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Volunteering 

ACPA Volunteers

Our volunteers are advance care planning community ambassadors that work with us to increase awareness and uptake of advance care planning and help people achieve positive health outcomes.

We train and mentor our volunteers to fill a range of roles to support and educate the community and health professionals, and advocate for improved advance care planning in the health and aged care system.

Our volunteers are involved in a range of initiatives including:

  • conducting community and conference presentations
  • representing Advance Care Planning Australia at community events
  • operating the National Advance Care Planning Support Service
  • facilitating advance care planning among patient groups
  • participating in volunteer-led research
  • assisting in the creation of videos and webinars
  • acting as consumer representatives on advisory committees

Our volunteers

  • Beth smiling happily for a photo in front of a beige background
    Volunteer Community Ambassador,
    Advance Care Planning Australia

    Beth

    Beth comes to ACPA with extraordinary professional skills and life experience. She's worked in both psychiatric and critical care nursing, going on to study ethics and teach medical, nursing and paramedic students.

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  • Catherine stands in front of a brick wall and smiles
    Volunteer Community Ambassador,
    Advance Care Planning Australia

    Catherine

    Before she joined ACPA as a volunteer community ambassador, Catherine enjoyed a distinguished career as an operating theatre nurse. This has provided Catherine with an excellent grounding to help others navigate advance care planning and clarify what matters most to them.

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  • Gloria smiling at an advance care planning community presentation
    Volunteer Community Ambassador,
    Advance Care Planning Australia

    Gloria

    Gloria feels strongly about a person's right to make informed decisions about their care. Her experience as a clinical neuropsychologist has prepared her to listen carefully to those seeking advance care planning advice and ensure they receive the information and support they need.

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  • James smiling in front of a white background
    Volunteer Community Ambassador,
    .

    James

    James has seen many families unprepared to discuss losing a loved one. It has provided him with unique insights and understanding of why we need to get more comfortable with death and dying and making our choices clear to those we love the most.

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  • Kate smiles at an advance care planning community event
    Volunteer Community Ambassador ,
    Advance Care Planning Australia

    Kate

    Kate has a background in health care and is a passionate advocate for patient rights making her well suited to her volunteer role with ACPA.

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Awards

In 2019, the volunteer team was a finalist for the Better Care Victoria Innovation Award and in 2014 our volunteers won the Victorian Minister for Health Volunteer award for outstanding achievement by a volunteer.

Advance Care Planning Australia volunteers accepting an award from the Victorian Health Minister
Community ambassadors Kate Puls and Catherine Kelly with The Hon David Davis, Victorian Health Minister 2014.
In January 2019 our volunteer team were presented with the Australia Day Award in recognition of their "valued contribution to the community in the Federal Electorate of Jagajaga".
A group of volunteers holding up an award certificate.
Community ambassadors Gloria Smith-Tappe, Catherine Kelly, Veronica Spillane, Jenny McGuirk and Kate Puls with Hon. Jenny Macklin, Federal MP 2019.

Resources for volunteers

Volunteer program resource manual

We've developed a volunteer program resource manual to upskill volunteer groups in advance care planning. The resource is useful for volunteer managers seeking to implement our advance care planning community education model in their existing program.

It equips volunteers with the tools and information required to build their knowledge of advance care planning and in turn help others in their community to better understand the benefits of planning their future care.

The program can be adapted to learning at an introductory level, with the flexibility to take the learner through to an advanced level.

The volunteer resource manual is available on request by emailing acpa@austin.org.au

Online learning modules

We have a range of advance care planning online learning modules that will help you with addressing introductions, conversations, planning legal implications and more.

Introduction video

This video is for volunteers and volunteer managers and includes an introduction to advance care planning, its benefits and a community presentation delivered by some of our volunteers.