The SVA Service Award
Volunteering Tasmania has partnered with Student Volunteer Army (SVA) to trial a youth-based volunteering program to address the declining volunteer rates in Tasmania by creating a culture of volunteering in the next generation. Increasing youth participation in volunteering is vital to the future of volunteering in Tasmania.
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So what is the SVA Service Award?
Log your hours
Log any type of volunteering hours you've completed online and see how you are contributing to your community.
Log any type of volunteering hours you've completed online and see how you are contributing to your community.
Build a CV of Volunteering (Summary of Service)
You can log every piece of volunteering you’ve done in the past. We'll track it, keep a record of it, order it by date and make it available to you whenever you need.
You can log every piece of volunteering you’ve done in the past. We'll track it, keep a record of it, order it by date and make it available to you whenever you need.
Use the CV of Volunteering (Summary of Service)
You can download your CV of Volunteering (Summary of Service) as a PDF at any time. It's going to come in handy for applications for jobs, uni, TAFE and scholarships.
You can download your CV of Volunteering (Summary of Service) as a PDF at any time. It's going to come in handy for applications for jobs, uni, TAFE and scholarships.
Earn SVA Service Badges at school
As you reach each SVA Service Award volunteering milestone we'll make sure you receive a badge. Wear the badge as a symbol of the contribution you've made to your community.
As you reach each SVA Service Award volunteering milestone we'll make sure you receive a badge. Wear the badge as a symbol of the contribution you've made to your community.
Mix it up
You can include any volunteering you've done, anywhere at any time. School and community service will be counted. Check out volunteering opportunities that people have organised in your area and try something new here!
You can include any volunteering you've done, anywhere at any time. School and community service will be counted. Check out volunteering opportunities that people have organised in your area and try something new here!
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Ready to get involved?
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Any school or community service can count!
Track and log any volunteering or service you do!
Each time you volunteer, track your hours and reflect on what you have done.
Each action is tracked towards a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal.
Each action is tracked towards a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal.
Earn Service Award Badges as official recognition if you're at school.
Why Volunteer?
Volunteering is a great way to gain experience while helping others. If you're giving up your time for the common good, without financial gain, that's volunteering. Whether you're putting out cones at a sports event, helping out a neighbour, working on a social media campaign, planting trees, or picking up plastic rubbish at the beach - you're making a contribution to your community and that counts.
It can be hard to get a job without experience, but it can be hard to get experience without a job. By volunteering and logging your hours through the SVA Service Award app, you can add essential skills to your CV while building your confidence and making friends.
It can be hard to get a job without experience, but it can be hard to get experience without a job. By volunteering and logging your hours through the SVA Service Award app, you can add essential skills to your CV while building your confidence and making friends.
For the first time in history, we have a globally agreed list of priorities adopted by all United Nations Member States. These are called the Sustainable Development Goals.
Each goal relies on the actions of volunteers, and calls for long-term attitude and behavioural changes - for example, ending food waste or reducing plastic use.
SVA Service Award volunteers work towards Sustainable Development Goals of their choice and reflect on the impact that their volunteering is having. By connecting your volunteering to the SDGs, you are becoming part of a global movement.
Each goal relies on the actions of volunteers, and calls for long-term attitude and behavioural changes - for example, ending food waste or reducing plastic use.
SVA Service Award volunteers work towards Sustainable Development Goals of their choice and reflect on the impact that their volunteering is having. By connecting your volunteering to the SDGs, you are becoming part of a global movement.
Information for Schools & Employment Hubs
The SVA Service Award is a framework that recognises volunteering efforts of young people. Wondering how the SVA Service Award fits with your School or Jobs Hub? Do you:
Have a quiet achiever?
Recognise young people whose contribution hasn't been acknowledged before.
Have great youth leaders?
Acknowledge young leaders you know.
Work with school leavers?
The SVA Summary of Service showcases participants' volunteering and is a great tool for volunteers to include in job or study applications.
Have a quiet achiever?
Recognise young people whose contribution hasn't been acknowledged before.
Have great youth leaders?
Acknowledge young leaders you know.
Work with school leavers?
The SVA Summary of Service showcases participants' volunteering and is a great tool for volunteers to include in job or study applications.
The SVA Service Award is a free way for volunteers to record and be recognised for their volunteering and service hours. The five level badge based system and CV building tools helps young people in Tasmanian public schools and employment hubs develop resilience, confidence, agency and employability.
The SVA Service Award is delivered in partnership between Volunteering Tasmania and the Student Volunteer Army and seeks to:
- Help change a young persons trajectory - volunteering is effective in improving a young persons resilience, confidence, agency and employability.
- Link volunteering with education - young people can see the educational benefit of their volunteering that can be missed without personal reflection and quantification of their work.
- Improve equity - Young people who care for others are often unable to participate in extracurricular activities and often those without community networks are disadvantaged when looking for work, building social connections, in an emergency and for health and wellbeing support.
- Reduce pressure on teachers - Teachers have a formal, easy to use, way to track, organise and understand the volunteering efforts of their students.
- Supporting volunteering organisations - The volunteering sector reports a need for young people to reinvigorate programs and groups every year - we are wanting to change that.
The SVA Service Award automatically generates a CV of Volunteering (Summary of Service) to acknowledge the work young volunteers are doing in their community and the skills they've learned.
Through this program, young people under 25 years old can access the SVA Service Award app through eligible schools and Jobs Hubs. Eligible schools will receive physical badges to recognise volunteer progress. All eligible young people have access to their Summary of Service.
How does it work?
Get your volunteers to log their hours by the 20th of each month. Spend time reflecting on the volunteering.
If you're a school, we'll post you badges to award for all awards earned by the 20th of each month.
Celebrate the success of students Summary of Service at your Jobs Hub or with badges in schools.
Volunteering Tasmania + Student Volunteer Army
Volunteering Tasmania (VT) partnered with Student Volunteer Army (SVA) to trial a youth-based volunteering program to address the declining volunteer rates in Tasmania by creating a culture of volunteering in the next generation. Increasing youth participation in volunteering is vital to the future of volunteering in Tasmania. People who volunteer when they are young are more likely to volunteer when they’re older.
In Australia 42% of people aged 15-17 volunteer. This is higher than any other age group. However, this volunteering often goes unrecognised and unacknowledged in our community. Over 80% of employers see volunteering as an advantage in job interviews and just as credible as paid work in gaining real work experience. Volunteering protects the mental health and wellbeing of young people by fostering participation and connection. A strong social network and community can provide access to jobs, services, and other material opportunities as well as emotional support during challenging times.
Through this program we will create a new generation of volunteers through school-based community-led volunteering initiatives and recognition of youth volunteering, based on action toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This program includes students, teachers, parents, and the local community. The roll-out of this program supports the Final PESRAC report recommendations for Community Engagement and a Sustainable Tasmania, the Tasmanian Child and Youth Wellbeing domains and a range of Department of Education values and curriculum focus, including work-based learning.
In Australia 42% of people aged 15-17 volunteer. This is higher than any other age group. However, this volunteering often goes unrecognised and unacknowledged in our community. Over 80% of employers see volunteering as an advantage in job interviews and just as credible as paid work in gaining real work experience. Volunteering protects the mental health and wellbeing of young people by fostering participation and connection. A strong social network and community can provide access to jobs, services, and other material opportunities as well as emotional support during challenging times.
Through this program we will create a new generation of volunteers through school-based community-led volunteering initiatives and recognition of youth volunteering, based on action toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This program includes students, teachers, parents, and the local community. The roll-out of this program supports the Final PESRAC report recommendations for Community Engagement and a Sustainable Tasmania, the Tasmanian Child and Youth Wellbeing domains and a range of Department of Education values and curriculum focus, including work-based learning.
Contact us:
If you have any questions about the SVA Service Award in Tasmania, please send us an email at: tasmania@svarmy.org
If you have any questions about the SVA Service Award in Tasmania, please send us an email at: tasmania@svarmy.org