Asylum seeker support volunteer

Role description

Support a family or individual seeking asylum as they navigate life in Aotearoa New Zealand while waiting for their refugee status claim to be decided. 

If you want a rewarding experience where you can gain new skills, foster a positive and inclusive local community, and meet new people, join us as an asylum seeker support volunteer.

Your tasks

You will offer social support to people claiming asylum in the Auckland region by: 

• Providing information about the area/city/country and a local orientation.
• Helping clients to connect with other services and agencies. 
• Spending time together and getting to know more about each other and your cultures. 
• Advocating for people to access their entitlements if needed. 

Volunteer requirements and training

You’ll need to be familiar with your local area, open to working cross-culturally, be resourceful and good at taking initiative.  

You’ll need to be flexible and commit to at least a few hours a week.  There are no set shift times for this role. The time you spend with a family or individual will vary from week to week. You will share responsibilities with your teammates depending on your availability.  

To apply for this role, you’ll need to volunteer for three to six months.  

You’ll work in teams and be supported by staff from New Zealand Red Cross and the Asylum Seeker Support Trust.    

You'll receive comprehensive training to prepare you for this role, including key concepts relating to asylum, intercultural communication, and rights and entitlements for asylum seekers. The training takes approximately 12 hours and is delivered over several evenings and/or weekends.  

Police vetting checks, two reference checks, and a pre-training interview are required for this role. 

Health, safety and wellbeing (HSW)

• Make sure your actions (or lack of actions) don’t harm your health, safety and wellbeing, or harm anyone else.
• Take part in a HSW induction, training, programmes and activities.
• Follow all instructions given to you about health, safety and wellbeing.
• Follow all New Zealand Red Cross HSW policies, standards and procedures about health, safety and wellbeing.
• Make sure you have the right training for any activities you are doing.
• Use personal protective equipment (PPE) for any work activities that may need it to stay safe.
• If you spot a hazard, or you are involved in an incident or near miss, report this straight away.