.

In August 2011 the Coastcare team, in partnership with the Australian Government's Caring for our Country Program and the Victorian Coastal Council, hosted a 2 day Coastcare State Volunteer Forum in Williamstown. The forum provided the opportuntiy for coastal volunteers from across the state to meet, share experiences and build the capacity, skills and networks required to continue ongoing conservation works along Victoria's beautiful coastline.

Coastcare Volunteer Guide

The Coastcare Volunteer Guide has been developed as a handy resource for coastal volunteer groups; a one stop shop for information, guidance and support materials. The Guide is intended for coastal volunteer groups of any size, purpose or stage of development. Information is arranged into three key sections: 'Starting Out, information for new groups', 'Operating a group' and 'Building a strong organisation'. Either download the Guide from this website or contact DSE on 136 186 for your free hard copy.

Volunteer risk and safety

The Department of Sustainability and Environment recognises the contributions made by coastal volunteers. In line with our commitment to improving volunteer safety, we will continue to conduct training on managing risk and occupational health and safety (OH&S). These training events are specifically designed to outline key procedures around OH&S, and to assist leaders in assessing and managing issues in order to ensure that volunteering is safe. These sessions will be of particular benefit to those in leadership positions within coastal volunteer groups, and to those with long-term volunteer aspirations.